Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by OhioHealth.
CIRCLEVILLE — Just enough.
CREDIT: Derrick Webb/SOSA
That’s how many plays Circleville made on Thursday in a physical, defense-centered victory over Waverly.
After starting the contest on a 12-0 run, Circleville (19-4) buckled down on the defensive end and held on late to claim a Division II sectional championship by a 37-32 final.
“We are a gritty team. We aren’t pretty all the time. We definitely weren’t pretty at all times tonights,” Circleville coach Brian Bigam said. “But I give my girls credit. They dig down deep and they find a way to pull things out. I’m proud of them. [Waverly] is a really good team. They won 16 games this season. They’re very good and they’re very well-coached. You don’t face many teams like that in the first round.”
Bigam’s group came into Thursday’s matchup focused on two numbers — 10 and 1.
Waverly’s Bailey Vulgamore and Kelli Stewart wore those numbers on their backs and were under the microscope all night long.
The two 1,000 point scorers combined to tally 24 of Waverly’s 32 points and pulled their teammates into a 29-29 tie with just 4:39 remaining in the fourth quarter.
However, Circleville did just enough to keep them in check and grind out a victory.
“We wanted to know where [Vulgamore] and [Stewart] were,” Bigam said. “We did a good job of that all night. Where they hurt us was getting back in transition defense. We fouled them in return, getting back on defense. Those two get to the basket and they’re strong at the basket. The other thing we didn’t do was limit their offensive rebounds. But other than that, I thought we did a good job identifying them in the zone.”
Tale of the tape
Circleville’s Morgan Blakeman scored the game’s first five points — getting a shot to fall with 6:35 left in the first quarter before burying a 3-ball just 43 seconds later. The quarter’s only other scores came with 3:52 left when Maddie Blakeman sank two free throw tries to give Circleville a 7-0 lead.
The shutout continued well into the second.
With Circleville leading 12-0 after buckets from Morgan Blakeman and Gabby McConnell, Waverly (16-7) finally broke into the scoring column with 5:19 remaining in the first half, thanks to a floater from Paige O’Bryant.
Vulgamore then proceeded to hit a trio of freebies before McConnell stretched Circleville’s lead back into double-digits with a triple coming at the 3:15 mark.
The two then traded blows until Circleville took an 18-9 lead into the break.
The third is where Waverly started to make its run.
Stewart and Vulgamore, alongside the help of Caris Risner, cut the deficit to 18-14. However, with Circleville leading 20-17 with 3:03 to go, Faith Yancey and Morgan Blakeman logged three consecutive buckets, turning in a 6-0 run for a 26-17 advantage — Circleville took that nine-point edge, at 29-20, into the fourth.
In the fourth, Waverly began the quarter with a 9-0 run on the backs of the usual suspects — Vulgamore and Stewart. When Stewart scored with 5:55 left, she forced a 29-29 deadlock and a Circleville timeout.
“We had to be strong because it was a physical game,” Bigam said. “My girls are bloodied up. But we were strong with the ball and knocked down free throws late.”
Following two free throws from Morgan Blakeman in two trips to the line, McConnell provided the dagger.
The junior hit a jumper from the right side of the rim to put Circleville ahead 33-29 with just 1:51 to go. From there, Bigam’s group — namely McConnell — stepped to the charity stripe and put the game on ice.
“Gabby was clutch,” Bigam said. “She hit a nice baseline jumper and she hit her free throws when they mattered. But at times in that [game-ending run], when teams are extending up and pressuring like that, sometimes it’s easy to work and east and west. During that last few timeouts, we really talked about working more north and south. We made a switch and were able to put Maddie Blakeman and Gabby on the same side of the floor and we were able to look to attack.”
Stat book
Morgan Blakeman led Circleville on the scoring sheet with 14 points alongside eight rebounds while McConnell added 11 points, nine boards and three helpers. Yancey and Maddie Blakeman each finished the evening with six points.
For Waverly, Vulgamore led the way with 13 points while Stewart turned in a double-double of 11 points and 13 rebounds. Risner had three points, three rebounds and two assists, and O’Bryant added two points and five boards.
What’s on tap
While Waverly’s season comes to a close, Circleville advances to a Division II district semifinal against top-seeded and unbeaten Fairland. That matchup will take place at 6:15 p.m., Monday at Logan High School.
The Dragons are, on paper, supposed to beat Circleville. But Goliath has fallen before.
“Some of the better runs I’ve had in the tournament have been when teams could play loose and play free,” Bigam said. “They weren’t supposed to win those games. Fairland is a buzzsaw. They’ve got seven or eight girls they can run out there and fill [the basket] up. But it’s the same every night with our girls. We’re going to go out there and we’re going to compete our tails off. We’ll see what happens.”
BOX SCORE
Waverly: 0-9-11-12 — 32
Circleville: 7-11-11-8 — 37
Waverly: 9-39 FG, 12-19 FT, 2-6 3pt., 27 rebounds (Stewart 13), 25 turnovers, 4 assists (Risner 2, Vulgamore 2). Scoring: Vulgamore 13, Stewart 11, Risner 3, Royster 3, O’Bryant 2.
Circleville: 12-40 FG, 11-16 FT, 3-10 3pt., 33 rebounds (McConnell 9), 21 turnovers, 10 assists (McConnell 3). Scoring: Mo. Blakeman 14, McConnell 11, Yancey 6, Ma. Blakeman 6.
SPONSORED BY BO LACEY CONSTRUCTION
