Blaec Bughler
John Bruce

John Bruce

Westfall wins rubber match, tops Piketon to advance

The Mustangs will now meet with Valley in a sectional final.

John Bruce, Staff Writer

Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by OhioHealth.

WILLIAMSPORT — Following a mano a mano first quarter matchup between Westfall’s Casey Cline and Piketon’s Declan Davis, Cline’s Mustangs used a balanced attack to earn a win in the rubber match between the two on Tuesday.

Westfall’s Casey Cline (1) is surrounded by teammates during the Mustangs’ win over Piketon on Tuesday.
CREDIT: Marissa Spradlin/SOSA

Westfall played seven players, all of whom scored at least seven points, to help the Mustangs bring home a 75-63 opening round win — the team’s first tournament win since 2020.

“I’m still trying to reach my 1,000th career point,” Cline said after the victory. “But that doesn’t mean anything to me. I just want to cut down nets. So as long as we’re still winning, if it’s meant to be, it’ll happen.”

Piketon led 17-16 after the first quarter as Davis was 3-for-3 from downtown, only to be slightly outdone by Cline’s 10 points in the opening eight minutes. 

The ‘Streaks showed an aggressive defensive gameplan, pressuring the Mustangs’ guards and forcing the front court to make an impact for Westfall. Along with Davis, the Redstreaks got some impact on the interior from Garrett Legg, Owen Armstrong and Gabe Lamerson to hold the lead after the opening quarter. 

Westfall took the lead early in the second from an unlikely source as junior Brydan Gall knocked down 3’s on consecutive possessions. Gall, a super sub for the Mustangs, had only made a trio of triples on the season coming into the night, but both shots hit nothing but the bottom of the net and the Mustangs were off to the races from there. 

“It’s great. [Gall] hasn’t gotten the minutes we would’ve liked him to this year, just because we have other guards in right now,” Cline said. “He’d start for any other team around. He got us going.”

With additional pressure on Cline, Blaec Bugher and Brody Clark, the Mustangs would need to rely on their trio of bigs to increase their lead. Henry Barnes, Seth Gifford and Jerry Layton took advantage of their one-on-one matchups to dominate the offensive glass and help the Mustangs push the lead to as much as 35-23 late in the first half. 


PHOTOS: Images from Westfall’s win over Piketon


The Redstreaks made a late push, boosted by an 8-0 run that was sparked by Davis and Legg, before Brent McGuire scored on a baseline floater late in the half. Westfall’s Clark knocked down a 15-foot jumper in the closing seconds of the half to give the Mustangs a 37-31 lead at the break.

After halftime, the Mustangs adjusted to the pressure the ‘Streaks were showing by getting better floor balance, opening up lanes for Bugher and Cline to slash to the hoop. That helped Westfall dominate the third quarter, despite consecutive triples from McGuire halfway through, highlighted by a pair of drives by Bugher late. 

Following an offensive rebound by Cline, he hit a slashing Bugher who finished a layup through contact before netting the free throw to give the Mustangs a 57-39 lead. 

After four straight points by Piketon’s Bo Henry, Bugher closed out the quarter with another drive, finishing with a floater over a Redstreak defender in the paint. 

Westfall was able to extend its lead with a variety of factors as they owned the offensive glass, handled the ball and forced turnovers. The Mustangs only turned the ball over once in the first 23 minutes of game play, while forcing the ‘Streaks into 13 miscues in the same time. 

All of this resulted in an additional 15 shot attempts for the Mustangs.


“If it comes off [the rim], our bigs are getting the rebounds for sure,” Bugher said. “Jerry [Layton] is leading the league in field goal percentage and Seth [Gifford] is a great rebounder. It’s huge for us.”

With their season on the line, the Redstreaks fought to the very end, using a trio of treys from Weston Bloss and some crafty drives from Davis. However, it would not be enough, with the Mustangs able to salt the game away at the free throw line to advance to a sectional title game. 

While Piketon finishes its season, it has a lot to look forward to. The Redstreaks graduate two starters in Armstrong and Jayden Thacker, but have a core nucleus returning in 2023-2024. 

Piketon was led by Davis with 19 points, while Bloss and McGuire also reached double figures with 10 points each. 

Westfall advances to meet Valley in a Division III sectional final at 7 p.m. on Saturday, in Lucasville. 

The Mustangs will be looking to return to the district tournament for the first time since 2009.

Cline led all scorers with 22 points on the night, Bugher added 14 points and Clark joined the double figure party with 10 tallies. The frontcourt trio of Barnes, Gifford and Layton combined for 22 points and 20 rebounds to answer their own challenge.

“We have to be disciplined,” Cline said. “I know that [Valley] moves around the ball very well. We need to stay in front of our man because they’ve got some athletic guards. As long as we do that and stick to what we know, I think we’ll be fine.”

BOX SCORE

Piketon: 17-14-12-20 — 63

Westfall: 16-21-22-16 — 75

Piketon: 24-47 FG, 6-8 FT, 9-19 3pt., 27 rebounds (Legg 9), 16 turnovers, 13 assists (Bloss 5). Scoring: Davis 19, Bloss 10, McGuire 10, Legg 8, Henry 6, Lamerson 6, Armstrong 4.

Westfall: 27-62 FG, 13-19 FT, 8-16 3pt., 34 rebounds (Gifford 7, Layton 7), 6 turnovers, 13 assists (Bugher 5). Scoring: Cline 22, Bugher 14, Clark 10, Barnes 8, Gall 7, Gifford 7, Layton 7.

SPONSORED BY OHIO VALLEY BANK

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