John Bruce, Staff Writer
Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by OhioHealth.
CHILLICOTHE — With time running down on a busted play in overtime, Fairfield Union’s Caleb Redding heard a little voice from a big man telling him to put up a shot.
Redding listened to that voice and pulled the trigger, sending Fairfield Union into a district final in the process.
“I thought we had more time and I pulled it out and thought we could get a better look,” the junior said of his final shot. “And big ol’ Ted Harrah was in my ear, yelling at me to shoot it. I just kind of let it go and it’s all history from there.”
After hearing Harrah, Redding stepped up and drilled a 20-footer at the buzzer to stun Gallia Academy in a Division II district semifinal by a 40-37 final in an ultra-physical battle.
32 minutes wasn’t enough to decide a winner between two stingy defenses, with neither team holding a lead greater than six points alongside a bevy of lead changes throughout the night.
Fairfield Union (22-3) jumped out to a quick 8-2 lead, with Harrah and Redding scoring inside before Redding connected from downtown.
The Blue Devils chipped away at the lead with hard drives from Brody Fellure and a floater from Wesley Saunders. Fellure then scored on a baseline drive late in the quarter to draw even after a quarter at 8-8.
Gallia (18-7) started to make headway in the second as Saunders scored twice on the baseline off a pair of assists from Isaac Clary. Clary and Kenyon Franklin then added their names to the scoring column before Fellure finished an old-fashioned three after a steal at the top of the key.
The Falcons stayed close, in part, thanks to a post move from Harrah and a pair of triples from Isaac Schmelzer off the bench. Missing from the scorebook in the first half was Caleb Schmelzer, but the 6-foot-6 junior changed that in a big way in the second two quarters.
Schmelzer scored seven of the Falcons’ nine points in the third, as they cut into Gallia’s lead before a wild fourth quarter went into effect.
With the Falcons trailing 26-25 after three, Schmelzer scored on consecutive possessions to start the fourth.
The Mid-State League Player of the Year made his stamp on the game in a big way.
“At halftime, I knew I wasn’t hitting then, but my teammates picked me up,” Schmelzer said after his first half struggles. “They said, ‘Come on, come on, just go out there and hit.’ So I went out there and stepped it up.”
One of the marquee matchups of the game was in the paint between Clary and Harrah. The two massive post players battled all night long and in the fourth, they traded buckets that kept a three-point game intact with time running down.
Clary cut the lead to 29-28 with a pair of free throws, before Harrah scored on a short jumper off the glass. Clary once again scored, this time on a put-back from a missed shot. And, on the other end, senior point guard Brennan Rowles scored his only basket of the game to make it a 33-30 lead for the Falcons with just over two minutes to play.
The Blue Devils weren’t done yet, though, as Fellure drove and kicked it out to Jance Lambert, who canned a deep trey to tie the game at 33-33 with 1:45 to play in regulation.
Fairfield Union ran some time off the clock before Franklin was whistled for a foul to give the Falcons the ball on the baseline. Due to miscommunication, two Blue Devils were guarding Redding, which left Isaac Schmelzer wide open under the basket.
Rowles quickly inbounded the ball and Schmelzer put the Falcons ahead with only 35 seconds to play.
Gallia Academy tied the contest when Clary connected with a cutting Franklin, tying the game with 17.5 seconds to play. A shot from Harrah went astray, before Fellure rebounded and nearly won it for the Blue Devils. But the ball bounced harmlessly off the flange and the contest headed to overtime.
The Falcons took a lead on a layup from Harrah, before Caleb Schmelzer created the bravest turnover of the night, taking a charge from Clary with just over a minute to play.
“When they set that pick and roll, we were always looking to come from the backside for help,” Schmelzer explained. “And I knew on Clary that he was going right to the bucket and nowhere else. So I just set up shop, waited for it and just took it like a man.”
However, a defensive play by Fellure almost made it all for naught, as the senior ripped away an inbounds pass around mid-court and finished on the break to make it a 37-37 game with just 15.2 seconds to play.
All of that would simply lead to the heroics from Redding.
Coming out of a timeout, the Falcons took their time as they looked for Redding to connect with Caleb Schmelzer on a high-low pass, but it was taken away by Clary in the post. Redding backed his dribble out before Harrah alerted him of the need to get the shot up.
The 6-foot-4 junior elevated and as he said, the rest was history.
The win sets up a meeting at 2 p.m. on Sunday at Ohio University’s Convocation Center between two neighboring schools that are less than 20 miles apart — Fairfield Union and New Lexington, a 54-49 winner over Washington.
The Panthers have not won a district championship since 1998, while the Falcons will be looking for only their second ever trip to the regional tournament, after winning a district title in 2017.
BOX SCORE
Gallia Academy: 8-11-7-8 (2) — 37
Fairfield Union: 8-8-9-10 (5) — 40
Gallia Academy: 16-39 FG, 3-4 FT, 2-15 3pt., 20 rebounds (Clary 7), 9 turnovers, 7 assists (Clary 4). Scoring: Clary 10, Fellure 9, Lambert 8, Saunders 6, Franklin 4.
Fairfield Union: 17-42 FG, 2-5 FT, 4-12 3pt., 20 rebounds (C. Schmelzer 8), 6 turnovers, 6 assists (Rowles 2). Scoring: C. Schmelzer 11, I. Schmelzer 8, Redding 8, Harrah 8, Rowles 2, Rowley 2.
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