John Bruce, Staff Writer
Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by OhioHealth.
WHEELERSBURG — After a 24-hour weather delay, Wheelersburg and Minford — as expected — put on a show in a clash between two Southern Ohio Conference titans on Saturday.
The Pirates led a tight game for the majority of the contest and made two huge defensive stops in the final minute. When the dust had settled, ‘Burg held on to win a 60-58 decision — taking over sole possession of first place in the SOC III.
CREDIT: Erica Fike/SOSA
A standing-room-only crowd got a close look at two of the region’s premier programs.
Wheelersburg (11-3, 4-0 SOC III) started out with a bang when junior Xander Mowery rattled in a wing 3 to give the Pirates an early lead. The orange and black played a stifling defense while sophomore Braylon Rucker put on a shooting display, from both the midrange and from downtown, to give the Pirates a 15-10 lead after one quarter.
Minford stayed close through a domination of the glass, led by Jackson Shoemaker and Bennett Kayser. Shoemaker’s interior scoring kept the Falcons (10-2, 3-1 SOC III) afloat in the early going before Minford was able to turn defense into offense. That’s when Myles Montgomery got a steal and layup to slice into the Pirates’ advantage.
But each time the Falcons looked primed for a run, Wheelersburg would answer on the other end. Rather that be from another Mowery 3-ball or a sophomore basket from Landon McGraw or Hunter Bivens, the Pirates maintained a small lead.
Back-to-back triples from Shoemaker and Montgomery finally gave the Falcons their first lead of the game in the second quarter. But, just two possessions later, Rucker hit his second trey of the first half to put the Pirates back in front.
Wheelersburg kept that advantage at halftime, 31-27.
The Falcons came out flying to start the third quarter, getting tough interior buckets from Kayser and Shoemaker. But some misses near the rim also kept the Pirates in the front.
PHOTOS: Images from Wheelersburg’s win over Minford
Wheelersburg’s Devon Lattimore, Luke Swords and McGraw each scored inside before Rucker’s jumper pushed the lead to 42-35 late in the quarter.
Minford closed the third with a flurry. Troy Rhodes, Kaiser and Montgomery all scored before a Rucker 3 seemed to calm the Falcons’ momentum. However, a triple from Montgomery grabbed the momentum right back to finish the third, cutting Wheelersburg’s lead to 46-45 heading into the final eight minutes.
The final quarter saw multiple lead changes with Lattimore proving to be un-guardable inside the Falcons’ zone. A driving layup from Montgomery gave Minford a temporary advantage before Lattimore scored on the other end. After Minford’s Jeff Pica split a pair at the line, the game was tied with 5:30 to play.
Rucker then splashed his fourth 3-pointer of the evening to retake the lead for the Pirates. But Minford continued to scratch and claw to stay in the game, getting huge shots from Rhodes sandwiched between baskets from Lattimore on the other end. With just over a minute to play, Rhodes buried a 3 from the top of the key, but Lattimore quickly answered with a driving layup with 1:05 left.
Minford was then fouled from 3 on its next possession, but would only make one of the three freebie tries, trimming the lead to 59-58. After the Falcons spent all of their fouls to give, Kayser picked off an outlet pass to give them a chance for the win.
Minford took its time, and got a good look from 15 feet, but it was off the mark.
Rucker split a pair of free throws with only five seconds to play, giving Minford one last chance to either tie or win. Wheelersburg’s defense was up to the task, not allowing the speedy Montgomery to get possession, before playing physical defense on the final shot — which bounced off the rim as time expired, leading to a frenzied celebration from the Pirate faithful.
Rucker led all scorers with 19 points, including four big triples from downtown. Lattimore joined in double-digit scoring figures with 16 points, 14 of which came in the second half.
The Falcons placed four in double figures as Montgomery, Rhodes and Shoemaker all scored 14 points. Kayser had 13 of his own. Kayser and Shoemaker also earned double-doubles as they each pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds.
While Minford gets back to action on Saturday at Valley, Wheelersburg returns to the floor on Tuesday, traveling to Portsmouth West.
BOX SCORE
Minford: 10-17-19-13 — 58
Wheelersburg: 15-16-15-14 — 60
Minford: 24-53 FG, 6-20 3pt., 4-7 FT. Scoring: Montgomery 14, Rhodes 14, Shoemaker 14, Kayser 13, Pica 3.
Wheelersburg: 26-49 FG, 6-19 3pt., 2-4 FT. Scoring: Rucker 19; Lattimore 16, Mowery 6, Bivens 6, McGraw 6, Swords 4, Adkins 3.
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