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ATHENS — As the postseason progresses, the competition only gets tougher.
But no matter who its faces, South Webster’s defense continues to rise to the occasion.
Despite trailing all night long, Fairfield built late game momentum with a 7-0 run to cut the deficit to a single point with less than a minute to play on Tuesday. However, the Jeeps’ defense came through with a huge block and defensive stop in the most critical moments.
Those two plays, more than any others, allowed South Webster to punch its Elite 8 ticket with a 48-45 victory over the Lions in a Division IV regional semifinal.
CREDIT: Raymond Gleadle/SOSA
“I thought we battled hard and our defense was superb again,” South Webster coach Norm Persin said. “Towards the end, we allowed [Fairfield’s Larkin] Friend, who is a very good player, to get to the rim three or four times. But outside of that, our defense was superb. Our kids battled. They played hard. That’s all it takes.”
The Jeeps (23-3) shot well from the start as Eli Roberts, Tyler Sommer, Christian White and Jack Timothy all scored to make it 10-0 early.
On the other side of that coin was Fairfield, which didn’t score for nearly seven minutes. That’s when Logan McIntosh buried a triple to get his Lions on the board.
Trey House then knocked down two free throws for the Lions (22-4), but Roberts splashed a triple to beat the buzzer and give the Jeeps a 13-5 lead after the first quarter.
In the second, both teams kept a steady pace, matching one another.
With the Jeeps ahead 17-12, Sommer got a bucket plus a foul call, but House drilled a triple on the other end to bring the count to 20-15.
White and Brock Campbell converted back-to-back buckets for the Jeeps, but House buried another triple to make the score 24-18 at halftime.
The Lions hung around for much of the first half, and early in the third, they took advantage of their chance to make a move. They opened the third on a 6-0 run behind House and Larkin Friend to tie the game at 24-24.
PHOTOS: Images from South Webster’s regional semifinal win over Fairfield
However, Roberts responded on the other end as he knocked down a 3 through contact. The ensuing free throw was followed by an inside bucket from Hunter Barnard to give SW a 30-24 advantage.
Still, the Lions finished the frame strong behind Friend, McIntosh and a jumper from House at the buzzer to cut the deficit to 34-31.
Friend and Cade Miller each knocked down jumpers to open the fourth for the Lions, but the Jeeps got buckets from Sommer, Roberts and Barnard to build their lead to 44-36.
That’s when Friend answered with two buckets before assisting on a 3 from Gabe Fouch, completing a 7-0 and cutting the Lions’ lead to 44-43 with 1:27 to play. Shupert then scored on a wide open layup, but Friend answered with a tough bucket to keep the game within a point with under a minute to go.
“Dylan Shupert has done a great job for us here lately,” Persin said. “We have other guys that can score [aside from Roberts]. But they have to get going and they have to have their confidence.”
In the end, though, White calmly hit two free throws before the Lions’ game-tying shot fell short to propel the Jeeps into the Elite 8.
Statistically, Roberts led the Jeeps with 15 points, followed by Sommer with 11 points and six rebounds. White, Barnard and Shupert each added six points.
For Fairfield, House finished with a game-high 17 points while Friend had 14 points, four rebounds and five assists.
South Webster now advances to a Division IV regional final at 7 p.m., Friday at Ohio University’s Convocation Center.
“This is what we talked about,” Persin said. “Coming into the year, me coming into this program, it took the kids awhile to pick up a totally different system. We told them from day one that they were going to win because of their defense. Defense has carried us all year and it did again tonight.”
The Jeeps will match up against Berlin Hiland, who defeated Westerville Northside Christian to advance.
“This is what [tournament] is all about,” Persin said. “We scored just enough tonight to get a win. We’ll rely on the defense again on Friday and see what happens.”
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