Derrick Webb, Managing Editor
Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by OhioHealth.
JACKSON — Following a loss to Zane Trace on Jan. 16, Adena found itself sitting at 7-7 with a choice to make.
The Warriors, with their work cut out for them, could’ve either kept making a trip down a slippery slope or they could’ve picked up the pieces, placed them in the rearview mirror and moved on.
Since that loss, coach Andrew Day’s team has won four straight and the latest victory was their most impressive — a 61-53 come-from-behind win over Wellston on Saturday at the Inaugural SOSA Basketball Classic.
“[The win is] huge in terms of building confidence and getting a good win at a neutral site in this type of atmosphere,” Day said. “And, more importantly, it affects our RPI. [Wellston] is a bigger school than us, which helps, and they have a really good record, which helps. It should give us a nice bump and, hopefully, we’re able to keep getting after it.”
Saturday’s victory was fueled by an impressive second half performance from Colton Garrison.
The junior scored 15 of his team-high 20 points in the second half, willing his Warriors (11-7) back into the ballgame and, eventually, to an impressive victory.
“We know that when we come into a game, Joey [Francis] is going to attract the most attention. In the first half, I thought he might have pressed a little bit,” Day said. “But in the second half, he did a much better job of distributing and it allowed Colton and Gavin [Herald] to get going a little bit. Once Colton figures out he’s as good as he actually is, it’s going to be scary for everyone else.”
Wes Briggs helped Wellston (11-4) seize a 15-11 lead after a quarter of play. His putback basket with just 12.6 seconds left extended the Rockets’ lead to four, giving him six in the quarter.
But Francis quickly halted any plans Wellston had to run away with a vicious alley-oop dunk to begin the second. Cooper Day found his teammate sprinting towards the rim and with 7:50 left, Francis rose — literally — to the occasion with a two-handed slam.
Nevertheless, the Rockets stayed the course.
They built leads of 22-17 and 25-18 before taking a 31-27 advantage into the break.
“I didn’t love our effort and energy early on and I think that kind of contributed to where the game was at halftime,” Day said. “We challenged our guys at halftime and told them that that wasn’t how we played, or expected of ourselves. To our guys’ credit, they really responded. I thought we executed better in the second half and we guarded much better. It allowed us to make a run.”
Garrison started to get hot in the third, scoring at the 4:54 and 3:22 marks to force a 37-37 tie. When Herald scored on a putback with 2:43 left, the Warriors had grabbed a 39-37 lead.
By the start of the fourth, that advantage had swelled to 43-39 — thanks to back-to-back buckets from Garrison.
“Joey was the one feeding me the ball, so it’s a lot of credit to him,” Garrison said. “All I did was lay it off the glass. This is a big win. Obviously, neither team has played for a while. We’ve got the tournament draw coming up and Wellston is a bigger school with a good record. So this will help our ranking.”
PHOTO CREDITS: Ron Butcher/Ron Butcher Photography
In the fourth, the Warriors continued to pound the ball inside. All six of the field goals they tallied came from close-range and, put simply, Wellston didn’t have an answer.
With 1:13 remaining, Garrison nailed two free throws for a 58-51 advantage and, following a technical foul call, Francis hit another to make it an eight-point game. That was more than enough juice to close out a marquee victory.
Following Garrison’s final numbers was Francis, who finished with 11 points, seven rebounds and six assists. Herald also helped out with 11 points, eight rebounds and three assists, and Day tallied six points, five assists and three boards.
Briggs paced the Rockets with a game-high 25 points while Braxton Ingalls added eight of his own.
While Wellston attempts to bounce back on Tuesday with a home date against Alexander, the Warriors will be back in action on Monday, making a trip to Northwest for a non-league battle.
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