Derrick Webb, Managing Editor
Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by OhioHealth.
CIRCLEVILLE — Circleville coach Evan Callihan understood the magnitude of the moment his team was living in on Tuesday evening.
And with nets coming off the rims, and a mix of smiles and jubilant tears everywhere he turned, he also made sure to mention what it took to earn that moment.
Callihan’s Tigers had just handed Fairfield Union a 53-36 loss to win the program’s first league championship since 1983 and its first-ever MSL-Buckeye crown.
The win was 43 years in the making and the program’s 33-year-old leader — in just his second year in the position — highlighted what it took to cross the goal off the list.
“I’m really proud of our players. It starts with them and they’re the reason we’re in this position,” Callihan said. “When we took this over, that first summer, it was a little rocky. We’d work them hard and there were some features ruffled. Everyone looks at moments like right now and think it’s all joy and fun, but it’s not. We’ve asked them to do things that are hard. So I credit this to the summers, where it started. We made them uncomfortable and pushed them, and they didn’t always like it. But after a while and in moments like tonight, they’ve started to see the results.”
Tuesday’s victory marks the Tigers’ 14th consecutive win. To say they’re on a roll is an understatement.
But it hasn’t always been smooth sailing this winter.
An early loss to Hamilton Township on Dec. 13 raised eyebrows across the Mid-State League and just nine days later, they fell to rival Teays Valley by a 47-43 score.
“You look at our scores and anyone that knows us knows that we’re not really an offensive juggernaut,” Callihan said. “We won our first league game, 34-31. So it’s a credit to our guys. They’ve bought in and they’ve stayed the course. A turning point for us was in that tough loss to Teays Valley. It was a big rivalry game [on Dec. 22]. In the locker room, nobody was pointing fingers, it was, ‘Hey, we’re fine. Let’s just stay together.’ And we’ve been on a run since.”
Fairfield Union’s Keaton Webb got the night’s scoring started before the Tigers (19-2, 10-1 MSL) took their first lead at the 4:38 mark in the first quarter when Blain Fowler scored to make it 5-4.
The Falcons quickly went back in front at 6-5, courtesy of Asa Kline, but after Circleville took an 8-6 lead with a 3 from Glavine Bigam, the Tigers never trailed again.
“We knew there would be some nerves,” Callihan said. “When you haven’t done something like this in that long, and we knew Fairfield Union was going to come in swinging, there’s going to be some nerves. We just told our guys that if we were able to win this game, it would bind us together forever. Nobody can ever take this away from us. So I’m just really happy for these kids, their families and just so many people who are involved.”
CREDIT: Derrick Webb/SOSA
Circleville’s Riley Jenkins followed Bigam’s lead with another triple before Kole Nungester scored through contact to help the Tigers take a 14-10 lead into the second.
And the advantage only ballooned from there.
Fowler knocked down two free throws, Jenkins dialed long distance again and Jack Kline got in on the action to put Circleville ahead 23-16 with 5:07 left. When Fowler nailed a 3 and scored again at the 3:43 mark, it capped a 9-0 run that had the Tigers in front, 28-16.
That double-digit lead would remain at the break by a 32-22 tally and not much changed in the third, either.
Nungester started to really get going, putting Circleville up 36-24 with a score, before he sank two freebies just before the quarter ended to make it 40-27 heading into the final eight minutes.
The senior scored three points the hard way to begin the fourth and later hit two free throws to put the game out of reach for good, fueling what was an eventual 17-point win.
“This all goes back to our players,” Callihan said. “Our senior leadership with Kole Nungester, what a great kid, and Riley Jenkins is the same way. And you look at Jack Kline and Auri Travis, who has played some huge minutes for us, and then Ed Kirk, we can bring him off the bench and he can run the floor, and Drake Klinger, who doesn’t get a lot of minutes, but shows up to work every day with a work ethic and a great attitude. Winning is hard and these guys made winning the league their goal. Our banner has been dry. So this is a dream.”
Statistically, Nungester led the Tigers with a game-high 18 points while Fowler added 16 points and nine rebounds. Evans chipped in with six points and four boards, and Glavine Bigam added six points, five rebounds and two assists.
The Falcons were led by Webb, who tallied 13 points and five rebounds. Dean Clark ended the night with six points, and Asa Kline posted four points, seven rebounds and three helpers.
While Fairfield Union looks to rebound on Friday against Bloom-Carroll, Circleville will travel to Liberty Union that same evening to cap its regular season.
Then, it’s tournament time where they await Vinton County or Gallia Academy in a Division IV district semifinal at 2 p.m. on March 1.
Rest assured, neither the Vikings or Blue Devils are the focus. Liberty Union has Callihan’s crew’s full attention.
“We take every game as a championship game,” Callihan said. “Our guys have bought into that. We’re not going to focus on anything but Liberty Union on Friday. We get a little bit of a layoff before the first tournament game and we’ll see who we play. Our district field is tough. There are probably seven or eight teams who probably feel like they can maybe win a district title. So we’ll worry about Liberty Union on Friday and tackle the tournament after that.”
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