Brock Netter, Editor
Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by OhioHealth.
ATHENS — Defense still wins championships.
The adjustments Waverly made in the second half on Sunday proved that tenfold.
After getting burned by New Lexington’s Eli Stephens in the first half, Waverly held the big fella to just four points in the second half.
Meanwhile, the Tigers’ offense outscored the Panthers by a 24-12 margin in the second half to secure a 44-35 victory in a Division IV district semifinal on Sunday.
CREDIT: Brock Netter/SOSA
“Our guys settled down, played a lot more confident and we were a lot less stagnant. When the ball moves and we’re sharing it, we’re pretty solid,” Waverly coach Teryn Jarrett said. “It’s hard to beat that team by 10-plus because they stay in the game, they don’t turn it over and they have solid guard play. So we knew it would be tough coming in. But the way the guys responded after being shellshocked for the first 16 minutes, kudos to them.”
Waverly’s Kage Alexander and New Lexington’s Lane Ratliff traded old-fashioned three-point plays to open the game, but Ratliff scored again, followed by a triple from Eli Stephens to give the Panthers an 8-3 lead.
Stephens was on a tear, and scored the next seven New Lexington points to push the Panthers ahead 15-8 before closing out the frame with a 15-12 lead.
Waverly’s Davion McBride scored a layup to end the first quarter, and tallied three points the hard way to tie the game at 15-15 early in the second.
Carter Whidden knocked down a 3 for New Lexington to break the tie before Stephens scored the final five points to keep NL ahead 23-19 heading into the break.
Waverly (14-10) opened the third with a 6-2 run behind Sawyer Myers to tie the game. That was just before two free throws from Alexander put the Tigers ahead 27-25.
“When we’re up and when we’re engaged, we’re pretty solid,” Jarrett said. “I felt like we just extended it a bit more and played a little more physical. We kind of mixed some things up with [New Lexington’s Stephens and Lane Ratliff] giving us some fits, especially [Stephens] early. So again, I just felt like we played more aggressive in the second half. It allowed us to get out and go and gave our guys confidence and energy.”
They wouldn’t trail again throughout the rest of the night.
Kai Keesee buried a triple and Landyn Russell scored again to push the Tigers’ lead to 32-28 heading to the fourth.
As the clock continued to wind down, New Lexington couldn’t get the ball to drop. Open shots weren’t falling like they did in the first quarter, and reality began to set in.
Alexander and Garrett Rosenberger converted buckets before free throws won out the night for the Tigers, punching the Tigers’ district final ticket.
“When we reversed the ball and got into some of our offense, and again, took a couple of deep breaths and settled in a little bit, we went on a little run, controlled tempo and hit free throws down the stretch,” Jarrett said.
Alexander finished the night with 20 points and four rebounds, while McBride and Myers added seven points each.
For New Lexington (7-17), Stephens finished with 19 points and five rebounds.
Waverly returns to action at 6 p.m., Thursday in a Division IV district final against Circleville, who defeated Gallia Academy to advance.
That game will also happen at Ohio University’s Convocation Center.
“We’ve seen [Circleville] a lot on film here recently and they’re just big and athletic,” Jarrett said. “They have a couple of guards who can really go and they have size and athleticism. So we know we’re going to have to play a similar style that New Lexington just tried to play with us. We’ll have be solid and disciplined and make [Circleville] earn everything. Trying to contain them in the full court will be a big key for us, for sure.”
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