Brock Netter, Editor
Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by OhioHealth.
ATHENS — All it took was one big quarter.
After a rough first half, for both teams, all changed in the third when Unioto suddenly woke up and Logan Elm couldn’t match the firepower.
The Shermans blitzed the Braves by a 17-3 margin in the frame and ran away with a 48-22 victory in a Division IV district semifinal on Sunday.
“We’ve been a defensive team first and foremost all year, and I thought our guys did a really good job on that side of the ball,” Unioto coach Matt Combs said. “Logan Elm is a really good team with three guys who can really shoot the ball well, and we only gave up two 3’s in the first, and three points in the third quarter. Great defensive game by our guys.”
CREDIT: Brock Netter/SOSA
Unioto (19-3) jumped all over the Braves early as Dawson Mitchell and Jack Welch each scored before a pair of steal and buckets from Isaac Coy and Jaxon Zickafoose put them ahead 10-3 after the first quarter.
Logan Elm (13-11) scored in the opening minute of the game in the first, and didn’t score again until 2:58 left in the second.
However, the issue for the Shermans were that they went ice cold from the field.
Unioto pushed their lead to 14-3, but didn’t seize full control of the game.
LE finally provided an answer with a bucket from Doren Patton, followed by another from Owen Russell. Zaiden Seimer then buried a triple to make it a 15-11 score at halftime.
WATCH: Unioto’s Jaxon Zickafoose and Jack Welch discuss win over Logan Elm
PHOTOS: Images from Unioto’s district semifinal win over Logan Elm
“I thought our defensive ball pressure was really good, and we needed every bit of it considering how we struggled in the first half,” Combs said. “That was one thing that worried me a bit was that Logan Elm is really good defensively in the half court. We were taking good shots, but this court will bait you into taking some deep shots because of that double line and we just weren’t connecting.”
Welch and Fitch connected on buckets midway through the third before Zickafoose dialed one up from distance for a 7-0 run, putting the Shermans ahead 22-11.
From that moment on, it was all gas, no brakes.
Fitch buried a jumper, Coy got a steal and sent an assist to Zickafoose, Brayden Harsha scored, and Welch connected from deep to end the frame as the Shermans seized a 32-14 lead.
They shifted into cruise control from that point on.
“There were a lot of games we watched on livestreams, and one thing we noticed was how deep teams were shooting the ball,” Combs said. “We talked a lot about spatial recognition, and it gets easier shooting on the court every time you play in the Convo. It helped that we got a couple transition points to get us going in the third after five empty trips to start the third, and getting those easy ones made things a little easier.”
Zickafoose finished with 13 points, followed by Fitch with 11. Mitchell added eight points and 10 rebounds.
Unioto returns to action at 8:15 p.m., Thursday in a Division IV district final against Washington, who defeated Meigs to advance.
That game will also take place at Ohio University’s Convocation Center.
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