Circleville leaves everything on floor, falls to Maysville in regional final

John Bruce, Staff Writer

ATHENS – So close, yet so far.

For a little over two quarters, Circleville played right with the defending Division IV state champions on Saturday.

However, the Maysville Panthers were able to show why they are the favorites to repeat as they ballooned a 35-34 lead into a 72-52 regional championship win to earn their third straight Final 4 trip.

“It was a quick turnaround and our guys, they know that Maysville is the defending state champion.” Circleville coach Evan Callihan said. “We had a chance to play them last year in camp, so we knew what to expect. The game plan was to be tough and physical. We wanted them to, at least, know who we are. We wanted to give ourselves a chance in the fourth quarter and I feel like we did that. We, at least, had a chance. We fought the best we could, with toughness, and we didn’t back down.”

The Tigers (23-3) roared out of the gates with a 6-0 lead in the opening three minutes of play, thanks to a pair of baskets from Riley Jenkins and another from Blain Fowler.

As Maysville (26-1) began to find its footing against the Tigers’ defense with a pair of triples from Jordyn Watson and Landon Iden, Circleville still had an answer with a trey from Kole Nungester. 

With the Tigers thriving in the half-court game, the Panthers started to turn up the pressure to speed the game up, which led to turnovers and. Those, in turn, led to more triples, coming from Watson and Gator Nichols to give Maysville its first lead of the game, late in the quarter.

An inside finish from Circleville’s Ed Kirk tied the game at 13-13 at the end of the frame.

Circleville still didn’t back down in the second with Nungester drilling a pair of 3-pointers before an old-fashioned three-point play from Jenkins gave the Tigers a 24-18 lead with 3:33 to play in the half. 

But that would be the last time the Tigers had the lead as Maysville stormed to a 12-0 run over the next two-plus minutes, capped with a putback score from Kane Roehrig with 1:01 to play in the second.

After the teams traded interior baskets, Jack Kline brought the Circleville crowd to their feet as he splashed a deep triple at the buzzer to cut Maysville’s lead to 32-29 at the break. 

“I felt like we honestly, played one of our best halves of the season and were still down three” Callihan said. “That’s just how good they are.”

In the first half, the Tigers held Ohio Mr. Basketball finalist Gator Nichols to only eight points. But that would change in a big way in the second.

Nichols exploded for 20 points in the final two quarters, while also passing out four assists, leading to an impressive half from Gavin Ferguson, who had all eight of his points in third and fourth quarters.

Circleville did what it could to compete, but once the Panthers shaped the tempo to their liking, it was an uphill battle for the Tigers. 

“They just have so many weapons,” Callihan said of Maysville. “It’s really hard to stop the bleeding when it starts. But hats off to them. They’re the best team in the state for a reason. It showed tonight.”

Even though Jenkins and Kline were able to score in bunches in the second half, the Panthers were ultimately just too much to handle as they won the second half by a 40-23 margin to earn their third consecutive regional title.

Nichols led all scorers on the evening with 28 points, while Watson added 15 to the Panthers’ totals. Iden was also in double figures for the high-flying Panthers with 13 points of his own.

Circleville was led in scoring by Jenkins with 17 points while Kline also reached double figures with 10. Nungester passed out six assists to go alongside nine points, and Fowler and Kirk each added eight points for the Tigers.

Circleville finishes its season with the most wins in program history, and as MSL-Buckeye champions for the first time in program history. The Tigers also earned their first district championship since 1997 and made their first Elite 8 appearance since 1976.

“We started around Pumpkin Show and we’ve played all the way to spring break,” Callihan said. “It’s a long season. There’s not a lot of people that want to put in that work. So I’m proud of this group. But our seniors paved the way. They set an expectation. We’ll always be remembered, together. No one can ever take that away from us. We played four games at the Convo, and that’s a place this program hasn’t been in for awhile. So I think we gained some respect around the district and I think, at least, when people see Circleville, they’re going to get a team that plays hard and just fights.”

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