John Bruce, Staff Writer
Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by OhioHealth.
WAVERLY — In a physical battle between two top-tier teams on Monday, Wheelersburg was able to outlast Waverly to force a tie atop the Southern Ohio Conference standings.
The Pirates, who once trailed 18-9 in the early goings, gritted out a 45-39 victory over the Tigers.
Wheelersburg (9-4, 4-1 SOC III) only hit half of its 26 free throw attempts. But the combination of Ava Artrip and Jaylinn Prather knocked down their final six attempts to push the Pirates past the finish line for a huge win.
Waverly (11-3, 4-1 SOC III) began the night of attrition with a big push from senior Paige O’Bryant, who scored five points and pulled down five rebounds in the opening quarter to give her team an early 10-6 lead. Wheelersburg’s Myles Bailey answered by burying a triple late in the stanza to make it a one-point game through eight minutes of action.
The Tigers began the second with an 8-0 run behind treys from Taryn Gillott and Hadley Ramsey, along with a pair of free throws from O’Bryant, to give themselves their largest lead of the game at 18-9.
Finally, a hard–fought interior score from senior Peyton May helped the Pirates put a stop to the Tigers’ run.
“It was a tough environment on the road and it’s against a team that had been playing really well with a lot of confidence,” Wheelersburg coach Dusty Spradlin said. “While [May] struggled a little bit early, she did impact the game. She got some second shots, picked up a foul or two on Paige [O’Bryant] and was very good rebounding the ball. [Waverly] does a really good job of attacking the basket and she was huge tonight to be in position and show some of that leadership.”
While May’s play was key, it would be a pair of underclassmen that ultimately helped take the game over for Wheelersburg.
Artrip and Lainey Skeenes each knocked down a pair of 3-pointers to close out the half, with extra effort from May and Makenzie Mullins to keep possessions alive before the youngsters dialed up shots from deep.
Each of the four bombs were hit in the final 2:10 of the second quarter, giving ‘Burg some much-needed momentum, and a 25-21 lead, as the teams headed into the locker rooms.
PHOTOS: Images from Wheelersburg’s win over Waverly
Each team turned up the defensive pressure to begin the second half, leading to a lot of whistles and fouls adding up for each side. The teams combined for only three made field goals in the quarter, but the Pirates were able to methodically extend their lead to 33-28 heading to the fourth.
To begin the final quarter of action, Prather helped extend the lead with two midrange jumpers that sandwiched a triple from O’Bryant. Meanwhile, Waverly freshman Calli Knight began to make an impact by getting to the paint and scoring at the basket. Plus, a deep triple from teammate Sadie Royster cut Wheelersburg’s lead to 39-37 with only 1:50 to play.
But with only two team fouls in the quarter, the Tigers had to up their pressure, leading to Gillott and Royster each fouling out — and Artrip stepped to the line to coolly knock down a pair at the stripe with 37.9 to play.
Following a defensive stop, Artrip did it again with 20.9 to play to all but seal the win.
“I had said that last year, Mia [Vastine] took a lot of those late free throws. Ava was on the floor but Mia was the floor general,” Spradlin said. “So it’s a big step for her to be like that this season. I thought she did a really good job tonight. For us, we have not shot the ball well from the free throw line. So it’s a little bit of growth. But all it does right now is put us both at the top. We just have to keep working.”
Waverly’s Whitley Brown scored the night’s final points for the Tigers, before Prather completely iced the win in the final seconds by converting another pair of freebies.
Alongside the foul trouble, Waverly also struggled mightily at the free throw line in the final quarter, only making one of its final eight attempts, which ultimately gave the Pirates the chance to close out the game themselves at the line.
Overall, Waverly was 13-of-25 from the charity stripe while Wheelersburg was actually a little worse, going 13-of-26. The biggest difference was when the Pirates started to convert, which was late and with a lead.
The loss would be the first in the past nine starts for Waverly. O’Bryant led the way with 17 points, 11 rebounds and 5 blocks before also fouling out late in the game. Knight and Royster each added 6 points to the Tigers’ totals.
Artrip led the Pirates with 17 points while Skeenes added 9. May tossed in 7 points of her own to go with her 12 rebounds.
While the Tigers attempt to bounce back on Thursday in league play against South Webster, Wheelersburg will host Valley that same evening.
“I had a feeling going into this season that people better not sleep on teams like Valley, South Webster and so on,” Spradlin said. “All the way through this league, if you’re not there to play your best that night, anybody can beat you. It should be a fun finish to it.”
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