Brock Netter, Editor
Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by OhioHealth.
ATHENS — It didn’t take double overtime this time.
Nor did it take a game-tying shot in overtime to keep the game alive.
It just took Kole Nungester being … well … Kole Nungester.
For the second time this season, the senior forward collected 30-plus points against Unioto on Wednesday night. Nungester finished with 31 points to lift his Tigers to a 50-48 victory over the Shermans in a Division IV regional semifinal at Ohio University — officially sending himself and his teammates to the Elite 8.
“That was a battle of two point guards who didn’t want their careers to end,” Circleville coach Evan Callihan said. “If you look at Kole Nungester and Blake Fitch, they’re two of the best point guards in the area. They just went at it. We didn’t really have an answer for Fitch and we tried a few different things. And they didn’t have an answer for Kole. That’s two great players playing a whale of a basketball game. We’re fortunate to come out on the right side of it.”
CREDIT: Raymond Gleadle/SOSA
Nungester was firing early, hitting a jumper before nailing a triple off the glass to put the Tigers (23-2) ahead 5-0 early.
Unioto (20-4) got on the board with a 3 from Jaxon Zickafoose, but the Tigers answered with an 8-0 run behind buckets from Nungester, Glavine Bigam, Blain Fowler and Riley Jenkins to go up 13-3.
“We’ve talked about getting out to a good start all year long,” Callihan said. “I felt like, early on, if you look at some of our scores, they were low scores. If you go back and look at our first quarters, when we started our win streak, I think we’ve won the majority of those first quarters. It’s a big emphasis for us. Go win that first quarter. Then, after that, it’s just about winning the next quarter. That’s what we did tonight.”
The Shermans, however, finished the frame strong with a 6-0 run, thanks to baskets from Isaac Coy, Dawson Mitchell and Jack Welch, which cut the deficit to 13-9.
Brayden Harsha scored on a runout basket to open the second, but Nungester was still firing on all cylinders as he went on a personal 7-2 run to extend the Tigers’ lead to 20-13.
Circleville continued to follow their lead as Nungester sank a triple before Jenkins and Fowler each scored inside to make it a 27-17 count at halftime.
Unioto’s Blake Fitch opened the third with a pair of buckets, only to be matched on the other end by an inside bucket from Fowler and a trifecta from Nungester as the Tigers remained ahead 32-21.
The Tigers continued to retain the lead, but the Shermans cut into it behind Fitch and Mitchell to make it 36-28 ballgame going into the final eight minutes.
The small wave of momentum Unioto managed to grab was about to turn into a full tsunami.
Fitch felt a hot hand and scored six straight points, which was followed by a steal and bucket from Coy to tie the game at 36-36, courtesy of a 15-4 run in totality.
But Nungester gave his team breathing room with three points the hard way, followed by another three points for a personal 6-0 run to push the Tigers’ lead to 42-36.
Coy and Fitch connected from the floor to bring the Shermans to within 44-40, and later to 45-42. Fowler then split a pair at the line, and Nungester hit two free throws, which was answered back by Fitch drilling a triple to make it 48-46.
Nungester, however, iced the game at the line with two late, clutch free throws to send the Tigers to their first Elite 8 appearance since 1976.
“I felt like it was going to be a battle, even when we were up 10,” Callihan said. “We knew [Unioto] wasn’t going to go away. They’re too good of a basketball team. So a lot of respect for them. Those guys play hard and they compete. We’re just fortunate to come out on the right side of it.”
Statistically, for Unioto, Fitch finished with 25 points and five rebounds.
Circleville returns to action at 2:30 on Saturday in a Division IV regional final against defending state champion Maysville, who routed John Glenn to advance.
That game will happen at Ohio University’s Convocation Center.
“Well, the team that’s waiting on us is pretty good,” Callihan said. “Maysville, they’re the defending state champions for a reason. They’ve had three different guys have 40-point games this year. They have a lot of firepower and we know that. We’ll have our hands full. But that’s what you want. If we’re seeing them again, we’ve probably had a pretty good year. We’re going to give them everything we have. I’m not naive enough to think that it’s not going to be a tough test. But it’s about competing. Together. So we’ll see what happens.”
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