Knights miss OCC share; Lady Knights finish with bang

The West Holmes Knights boys’ basketball team had their hopes of capturing a part of the Ohio Cardinal Conference championships dashed Friday, Feb. 11, when visiting Lexington eked out a 59-56 win that went down to the wire.

Both teams came into the contest with four league losses, trailing Ashland by one game. With a win, the Knights would have set up a showdown with Ashland to end their league play, but instead the taller Minutemen were able to squeak by.

After a back-and-forth beginning, Lexington inched out to a 20-15 lead, only to see West Holmes respond with a nice run to end the half leading 30-26.

However, the start of the second half was not kind to the Knights, who saw Lex rattle off 10 straight to start the third period to gain a 36-30 lead, thanks in large part to the play of Baden Forup and Hudson Moore.

The two teams went back-and-forth over the next four minutes, with Mason Wolfe’s pair of scores inside helping West Holmes remain in the game. But when Lex scored two quick buckets to take a 46-37 lead, the game teetered in the balance.

Then in a span of 22 seconds West Holmes was back in it, thanks to a technical foul on Lexington. That came on a play in which Zander Shultz was fouled, and Shultz calmly walked to the line with nobody around and sank four consecutive free throws. West Holmes then was awarded possession and Wolfe scored to make it 46-43 heading into the final period.

West Holmes would get to within 52-50 on a Channer Wells drive and Blake Morrison’s trey, but after Tyler Jackson’s driving score to go up four, the Knights would go silent offensively. Thankfully their defense would keep them in the game, and when Wells made a steal and scored with 1:11 left, the Minutemen’s lead was down to 54-52.

Jackson was fouled and missed the front end of a one-and-one, and with 28 seconds left West Holmes looked poised to score when Brock Zimmerly found himself wide open on the block. However, out of nowhere came Forup who blocked the shot. Wells would score four late points, but Lex made enough free throws down the stretch to earn the win.

Wolfe scored 17 points for the second game in a row to lead West Holmes in scoring, with Wells scoring 16, Morrison adding 13 and Shultz pitched in with seven. Lexington was led by Forum who plowed his way to 17 points while Moore added 10, Caden Eichler scored 11 and Jackson added nine.

Knights’ win gives Lex piece of OCC

While Lexington denied WHHS a share of the league title, three nights later the Knights handed Lex a share of the league crown by topping Ashland 76-62. West Holmes got a hot start and never let off the gas pedal, taking a 20-11 lead through one quarter and a 37-25 lead into the half. The Arrows closed to within seven after three, but the Knights pulled away late.

Leading WHHS in scoring was Morrison with 20 points, while Wolfe continued his string of 17-point efforts with his third straight game of 17. Wells added 16 while Shultz and Corben Miller each added 10.

Falcons’ big second half hands Garaway setback

Garaway faced Fairless in a late-season non-league contest Feb. 12, and after the two teams battled to a one-point game at the half, Fairless exploded for a monster second half en route to a 54-38 victory.

Garaway came out of the gate hot, scoring 17 points in the first period to take a five-point advantage, but by the half the Falcons had trimmed the deficit to 24-23, and Fairless had set the tone for things to come.

The crucial third quarter saw Fairless outscore Garaway 17-6, before a 14-8 edge in the final quarter completed a 33-14 second half advantage for Fairless.

Garaway was led by the duo of Marley Metzger and Rylee Putt who poured in 14 and 13 points, respectively. Putt added seven assists while Makayla Sitzlar snagged five rebounds. Fairless got a huge effort from Grace Lyon who scored 22 points, while Kam Kondrach scored 11 points to go with six boards and Gracie Ashton chipped in with 12 points.

Pirates pound Tuslaw, slip past Braves

Garaway improved to 14-4 on the year by thrashing Tuslaw 54-34 in non-league competition. Drew Mullet knocked down 16 points, while Brady Roden added a dozen. Nate Frascone led the Mustangs with 11.

“We had a great effort against Tuslaw where we held their 20-point a night scorer to nine points,” said Garaway coach Terry Rowe.

The defense continued to shine in a slobber-knocker win over Indian Valley 36-32. Garaway improved to 16-4 in a tight defensive battle, led by Alexander Roden’s 16 points. Lucas Hagan led the Braves with 10.

Lady Knights finish with a bang in win over Minerva

West Holmes’ girls’ basketball team finished off a great regular season with a come-from-behind 36-28 win over Minerva on Senior Night in the Dungeon at West Holmes High School Saturday, Feb. 12.

The game took on a defensive tone early on, with Werst Holmes gaining a small 6-4 lead after one quarter. The halftime score looked more like that of a junior high game, with the Lady Knights clinging to a 10-8 advantage. While WHHS struggled on offense, it’s always-stingy defense was doing its job and keeping West Holmes in the game.

However, Minerva broke out of its scoring doldrums with a 14-point third quarter to take a 22-19 edge heading into the final eight minutes of play.

However, Lindsy Snyder’s crew saved their best effort for the end game. After scoring a meager 19 points over the first three periods, the Lady Knights went off for 17 fourth quarter points to inch away from Minerva. Down the stretch.

A big part of that run was Keegan Uhl, who set a season-high with 13 points on the evening. Kinsey Patterson scored nine points, but completely dominated the defense end with six steals, while Ella McMillen added five points, eight rebounds and three steals, Allie McMillen scored four points and like her partner in crime Patterson grabbed six steals to go with three assists, Claire Reynolds added three points and Melanie Fair scored two point and recorded five rebounds.