PDT Sports Writer

WAVERLY - The Wheelersburg Pirates doubled Waverly's scoring output in the second quarter and rode that momentum to a 50-37 victory at Waverly's Downtown Arena on Tuesday.

The win takes the Pirates to 5-2 on the year and 3-1 in the SOC II. The loss drops Waverly to 1-4 on the season and 1-3 in the league.

The Pirates were led by Elon University signee Drew Spradlin with 15 points and six rebounds. The senior also had a steal and a pair of blocks to his credit.

“It was a good night for us,” said Spradlin. “We played together tonight. They were pretty intense defensively and you expect that. They have a lot of good athletes. So I was glad we came out and answered the bell.”

Two other Pirates scored in double figures. Matt Jenkins had 11 points and Andy Stegman had a double-double with 10 points and 11 boards.

The story of the night was Waverly's inability to generate any offense outside of their senior post player Trevor Walls.

Walls, who produced more than half of the Tigers' offense, led the team with a game-high 21 points. Walls also grabbed three rebounds, had one steal and blocked five shots in the losing effort.

Waverly's other Trevor, Trevor Arnett finished with nine points all coming from behind the arc. Waverly's duo of Trevors consisted for more than 81 percent of the Waverly output.

“Defensively, we did a pretty good job of contesting shots,” Wheelersburg coach Tom Barrick said. “The Walls kid is going to get points because he's a good player. With his size and the way he can put it on the floor, and the way he can shoot it from the perimeter, he's going to score some points. It's just one of those things where you just have to try to shut down everyone else.”

Waverly's ship sank fast in the second half. The Tigers started the third on drought that lasted until 3:19 mark of the third period.

During this drought, the Pirates stretched their halftime lead of nine to 15, the Tigers fought back with five straight points from Trevor Walls, including at deep ball and an old-fashion three-point play by Mason Good had the Pirates' lead down to nine going into the final stanza.

The Tigers had trouble starting in the fourth quarter too. Waverly didn't convert their first field goal of the last quarter until the 4:42 mark. The Tigers only made two field goals in the final stanza going 2-for-10 from the floor through the last eight minutes. The only points not scored by the pair of Trevors in the second half was Good's three-point play with 48 seconds left in the third quarter.

The Pirates forced 16 Waverly turnovers in the contest and shot 54 percent from the field. All of this while holding Waverly to a 34 percent showing from the floor and completely shutting down Waverly's offense outside if Walls.

The teams played evenly through the first quarter with the scored tied at 10. Waverly took its only lead of the game early in the second quarter at 12-10. The Pirates opened u a lead with aide from an 11-4 spurt and had the lead to eight at the break on a three-pointer at the buzzer by Jenkins.

In the second half Waverly went 6-of-18 from the field and committed 11 turnovers. Waverly just could not get offense running as Wheelersburg was able to go on the road in the SOC and pick up a big win.

BRET BEVENS can be reached at (740)-353-3101 ext. 242.

Wheelersburg 10 16 12 12 - 50

Waverly 10 8 11 8 - 37

Wheelersburg - Jenkins 4 2 11, Cook 3 1 8, Spradlin 7 1 15, Lang 2 0 4, A. Stegman 4 2 10, M. Stegman 1 0 2; Totals 21 6 50.

Waverly - Arnett 3 0 9, Conley 1 0 2, Walls 8 4 21, Good 1 1 3, Martin 1 0 2; Totals 14 5 37.

3-pointers - Wheelersburg 2 (Jenkins, Cook); Waverly 4 (Arnett 3, Walls)

Record - Wheelersburg 5-2, (3-1); Waverly 1-4, (1-3)