NEW BOSTON — The New Boston Tigers boys basketball team didn’t bat an eye during Friday night’s 51-47 comeback victory over Symmes Valley inside Homer Pellegrinon Gymnasium.

That feature has been a staple of Tiger teams during head coach Adam Cox’s tenure — and this time was no different.

Thanks to a late-game defensive switch to its full-court press, which resulted in Viking turnovers and capitalization of offensive opportunities, New Boston overcame an 18-point fourth-quarter deficit for their ninth win of the ‘22-23 season.

New Boston scored just 23 points in the first 24 minutes of game action, trailing Symmes Valley 41-23 entering the final eight-minute period.

In the fourth, which likely felt like an entirety to the Vikings as their lead shrank and shrank some more, the Tigers out-scored their guests 28-6 to come away with the four-point win.

“We were going to try and save our press for the late game. We didn’t want to get down 18 to use it, but we weren’t going to press until late when legs were tired and we felt we could take advantage of it. We made the right reads, the right substitutions, and every kid contributed,” Cox said, after the game. “From Luke Henson playing defense, to Jake Cahill’s blocks, Dalton Jackson’s rebounds, Myles Beasley, Devin Maynard and Tyreke Lewis hitting threes. It just started getting contagious and they started feeding off of each other. My kids didn’t quit on me and I’m so grateful to coach this great group of kids.”

New Boston scored the final 13 points by either team in the last 1:10 of the game, a run that started with a made three-pointer by freshman Tyreke Lewis.

Senior Myles Beasley sank a three-pointer with under 30 seconds left that gave New Boston a lead for the first time since the first quarter at 49-47.

Following another Viking turnover, it was Beasley who iced the game at the foul line — increasing their edge to two possessions with a pair of free throws (51-47).

Beasley led all New Boston scorers with 13 points, all of which came in the second half.

“Coach Cox just told us to keep pushing and don’t give up. We’ve been down before and come back, that we needed to keep playing,” Beasley said. “And my gosh, everyone on the team did that. We really just kept believing that if we kept going we’d be able to do it and by the end, we had the lead.”

Senior Devin Maynard sank a pair of three-pointers during their fourth quarter comeback that were crucial during their late run.

Senior Dalton Jackson finished second on the team with 12 points, going 8-of-12 at the foul line.

Junior Devin Allard scored each of his nine points during the first half, while senior Luke Henson finished with three points thanks to a a second-quarter triple.

New Boston celebrated the comeback with their families, former players, community members, and with Cox.

It took less than six seasons for the sixth-year coach to achieve his 100th career win at the school, and thanks to a wild comeback, it’s a night the program and staff won’t be soon to forget.

“I’ve had a good number of coaches in my six years and everyone has contributed in some way to being a part of this,” Cox said. “It felt like it was meant to be this way — for us to fight through adversity, to get the crowd into it, for us to make a run and come back and win. It made for such a memorable night for me, my family. We’re grateful to be a part of the community and I wouldn’t trade my time in the village for anything.”

“It was fantastic. There’s nothing better than a comeback win and a win that close,” Beasley said. “Nothing more dramatic than getting your 100th win for your coach on that, so it’s great.”

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BOX SCORE

Symmes Valley 14 12 15 6 — 47

New Boston 7 11 5 28 — 51

Symmes Valley (6-9, 4-6 SOC I): Levi Ross 1 0-0 2, Braden Corn 1 0-0 3, Jacob Cade 1 3-4 6, Logan Simpkins 0 0-0 0, Andan Taylor 1 2-2 5, Aleck Beckett 4 0-0 8, Josh Saunders 3 1-2 9, Ethan Smith 5 3-5 14, Will Jones 0 0-1 0; TOTALS: 16 9-14 47; Three-point field goals: 6 (Josh Saunders 2, Braden Corn, Jacob Cade, Andan Taylor and Ethan Smith 1 apiece)

New Boston (9-7, 6-4 SOC I): Devin Allard 4 0-0 9, Devin Maynard 3 0-0 9, Tyreke Lewis 2 0-0 5, Myles Beasley 4 2-2 13, Luke Henson 1 0-0 3, Jacob Cahill 0 0-0 0, Dalton Jackson 2 8-12 12, Ector Brady 0 0-0 0, Levigh Cooper 0 0-0 0; TOTALS: 16 10-14 51; Three-point field goals: 9 (Devin Maynard and Myles Beasley 3 apiece, Devin Allard, Tyreke Lewis and Luke Henson 1 apiece)

Reach Jacob Smith at (740) 370-0713 ext. 1930, by email at [email protected], or on Twitter @JacobSmithPDT © 2023 Portsmouth Daily Times, all rights reserved