Wheelersburg senior Devon Lattimore (11) goes up for a basket as Minford junior Bennett Kayser (41) defends during Saturday night’s Southern Ohio Conference Division III boys basketball game at Wheelersburg High School.

Courtesy of Erica Fike

WHEELERSBURG — Simply put, if you’re going to win this division, you had better protect the home court.

For the Wheelersburg Pirates — on Saturday night against the experienced, talented and highly-touted Minford Falcons in front of a jam-packed Pirate Country— they did just that.

So much so in fact, anytime the Falcons forged ahead, the young Pirates seized the lead right back —and ultimately prevailed 60-58 in a hard-fought Southern Ohio Conference Division III affair, the crowd overflowing rows deep at Wheelersburg High School.

Speaking of overflowing, there were “buckets” of joy for the Jolly Roger gang —as Wheelersburg only trailed Minford for an estimated two-and-a-half minutes.

That’s right — buckets aplenty on the basketball court, one day after Friday’s inches-plus snowfall forced the game to be postponed by a single night.

“We talk to the kids a lot about filling their spiritual, mental and physical buckets. When those individual buckets are overflowing and full, they are able to pour into the team bucket,” said second-year Wheelersburg coach Alex Prater. “So all those moments tonight, we needed those buckets overflowing.”

The host Pirates, which also played a challenging non-league tilt on Tuesday night at Zane Trace and won 62-57 in overtime, raised their record to 11-3 —and to 4-0 in the first-season SOC III.

They went a game up on Minford in the division standings, as the Falcons fell to 3-1 in the league —part of now 10-2.

Minford, meanwhile, had its non-league home bout against Portsmouth on Tuesday night get postponed — whereas Wheelersburg was battle-tested from four nights earlier, and already had one game during the wintry week under its belt.

“A lot of it is preparing for your league schedule by using your non-league schedule to really challenge your kids. Tuesday night was a great challenge for our kids, they faced a lot of adversity at Zane Trace, and responded to it and was able to gut out a win,” praised Prater. “I think some of those skills showed up tonight and paid off for us.”

Still, it all came down to the final five seconds —as Wheelersburg sophomore Braylon Rucker split a pair of free throws for the 60-58 lead.

The Falcons, without any timeouts left, had a chance for the tie or win —but the Pirates played good defense on that final possession, as Minford senior Jeffrey Pica’s off-balance attempt was defended and missed.

Minford senior Jeffrey Pica (11) puts up a shot in front of Wheelersburg defender Logan Adkins (14) during Saturday night’s Southern Ohio Conference Division III boys basketball game at Wheelersburg High School.

Courtesy of Erica Fike

At the end, the Wheelersburg gym floor resembled a Pirate mob scene.

The hotly-contested encounter was quite physical and definitely close all the way —with Wheelersburg’s largest lead being eight, at 43-35 with two minutes remaining in the third quarter.

There were only two ties amid six lead changes, at 48-48 and 57-57 —as Wheelersburg senior Devon Lattimore scored with only a minute and 20 seconds to go, for the 59-57 Pirate advantage.

But inside the final half-minute really got interesting — and in a hurry.

With Wheelersburg leading 59-58, and with possession and the Falcons forced to foul, Minford junior Bennett Kayser came up with a steal — as the Falcons had a pair of shots to take the lead.

Those attempts included a missed three-pointer by Myles Montgomery, and Kayser’s runner in the lane with 10 seconds showing.

Kayser then fouled Rucker running the clock out, setting up his split of free throws with five seconds to go.

Rucker got the foul-shot split, Wheelersburg got the game-winning stop, and the Pirates’ process of producing a massive victory was indeed complete.

“I thought defensively we battled all night. Minford is very talented offensively and very athletic, they provided a ton of challenges. But our guys just battled and stayed with the process, understanding that good teams are going to score,” said Prater. “We’re trying to limit them and make it difficult for them and make them earn it. I thought we did that for the most part.”

While the Falcons only committed six turnovers compared to a dozen for the Pirates, Wheelersburg forced them into only 30-percent shooting (6-of-20) from three-point territory.

The Pirates shot a sizzling 54-percent (26-of-48), including 6-of-18 (33-percent) from long distance —and answered every Minford run with one of immediacy.

“We talk a lot about basketball being a game of runs. When you’re playing a good team, they are going to make runs. And we have to do a good job of making runs right back at them. I liked the look of our kids and the way they were playing,” explained Prater. “It just felt like every time Minford made a play, we were looking to make a play right back. Credit to our kids for being resilient and handling those pressure situations.”

The Pirates held seven-point first-half leads of 10-3, 17-10 and 19-12, but the Falcons went on an 11-2 run over a 2:53 second-quarter span to go ahead 23-21 —only to see Rucker respond with a three-point goal a minute-and-a-half later.

It was Rucker’s second of his four threes —as he finished with a game-high 19 points, 15 of which were through the opening three periods.

Wheelersburg sophomore Braylon Rucker (10) poured in a game-high 19 points in leading the host Pirates to a 60-58 Southern Ohio Conference Division III boys basketball victory over Minford on Saturday night.

Courtesy of Erica Fike

Speaking of the third, that’s when Wheelersburg twice led by six at 35-29 and 41-35 —before the Pirates’ largest margin at 43-35 at the two-minute mark.

But another Falcon fury, this one a 10-3 splurge, saw Minford get within 46-45 entering the fourth.

That’s when the Falcons took their final two leads —at 47-46 for 35 seconds and 50-48 for a mere 20 seconds.

Rucker’s final of his four treys, off the wing with 4:45 to play, was the final of the six lead changes —as Lattimore led the charge from there.

He scored 16 points on eight baskets, with seven field goals and 14 points following halftime —eight points of which were in the fourth.

Three Pirates posted six points apiece — Landon McGraw and Hunter Bivens with three deuces each, and Xander Mowery with a pair of three-balls.

Luke Swords scored two second-half field goals for four points, but his most impactful play was a monster blocked shot on the scoring machine Montgomery.

Logan Adkins added three first-half points, as the Pirates played eight players compared to only six for the Falcons.

All eight made key contributions, as Prater raved about.

“We have a deep team, so on any given night, multiple guys can step up for us,” he said. “Braylon (Rucker) had some really good moments, then Devon (Lattimore) had some really good moments late. I thought Hunter Bivens had some great moments in the first half, helped us get the lead. Landon McGraw had some huge rebounds that we don’t win without. Xander (Mowery) hits two big threes, playing under the weather and battling through and staying engaged and competing for us. Luke Swords has stayed with the process and trusted his preparation and has worked really hard to be able to play in a game like tonight.”

Both teams played a lot of zone defense, and Wheelersburg was only 2-of-4 for free throws — while Minford made 4-of-7, but all three misses came in the decisive fourth quarter, including with the Falcons trailing 59-57 and with 58 seconds left.

Pica had three points, as the Falcon foursome of Kayser (13 points), Montgomery (14 points), fellow junior Jackson Shoemaker (14 points) and senior Troy Rhodes (14 points) all exhibited balance.

Minford junior Jackson Shoemaker (41) puts up a shot between Wheelersburg defenders Devon Lattimore (11), Landon McGraw (24) and Luke Swords (20) during Saturday night’s Southern Ohio Conference Division III boys basketball game at Wheelersburg High School.

Courtesy of Erica Fike

Rhodes rained in three threes, Montgomery made two and Shoemaker hit one, while Kayser connected for six baskets —one a second-quarter three-point play.

Unfortunately and sadly, due to the passing of a Minford senior student, Tuesday night’s (Jan. 23) SOC III duel between Waverly and the host Falcons was postponed.

Wheelersburg, meanwhile, was on the road on Tuesday night —at West.

In addition to defending home court, it always indeed helps — if you’re going to in fact win the division — to steal a couple away from home.

But for Wheelersburg, protecting the full house Pirate Country on Saturday night was first things first.

“Just a complete team effort tonight,” said Prater. “Really proud of the kids and coaching staff for a great team effort all the way around.”

* * *

Minford 10 17 18 13 – 58

Wheelersburg 15 16 15 14 — 60

MINFORD 58 (10-2, 3-1 SOC III)

Troy Rhodes 5 1-3 14, Kade Glockner 0 0-0 0, Myles Montgomery 6 0-0 14, Jeffrey Pica 1 1-2 3, Jackson Shoemaker 6 1-1 14, Bennett Kayser 6 1-1 13; TOTALS 24 4-7 58; Three-point goals: 6 (Troy Rhodes 3, Myles Montgomery 2 and Jackson Shoemaker 1)

WHEELERSBURG 60 (11-3, 4-0 SOC III)

Braylon Rucker 5 1-2 19, Devon Lattimore 8 0-0 16, Xander Mowery 2 0-0 6, Logan Adkins 1 1-2 3, Hunter Bivens 3 0-0 6, Luke Swords 2 0-0 4, Kenyon Evans 0-0 0, Landon McGraw 3 0-0 6; TOTALS 26 2-4 60; Three-point goals: 6 (Braylon Rucker 4 and Xander Mowery 2)

Reach Paul Boggs at (740) 353-3101 ext. 1926, by email at [email protected], or on X @paulboggssports © 2024 Portsmouth Daily Times, all rights reserved