SCIOTOVILLE — A crucial rebound by Keagan Barker, and a Kaiden Huston steal, preserved a 56-53 win for East — in a Southern Ohio Conference Division I boys basketball game against New Boston Glenwood on Friday night at East High School.
With 15.1 seconds left, Glenwood’s Tyreke Lewis drove to the hole for the bucket and the foul for a three-point play — cutting the Tartans’ lead to 54-53.
After a free throw by Huston gave East a 55-53 lead, Lewis had the ball for Glenwood — and drove to the hole but missed the shot.
Barker, in heavy traffic, pulled down the rebound — and was fouled and sent to the line, where he made one of two for the 56-53 lead.
Then with .8 seconds left, Glenwood had the ball at halfcourt — when Huston picked off the inbounds pass to keep the Tigers from attempting a game-winning or game-tying shot.
“Those were two big defensive plays at the end,” East coach Adam Bailey said. “If you look through the game there are other plays to talk about, but in that moment and making those two plays at the time we did was definitely big.”
Huston, who finished the game with 10 points, said he knew he needed to make a big play.
“I had to step up for me team,” the 5-11 junior said. “It was an in-the-moment-thing and I saw the play unfold and was able to get to the ball.”
Barker, who posted 15 points and 14 rebounds for the Tartans, said the conference win was not an easy task.
Since the 2018 season, the Tigers had not lost to the Tartans —a streak of 10 consecutive wins, which was snapped on Friday night.
“It just felt amazing,” Barker said. “I just can’t explain it. To be able to end the game that way and get the big win here against our rivals — it was just amazing.”
Glenwood (8-11, 4-5 SOC I) started the final period with a 6-0 run, highlighted by back-to-back steals for layups from Jayse Tabor and Devin Allard — to cut the Tartan lead to 46-44.
But East countered and got a Barker bucket and one from Brysen Knighten on a nifty no-look pass by Amani Brown — that was set up by a steal from Cameron Justice, boosting the lead to 50-44.
“Super proud of Cam,” Bailey said of his guard Justice. “He doesn’t fill a lot of the normal stat boxes, but he fills the ones that a lot of people don’t see. He’s a leader for us. He handled himself well tonight and the stuff he did tonight was crucial for this win.”
A steal by Glenwood’s Colt Maynard led to an Allard layup, cutting the lead to 52-50 with 42.5 seconds left.
But Huston made a shot on a strong drive to the hole for the Tartans — to go back up by four points, and the Tigers were unable to tie or grab the lead.
“We just couldn’t get over the hump,” Tigers coach Adam Cox said.
The Tartans broke the game open in the second quarter, and outscored Glenwood 17-7.
East went on a 9-0 run to start that second period — that featured a Brown three-pointer and a Huston putback from a missed shot.
Brown led the way for East with 16 points, and added three assists and four rebounds.
“We just waited too long to start playing basketball,” Cox added. “We didn’t have the urgency in the second quarter that we need to have. (East) came ready to play and they were pumped up and they played a great game.”
A Brown finger-roll for two, and a Barker bucket inside followed by a layup from Huston off an assist pass from Justice, put East ahead 33-21.
Hayden Conkel converted off a no-look pass from Brown for the 35-22 halftime lead for the Tartans.
“I thought we played real well early in the game — especially in the second quarter.” Bailey said. “We had nice tempo and kids were making the plays and shots.”
But Glenwood made its adjustments, and came out and outscored East 16-11 in the third quarter to get back into the game.
Allard, a 6-3 senior, attacked the rim and kissed a shot off the glass — followed by a runner to the hoop to cut the East lead to 39-31.
A layup by T.J. Curnutte, and a Tabor putback for two for Glenwood, cut the East lead to 46-38 at the end of the third.
But East (8-10, 3-6) held off the 15-10 New Boston run in the fourth quarter for the win.
“That’s the best I’ve seen East play, and we missed a lot of easy shots,” Cox added. “We fought all the way back and just fell short. When you wait that long to play, that’s what happens.”
Allard led the way for Glenwood with 20 points, while Tabor added 16.
“I thought we defended well all night which was key to the win,” Bailey said. “I thought we rebounded the ball extremely well. On offense, we had multiple kids step up for moments and make big plays for us. It’s good to see at the end of the year we are playing better. This was a rivalry game and a big win for us.”
* * *
New Boston 15 7 16 15 —53
East 18 17 11 10 —56
NEW BOSTON 53 (8-11, 4-5 SOC I)
Devin Allard 8 3-4 20, Jayse Tabor 6 3-5 16, Tyreke Lewis 2 1-3 6, T.J. Curnutte 3 0-0 8, Levigh Cooper 1 0-0 3; TOTALS 20 7-12 53; Three-point goals: 6 (T.J. Curnutte 2, Devin Allard, Jayse Tabor, Tyreke Lewis and Levigh Cooper 1 apiece)
EAST 56 (8-10, 3-6 SOC I)
Keagan Barker 7 1-4, 15, Kaiden Huston 4 2-3 10, Cameron Justice 1 0-0 3, Amani Brown 7 0-1 16, Hayden Conkel 2 0-1 4, Brysen Knighten 4 0-0 8; TOTALS 25 3-9 56; Three-point goals 3 (Amani Brown 2, Cameron Justice 1)
