Wheelersburg senior Devon Lattimore (11) goes up for a basket as Minford’s Bennett Kayser (41) and Kade Glockner (3) defend during Friday night’s Southern Ohio Conference Division III boys basketball game at Minford High School.

Courtesy of Erica Fike

MINFORD — Devon Lattimore looked as determined as ever on Friday night.

And although the Minford Falcon faithful feverishly, and quite sarcastically, waved “bye” to the Wheelersburg Pirates senior standout, honestly it was Lattimore who had the Falcons — and their fans for that matter —talking to his hand.

That’s because the six-foot and one-inch Lattimore landed a massive 37 points, and the visiting Pirates punched at least their share of the ticket to the first-ever Southern Ohio Conference Division III boys basketball championship —prevailing 67-64 inside an overflow, jam-packed and amped-up Falcons’ Nest at Minford High School.

That’s right —as the SOC expanded its divisions to three for girls and boys basketball beginning this academic year, Wheelersburg will lay claim to at least a share, following its season sweep of the Falcons, and a season split with the Division IV stronghold South Webster Jeeps.

The Pirates, which took the lead and for good with 33 seconds to play in the second quarter, raised their Jolly Roger record to 16-4 —and to 8-1 in the SOC III.

The win also, as it turned out on Sunday with the announcement of the Southeast District’s Division III postseason tournament pairings, vaulted the Pirates into the top seed.

Wheelersburg, under second-year head coach Alex Prater, will wrap up SOC III play on Friday night —by hosting rival West.

Should the Pirates triumph again, Wheelersburg will win the outright SOC III title —as a loss combined with a South Webster win at Valley will result in those two teams splitting the crown.

Had West won over visiting South Webster on Friday night, the Pirates would already be celebrating outright —but they enjoyed, or so it seemed, at least their share of it following the Falcon sweep.

Indeed, the Pirates found a true treasure chest that perhaps some observers thought they were a tad too young for —that being the first-ever SOC III championship.

“To be in this position to win the championship and to win it outright, that’s our first goal every year. It’s really a credit to our kids for all the hard work they put in…to be able to have this moment. But I admit I’m not very good at sharing,” said Prater, with a laugh in his postgame media interview. “I’d like to have this championship all to ourselves. But really proud of the kids for being in this situation and seeing it pay off for them, because of the hard work they’ve put in.”

Especially Lattimore, who erupted for a career-high 37 points —on 14 two-point goals, three three-point goals, and not one single solitary attempt at the free-throw line.

Lattimore, on Tuesday night at Valley, spearheaded the Pirates to a 76-72 double-overtime epic outlasting of the Indians, in which he went for 33 points —and scored his 1,000th career point in the process.

The former Portsmouth High standout who has started and starred at Wheelersburg in his senior season only added to his legacy against Minford — before fouling out with 46-and-a-half seconds remaining.

Lattimore did play through foul trouble, but scored 17 first-half points with his three threes —as 10 of his 14 deuces he dealt after halftime.

Those included four in the third quarter, as the Pirates staked a pair of seven-point leads at 37-30 and 41-34 — and six in the fourth frame, as Wheelersburg went ahead by seven once more at 63-56.

Whether it was driving the lane and scoring, shooting and sinking from the outside, or making steals and racing upcourt in transition, Lattimore made basket after basket —play upon play.

His memorable night ended only when he was called for a blocking foul against six-foot and five-inch Minford junior standout Bennett Kayser.

“Devon was really special tonight, on both ends of the floor,” praised Prater. “He made some big steals on the defensive end that sparked us. We were really struggling there in the first quarter and he made a couple of huge defensive plays. Then he was able to knock down some shots. Everybody plays Devon as a driver, but his threes in the first half kept us in the game and gave us a chance. Minford presents a ton of challenges, and just their length around the rim. But I thought Devon did a phenomenal job of adjusting and just playing off two feet, taking what they (Falcons defense) gave him. Couldn’t be anymore proud of that young man. Works extremely hard and is a great kid. He certainly earned the right to have the type of performance he had tonight.”

Minford was plagued by turnovers all night, including on its opening two possessions, and specifically Lattimore —more often than not — made the Falcons pay.

“That was the entire game. We’re preaching taking care of the basketball, but Wheelersburg got a big stop, turned us over and got right to a layup. Hard to beat a team like Wheelersburg when we’re making the same turnovers and mistakes every single quarter. It was hard to play from behind the entire second half. We did a good job of pressing, but we would still turn it over or miss a shot,” said veteran Minford coach Josh Shoemaker. “And I don’t know how many steals Lattimore made, but it was too many for us. He probably had at least 10 points off steals and layups at the other end. We have to have better situational awareness. He (Lattimore) is number-one on our scouting report and he is great going to his left. He did it all night tonight and we just took it. Not a good defensive effort on our end, especially against the same guy. But credit to him, he had a heckuva game.”

Until he fouled out, with Wheelersburg leading 65-61.

Kayser, with a near double-double of 24 points on nine total field goals and 6-of-10 free throws and nine rebounds, converted an old-fashioned three-point play — getting the Falcons to within one (65-64).

From there, Minford was forced to foul, and Hunter Bivens bagged big free throws for Wheelersburg with 35.6 seconds left — making it 67-64.

In fact, the only other foul shots for the Pirates all night were in the third period —a split by Kenyon Evans.

Over the next 20 seconds, Minford junior scoring machine Myles Montgomery attempted two trey tries but missed, although the Falcons got the offensive rebound — and called timeout with 15.2 seconds to go.

Out of that timeout, Montgomery got two more looks at the rim beyond the arc, but missed both again — including from the solid corner with time expiring.

The loss left the Falcons at 13-4 and 5-3 in the SOC III —having been swept by Wheelersburg, and losing at South Webster 64-62 in overtime on the Friday night prior.

Minford junior Myles Montgomery (10) goes up for a basket as Wheelersburg’s Luke Swords defends during Friday night’s Southern Ohio Conference Division III boys basketball game at Minford High School.

Courtesy of Erica Fike

In addition to Kayser’s 24, Montgomery actually paced the Falcons with 26 points —also on nine total field goals and 6-of-7 foul shots.

Troy Rhodes rained in two first-quarter trifectas towards 10 points, as the Falcons forged first-period leads of 14-7, 16-9 and 18-11.

Prater admitted it was a slow start for his Pirates, which actually won the game with only a mere offensive rebound.

“The first quarter, we didn’t play real well. We weren’t guarding the way we need to guard. And offensively, we weren’t real happy with our execution. To be down seven after one is not an ideal situation, but credit to the kids for refocusing,” said the coach. “We made some adjustments in the second quarter, we switched and went man-to-man, and we sat down and guarded really well. That allowed us to get out in transition at times, and I thought in the halfcourt we were really unselfish.”

After trailing 3-2 only a minute into the contest, Wheelersburg went ahead with 33 seconds showing on the second-quarter clock — on a Landon McGraw bucket that made it 32-30.

That stood as the halftime tally, as the Pirates had battled back into it —forcing the Falcons into turnovers and subsequent transition points, along with getting both Montgomery and Kayser into foul trouble with two apiece.

“We had to adjust the gameplan in the first quarter. Give Minford credit for doing some things to take advantage of what were giving them defensively. I thought we had to adjust on the fly a lot tonight, and our kids really stayed in the moment and stayed bought in,” said Prater. “Big basketball games are going to be games of runs. I thought every time Minford made a run, our kids stayed engaged and we were able to make a run right back at them.”

One of those key comebacks —seven unanswered ending the second quarter to take the two-point halftime lead.

McGraw, who followed Lattimore with 15 points which included six twos, knocked down a triple from the top of the key with 67 seconds left.

Xander Mowery made a steal and assisted to Lattimore, and finally McGraw’s good jumper gave the Pirates the lead for good.

It was the Pirates’ first lead since 2-0, as there were three ties at 25-25, 30-30 and finally 42-42.

Following that final deadlock, the Pirates maintained anywhere from a two-point to seven-point margin —the closest Minford got was the 65-64 deficit on Lattimore’s foul out.

“We were up 30-25 and Burg finishes the half with a 7-0 run. That’s a huge momentum swing right there because we lose the game by three,” said Shoemaker. “We have to do a better job of moving our feet on defense and staying out of foul trouble, but the name of the game is taking care of the basketball. You want to win the league title, you have to take care of the ball. We just gave away too many free possessions.”

Wheelersburg won the opening meeting on Jan. 20 —60-58 in Pirate Country.

After two hotly-contested regular-season SOC matchups, it’s possible the two could square off for a third time —inside Ohio University’s Convocation Center in the Division III Region 11 tournament.

The Falcons are the second-seeded squad in the Southeast District Division III tourney —and opposite the bracket of the Pirates.

Shoemaker conceded the SOC III championship, and said it’s time for his Falcons to quickly regroup.

“Credit to Coach (Alex) Prater and Wheelersburg. They are the SOC (III) champs and they beat us on our home court, so they deserve it,” he said. “We need to learn from this loss and not feel sorry for ourselves. It’s gutcheck time, and we have to find a way to get better.”

The Pirates, led by the determined Lattimore, can make it one better on Friday night —an outright league crown.

Wheelersburg sophomore Braylon Rucker (10)

Courtesy of Erica Fike

“First and foremost, we have to be ready to play on Friday and take care of our conference championship. I think our schedule has helped prepare us for this, and we’ve played a lot of close games against a lot of good teams,” said Prater. “We’re excited about where we are as a team and we’re looking forward to the upcoming challenges.”

* * *

Wheelersburg 11 21 14 21—67

Minford 18 12 12 22 —64

WHEELERSBURG 67 (16-4, 8-1 SOC III)

Braylon Rucker 3 0-0 7, Devon Lattimore 17 0-0 37, Xander Mowery 0 0-0 0, Logan Adkins 0 0-0 0, Hunter Bivens 1 2-2 5, Luke Swords 0 0-0 0, Kenyon Evans 1 1-2 3, Landon McGraw 7 0-0 15; TOTALS 29 3-4 67 ; Three-point goals: 6 (Devon Lattimore 3, Braylon Rucker, Hunter Bivens and Landon McGraw 1 apiece)

MINFORD 64 (13-4, 5-3 SOC II)

Troy Rhodes 4 0-0 10, Kade Glockner 0 0-0 0, Myles Montgomery 9 6-7 26, Jeffrey Pica 1 0-0 3, Gavin Downey 0 0-0 0, Jackson Shoemaker 0 1-2 1, Bennett Kayser 9 6-10 24; TOTALS 23 13-19 64; Three-point goals: 5 (Troy Rhodes and Myles Montgomery 2 apiece, Jeffrey Pica 1)

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