Senior members of the 2023-24 South Webster High School girls basketball team are, from left, Bre Potters, Ashley Spence, Bella Claxon, Skylar Zimmerman, team manager Nicole Hughes and Alivia Hanes.

Paul Boggs | Daily Times

ROCK SPRINGS — It’s no secret Skylar Zimmerman often got knocked down, and even scraped up, on Thursday night at Meigs High School.

She displayed blood between two fingers, showed off a bruise on her forearm — and even had blood on her white South Webster Lady Jeeps jersey.

However, her most prominent display — and indeed what mattered most — was the nylon net proudly donned around her neck.

That’s because the five-foot and six-inch senior standout Zimmerman erupted for a game-high 28 points, proverbially putting the Lady Jeeps square on her back, and leading South Webster to a Division III sectional championship —with Thursday night’s 53-47 victory over Belpre inside Meigs High School’s Larry Morrison Gymnasium.

The South Webster Lady Jeeps captured a Division III girls basketball sectional championship on Thursday night, defeating Belpre 53-47 at Meigs High School’s Larry Morrison Gymnasium.

Paul Boggs | Daily Times

That’s right — the Southeast District Division III second-teamer (per Ohio Prep Sports Writers Association) from last season simply would not be denied a sectional title, as she spearheaded her Lady Jeeps teammates.

It was only fitting and rewarding then that Zimmerman, who eclipsed the 1,000-career point plateau on the same night she shredded Waverly with a career-high 39 points, be the final member of the Lady Jeeps to ceremoniously cut down the net — following Thursday night’s hard-fought triumph.

Amid the blood, sweat and toil from a physical battle with 13th-seeded Belpre (10-10) —in which at times it indeed seemed like she had Lady Golden Eagles riding her back —Zimmerman was all smiles.

South Webster senior Skylar Zimmerman eyes a three-point shot during the Lady Jeeps’ Division III girls basketball sectional championship game against Belpre on Thursday night.

Paul Boggs | Daily Times

Her 28 points came courtesy of all three levels —4-of-8 from three-point territory, 2-of-7 from inside the arc, and 12-of-15 from the free-throw line, including 6-of-7 from the stripe in the decisive fourth quarter.

She also grabbed seven defensive rebounds, and recorded team-highs in assists and steals with four apiece.

“I’ve got blood everywhere here, but this feels great, because we’re bringing it (sectional championship net) home. A lot of people didn’t think we would a tournament game this year. But this just proves hard work and dedication can get you somewhere,” said Zimmerman, in a postgame interview. “It’s (2023-24 season) has been very hard mentally, but I have to stay positive the whole time. A lot of these girls, this is their first year playing high school basketball. We have to stay patient and teach them along the way and on the floor during the games. It’s been an adventure, but this feels good.”

With the win, South Webster raised its record to 13-10 —and won its first-ever girls basketball sectional championship as a Division III program.

The Lady Jeeps already own multiple titles in Division IV, including their most recent — which was two years ago.

But no doubt, it’s much more challenging to win a Division III crown —and for the Lady Jeeps of this season, to do it without injured senior Bella Claxon.

Claxon suffered a season-ending foot injury in the Lady Jeeps’ January loss at Wheelersburg, as her post presence accounted for several points and rebounds —combined with her defensive ability, along with blocked shots.

That just put even extreme added pressure on Zimmerman, both offensively and defensively — as teams threw everything but the kitchen sink at her, whether it was double-teams, triple-teams, or name your run-of-the-mill junk defense.

South Webster senior Skylar Zimmerman (22) is all smiles after cutting down the net following the Lady Jeeps’ Division III sectional championship triumph.

Paul Boggs | Daily Times

“Skylar (Zimmerman) is the heart and soul of our team,” said sixth-year SWHS coach Ryan Dutiel. “Her and Bella (Claxon) together, they were just a tremendous duo. They played through all the success we had together in Division IV. When Bella went down, Sky just put the team on her back, and she decided she was going to will us through a lot of these games. She just refuses to back down, and that’s just her mentality. She is a battler, a fighter and she refuses to lose. If it’s within her grasp, she is going to make the right play. I feel it every time.”

On Thursday night, Zimmerman even had to guard Belpre freshman Gracie Bills —giving up half-a-foot in height in the process.

“She (Bills) was a hard girl to guard. She is strong and fast and tall, and not I’m tall. But I am strong and fast,” said Zimmerman, with a smile. “I tried my best to keep up with her.”

Still, Zimmerman bucketed 19 first-half points, including four three-point goals —two of which were banked in to be exact.

Her first banked-in triple, with four minutes and 20 seconds gone by, made it 10-2 —which along with a 13-5 early edge, were South Webster’s largest leads of the entire night.

Her second banker, with 23 seconds left in the opening quarter, kept it at 16-10.

Then, after a 16-16 tie and a second stanza in which the young Lady Golden Eagles erased the Lady Jeeps’ lead and there were four lead changes, Zimmerman splashed her fourth trifecta from the top of the key — making it 33-26 at halftime.

“I was shooting really hard and that’s why I banked those threes in,” said Zimmerman, with a laugh. “I just knew I needed to lighten up on my shot and just get to the hole, no matter how I can. I knew we needed points, and they (Lady Golden Eagles) were in foul trouble too, so I just knew I needed to drive in and get them in more foul trouble.”

Zimmerman did just that as well —with 5-of-6 first-half free throws, before going her 6-of-7 in the fourth canto.

She split a pair in the third, her only point of that lollygag seven-point frame, in which there were ties of 33-33, 35-35 and finally 40-40 —after the Lady Golden Eagles took their largest lead of four points twice (39-35 and 40-36).

But the Lady Jeeps turned the tables, and outscored Belpre 13-7 in the fourth.

The score was stuck on 40-40, for the first four minutes and 12 seconds — as Belpre’s only period points were a Liv Harrington three-pointer (48-43 SW), a Chey Parsons (50-45 SW) field goal, and a foul shot apiece by Parsons (52-46 SW) and Julia Way (53-47 SW).

Bills, who had 10 points on four field goals and 2-of-2 free throws, did not score in the last, and Haley Alloway —who paced the Lady Golden Eagles with 14 points on four field goals and 5-of-7 free throws — suffered an ankle injury with three-and-a-half minutes remaining and did not return.

Dutiel talked about his undersized Lady Jeeps’ defensive gameplan in that fourth quarter — countering Belpre’s big gals.

“We came in and already determined we were going to show them a lot of different looks on defense. Try to keep those two (Alloway and Bills) off balance, because they are both tremendous players. Both are big, and we’re undersized. We want to play more of a quick game, as far as trying to put a lot of pressure out front — to where they can’t throw cleanly into the post,” said the coach. “In the end, we settled into man-to-man defense, and Skylar (Zimmerman) was doing an outstanding job guarding (Bills). She just absolutely locked her down in that fourth quarter. We just wanted to keep them in front, by backing up a step. For the most part, we kept them in front, and we had to help Skylar double down on Bills. That was our mindset in that fourth quarter, especially once we took the lead. As long as we had a six-point or seven-point lead, let’s just run the clock and look for mismatches on defense for them.”

The Lady Jeeps, finally, got that lead —and extended it to six in a matter of 16 seconds.

With 3:48 left, sophomore Addi Claxon —who followed Zimmerman with 13 points including three threes and 2-of-2 third-frame free throws —connected on a top-of-the-key triple, making it 43-40.

Belpre turned the ball over on its ensuing possession, Alloway was injured, and Zimmerman took full advantage of the numbers —driving all the way and scoring an old-fashioned three-point play.

Way’s winged three made it 46-43, but senior Alivia Hanes then answered for the Lady Jeeps —with a pair of free throws at the 2:42 mark.

From there, Zimmerman made 5-of-6 freebies for the Lady Jeeps’ 53 —including the clincher-split with 11 seconds left.

“I’m glad I hit the free throws that I did and put us up late,” she said.

First-year SWHS senior Ashlee Spence scored six key points on three field goals, junior Cailee Blevins banged home a second-stanza three-pointer, and senior Bre Potters split a pair of second-period foul shots.

Dutiel discussed Zimmerman’s supporting cast contributions.

“Alivia Hanes and Ashlee Spence have been tremendous additions to us. Neither one played for us last year, but they came out this year, and have really helped us. Alivia’s defense has always been pretty solid, and Ashlee we need her to get more rebounds because we are undersized. Addi (Claxon) and Cailee (Blevins) are both very good shooters. If they have the outside shot, my money is on them to make it. And they made some big threes for us,” he said. “I liked what we were able to do tonight.”

And, led by Zimmerman, Dutiel did in fact like what his 12th-seeded Lady Jeeps did.

That being bringing a Division III sectional title home to Jeep Country.

“This just validates everything that these girls have worked for all year long,” said Dutiel. “They’ve kept battling despite losing Bella, and they’ve kept trying to find the combination which would work the best. Even in our league (Southern Ohio Conference Division III), which was a brutal schedule for us as small as we are, we were competitive in every one of those games. Winning this sectional final says a lot about our seniors, says a lot about Skylar, and her willingness to take the game over both offensively and defensively.”

The Lady Jeeps will return to action on Thursday (Feb. 22) —in a Southeast District Division III semifinal at 6:15 p.m., at Waverly’s Downtown Arena.

South Webster will play the winner of Saturday night’s sectional championship —between top-seeded and 17-5 Portsmouth and underdog Meigs.

South Webster High School girls basketball head coach Ryan Dutiel

Paul Boggs | Daily Times

“We’ll give it our best shot when Thursday rolls around,” said Dutiel.

* * *

Belpre 12 14 14 7 — 47

South Webster 16 17 7 13—53

BELPRE 47 (10-10)

Julia Way 3 1-2 7, Chey Parsons 2 1-1 5, Shy Miller 2 0-0 4, Maddie Garber 0 0-0 0, Liv Harrington 2 1-2 7, Haley Alloway 4 5-7 14, Gracie Bills 4 2-2 10; TOTALS 17 10-14 47; Three-point goals: 3 (Liv Harrington 2, Haley Alloway 1)

SOUTH WEBSTER 53 (13-10)

Kennedy Hamilton 0 0-0 0, Cailee Blevins 1 0-2 3, Alivia Hanes 0 2-2 2, Addi Claxon 4 2-2 13, Bre Potters 0 1-2 1, Skylar Zimmerman 6 12-15 28, Ashley Spence 3 0-2 6; TOTALS 14 17-25 53; Three-point goals: 8 (Skylar Zimmerman 4, Addi Claxon 3, Cailee Blevins 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