Whiteoak Wildcats drop district semifinal game to Jeeps 

WAVERLY — For the first quarter, the No. 9 seeded Whiteoak Wildcats played close with the No. 1 seeded South Webster Jeeps, but the longer the game went, the more the Jeeps showed their strengths and pulled away for a 70-34 win in their Division VII SE District Semifinal game played at Waverly High School on Tuesday. 

Whiteoak (9-14) hung with the Jeeps in the first quarter, as they trailed by six points once the frame was over at 19-13 and held a one-point lead on three occasions in the first half of the first quarter. 

The state-ranked Jeeps (19-3) scored first with a 3-pointer by Christian White but Sawyer Blair scored two points with the assist by Zach Igo, followed by a layup by Brady Brandenburg to give WHS an early lead at 4-3 with 5:37 on the clock. Brandenburg led WHS with 10 points, finishing the game with four two-point baskets and he was 2-of-4 from the free-throw line. 

After the Jeeps made two free throws, the Wildcats had two points in the paint from Jonah Michael to take back the lead. The Jeeps again regained the lead with a basket, but WHS earned what was their final lead of the game with 4:07 left in the first with a basket by Brandenburg for a 8-7 score. 

From there, the Jeeps scored the nest four points off two baskets, and Whiteoak answered with a layup by Zander Roades, who finished the game with eight points, as he collected three two-point baskets and he was also 2-of-4 from the free-throw line. 

The Jeeps came back with the next six points for a 17-10 lead with 1:03 left in the first. 

Roades broke the scoring run of South Webster with a free throw, and WHS eventually added two more points in the first, where the score stood at 19-13 going into the second frame. 

“I kind of threw around different zones and jumping in man and everything. I thought we came out really aggressive and started off pretty well,” WHS head coach Greg Patton said. “They (SWHS) only play seven deep usually, but those seven are really good, so they just kind of wore us down. They started making some shots.”

By the time halftime arrived, the Jeeps built a 17-point lead at 34-17, outscoring the Wildcats 15-4 in the second quarter. WHS scored the first points of the second with a basket at the 5:54 mark, and later they made two free throws on a combined two trips to the free-throw line with Roades and Brandenburg each making a free throw on their respective trips to the free-throw line. 

SWHS started taking control of the game from the 5:38 mark of the second to the 4:22 mark where they made three free throws, a put-back basket and a 3-pointer, all by Eli Roberts, for a 27-15 lead. Roberts led all scorers with 20 points, ending the game with six two-point baskets, one 3-pointer and he was 5-of-5 from the free-throw line. 

From the 3:04 mark until halftime, South Webster outscored the Wildcats 7-2 for the 17-point halftime lead.

“I love the effort we had,” Patton said. “Like I said, we were trying to get the ball out quick, get the ball up the court, which we got it out quick, and we got some easy baskets. We didn’t take care of the ball great tonight, and that's credit to (South Webster). They're No. 3 in the state for a reason.”

South Webster added 21 points in the third frame as they controlled all facets of the game, while Whiteoak scored eight points for a 55-25 score. Whiteoak in the third quarter had a put-back basket by Brandenburg, a layup from Igo, two points from Blair and a basket by Jackson Tedford. Blair finished with six points by totaling three two-point baskets in the game. 

The Jeeps ended the third frame with 10 straight points, including a dunk by Roberts with .55 seconds left in the quarter. 

WHS scored nine points in the fourth quarter coming off a basket by Aiden Crowe to start the frame, and later the Wildcats had baskets from Roades, Blair and Brandenburg, and a free throw by Brandenburg, for the final points scored in the game. 

Following Roberts in the scoring column for SWHS were Dylan Shupert with 11 points, and Hunter Barnard with eight points. Bryan McClintic finished with seven points. 

Other scoring totals for the Jeeps included White (6), Owen Mault (6), Corey Burton (6), Brigham Burton (4) and Cole Bennett (2).

South Webster finished the game with 25 two-point baskets, five 3-pointers, and they were 5-of-5 from the free-throw line. 

The Wildcats ended the game with 15 two-point baskets, and they went 4-of-11 from the free-throw line. 

Scoring two points each in the game for WHS were Igo, Tedford, Michael, Crowe and Christopher Wessner.

Whiteoak finishes the season at 9-14 overall, and they were 5-8 in the SHAC Division II standings this season.

“We won our first two, but we went on a little skid early in the season,” Patton said in looking back at the season. “There were some close games I think got us down, but we finally bounced back as the season went along. 

“I was really happy with the progress offensively. On defense, our intensity really started picking up. I was pleased with the overall season, because it gives us something to build on.” 

Seniors for the Wildcats are: Zander Roades, Jackson Tedford and Aiden Crowe.  

“I couldn't thank those guys enough for what they've helped build with this program,” Patton said of his seniors. “Hopefully we keep pushing in the right direction. Aiden Crowe, Jackson Tedford and Zander Roades, I just can't say enough about them. They are just a great group of young men.”

South Webster will play in the Division VII SE District Finals Sunday, March 2 against the Fairfield Lions at 6 p.m. at the Ohio University Convocation Center in Athens, on the campus of Ohio University. 

BOX SCORE
WHS        13 04 08 09 — 34
SWHS      19 15 21 15 — 70

SOUTH WEBSTER (70) — E.Roberts 6 (1) 5-5 20, C.White 0 (2) 0-0 6, D.Shupert 4 (1) 0-0 11, O.Mault 3 (0) 0-0 6, H,Bernard 4 (0) 0-0 8, C.Bennett 1 (0) 0-0 2, B.Burton 2 (0) 0-0 4, B.McClintic 2 (1) 0-0 7, B.Stephens 3 (0) 0-0 6. TOTALS: 25 (5) 5-5 70. 

WHITEOAK (34) — Z.Igo 1 (0) 0-1 2, Z.Roades 3 (0) 2-4 8, S.Blair 3 (0) 0-0 6, J.Tedford 1 (0) 0-0 2, B.Bradenburg 4 (0) 2-4 10, J.Michael 1 (0) 0-2 2, A.Crowe 1 (0) 0-0 2, C.Wessner 1 (0) 0-0 2. TOTALS: 15 (0) 4-11 34.

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