Sports
Alexander Hands Meigs Its First Loss of the Season
By: Jordan Gallagher, Kellen Becoats
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Through the first eleven games Meigs had felt the thrill of a blowout victory, the rush of a close game and the anxiety of game winning free throws. The only thing they hadn’t experienced is defeat.
That all came to an end Friday night with Alexander shutting down the Marauders 80-69.
For Alexander team play contributed greatly in this victory with 17 assists on 26 made baskets. However, it could be tied to two players who have a relationship greater than that of just teammates- the cousin* combination of Mason and Cory Chapman.
Both players had stellar performances tonight, but it was Mason Chapman who got things started early hitting four straight 3-pointers in the first quarter to give Alexander the early lead. After the game Meigs head coach Ed Fry said that it was actually a part of its game plan to focus and try and shut down Mason, but that the Marauders were unable to carry that out.
Meigs was quick to fight back, coming back from a 10 point deficit in the first quarter thanks to stellar play from Kaileb Sheets. The Marauders star also had quite a game tonight scoring 19 points and dishing out four assists, but Alexander was always able to squash any run that Meigs had.
A key part in that was the defense of Cory Chapman. The senior kept Meigs from driving inside and forcing them to shoot from the outside where they shot just 9-24. Cory Chapman also played the roll of inside presence when Alexander was unable to get things going scoring 13 points and grabbing six rebounds.
After a tough battle through three quarters the score was 52-50 Alexander going into the fourth. Meigs got an early foul call that appeared would tie the game up, but Colton Lilly, who finished with 13 points, missed both free throws to keep Meigs down.
That was the closest Meigs would come as Mason Chapman added three points to his game high 28 points hitting a corner three on Alexander’s next possession. After going down Meigs continued to rush its shots and have bad possessions that allowed the Spartans to take a big early lead in the final quarter.
“I do not know if we can [slow down] that’s the way we play and once you get going like that it’s hard to slow down,” Fry said. “We got several guys who think they can put it all on their back and carry us and there is nothing wrong with that, but tonight we just got beat.”
The loss for Meigs makes its game against Vinton County Jan. 19 a decider in who holds first place in the TVC-Ohio. Alexander returns to play Jan. 16 against Russell, KY.
*We previously reported Mason and Cory Chapman were brothers, they are cousins.