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Trimble’s Brayden Weber drives to the basket for a layup in an OHSAA Playoff game against Peebles. PHOTO: Nick Henthorn/WOUB

Trimble Outlasts Peebles In Overtime Classic To Advance To District Final

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ATHENS — In the early going, nearly everything Trimble did was working. The Tomcats were making it look easy.

After all, they were up 16 points after the first 11 minutes of the game and were shooting just under 74 percent from the field.

But then the Peebles Indians reminded the Tomcats the playoffs weren’t easy.

In what became an instant classic in the Convo, Trimble (19-3) outlasted Peebles (13-8) 57-55 in overtime on Sunday afternoon.

“The right team won. I would be very disappointed if, after being ahead, we didn’t pull it out,” Trimble head coach Howie Caldwell said. “When you get somebody down 14, 15 points, you’re supposed to kick sand on them. We didn’t kick sand.”

Rather than kicking sand on Peebles, the Tomcats let them gradually claw their way back into the game. After outscoring Trimble 13-7 in the third, the Indians started the fourth on an 8-0 run to take their first, and only, lead of the game with just over five minutes to play.

“I don’t think it was anything that they did (in the second half), I don’t think we played with the same sense of urgency that we did in the first half,” Caldwell said. “There’s three types of players: ones that watch things happen, ones that wonder what happened and ones that make things happen. In the first half, we made things happen, the second half, we watched things happen.”

The game swung back into the Tomcats’ favor less than two minutes later when Blake Guffey rejected a Peebles shot attempted right into the arms of Brayden Weber, who went coast-to-coast, made the layup and drew the foul. After a timeout, the junior would complete the three-point play and put Trimble back on top by four.

“Our kids are very resilient. They aren’t going to panic, and they didn’t panic,” Caldwell said. “They knew they were supposed to win the game and they found a way to do it.”

In overtime, the Tomcats continued to show their resiliency. They never trailed in the extra period and held on to win thanks to free throws. Weber made four of his six free throw attempts with the only field goal attempt coming from Guffey, who hit a layup.

Weber’s star shone bright under the bright lights of the Convo. Trimble’s outstanding guard stuffed his stat sheet in the win, finishing with 24 points on just 13 shot attempts. Not only that, Weber hauled in nine rebounds and tallied six steals, two of which game on consecutive possessions that led to breakaway layups to end the first quarter.

But, according to his coach, the only thing that matters to Weber is that the Tomcats had more points than the Indians at the final buzzer.

“He wouldn’t care if he got 46 points,” Caldwell said. “The only thing he wants to do is win.”

Guffey ended the game with 11 points and eight rebounds while Jeremiah Brown added 9 points and Cam Kittle tossed in 8 of his own.

Up next for Trimble is another game at the Convo, this time against the No. 1-seed New Boston-Glenwood Tigers (17-6). They are coming off a 63-60 win over South Webster.

That tip-off is set for Thursday night, March 7, at 6:45 p.m.