Hardwood Heroes
Spartans battle Buckeyes as season winds down
By: Jack Zwiesinski
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NELSONVILLE, Ohio(WOUB) – The Nelsonville-York Buckeyes(12-8) hosted the Alexander Spartans(1-19) in the last regular season matchup on Tuesday night. As the Buckeyes took another win with a final score of 74-43.
Nelsonville-York opened the game with a field goal from Briant Call. The Buckeyes pressed the Spartans early, making it hard to score and applying pressure throughout the game. Keagan Swope was an absolute ballhawk, racking up six steals. Nelsonville-York was playing an aggressive defense, allowing Alexander’s first points to come from a Klaxton Hawk free throw. After getting on the board, Alexander started heating up with a Mason Morris three. The Buckeyes stuck around the arc for a majority of their points in the first quarter, ending with a score of 18-10 Nelsonville-York.
Alexander was playing a fairly clean game to start, with their first foul coming in at the beginning of the second quarter. Nelsonville-York increased the pressure they applied from their press defense, swarming the ball and isolating it which turned the odds in their favor off of steals. The Buckeyes racked up a team total of 17 steals, as they were dominating throughout the game. The press was getting to Alexander, who would try to move the ball quickly, allowing Nelsonville-York to count up steals and turnovers. Both teams went back into the locker room with a halftime score of 35-19 Buckeyes.
Coming back from the half, Alexander started with the ball. Nelsonville-York let up on their press and allowed the Spartans to heat up. The Spartans were getting pulled across the court with the rapid ball movement from the Buckeyes, knocking down shots. Alexander started to set in a rotation, and Spartan Trent Schaad opened up hot, counting up three threes in the third quarter. Nelsonville-York kept the lead 52-35, ending the third quarter.
Kicking off the fourth quarter, Nelsonville-York kept the lead ahead of Alexander. The Spartans had troubles knocking down shots, while the Buckeyes were overpowering the Spartans on defense. Offensively, Keagan Swope was unstoppable, racking up 26 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists and 6 steals. The Buckeyes held the lead and ended up out of grasp of the Spartans, finishing with a score of 74-43 Nelsonville-York.
The Alexander Spartans face off against the Meigs Marauders Friday night. While the Buckeyes meet with the Golden Rockets in Nelsonville-York Friday.