Sports
Marauders Play Spoiler for Buckeye’s Senior Night
By: David Butz
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A sloppy first quarter may not seem like the best opening sequence for some TVC – Ohio basketball. However, with a 3-point Meigs lead at the end of the first, the Marauders would take that lead all the way to the wire to take the 83-68 win.
Nelsonville-York High School was the place to be Tuesday night, as the Buckeyes winter sports senior athletes were honored ahead of N-Y’s final home game of the season on their home court.
While the pregame festivities were all about the home Buckeyes, the main event of the evening would be all about the visiting maroon and gold. Led by their freshman phenomenon, Coulter Cleland, the Marauders once again let their defense pressure the opposition for all four quarters.
Cleland’s 20 points, six rebounds, five assists and three steals once again put his versatility on display in a hostile environment. However, the most impressive Meigs performance of the night might have belonged to his teammate Weston Baer.
Baer scored 17 points in a game where this N-Y student section was clearly trying to get into his head. White t-shirts with the words: “Stop Baer” drawn on did nothing to get into the junior’s head. After this performance, he’ll be waiting for his chance to get his chance to reach 1,000 career points at home Friday night against River Valley.
The Buckeyes’ biggest weakness Tuesday was the insane number of turnovers. Over 20 turnovers for the orange and brown compared to less than 10 for the Marauders. In fact, N-Y turned over the ball so many times in the first quarter, Meigs didn’t pull down a single defensive rebound.
The turnovers seemed key to this game, with the entire first half and much of the second seeing a single-digit difference between the teams, playing the role of the silent killer.
The biggest performer for the Buckeyes was undoubtedly Ethan Bohyer, who finished with 14 points and 14 rebounds. Outside of this tone setting performance, the rest of the N-Y squad was caught in quick traps and double-teams from the tough Meigs defense, making it hard to get much going.
After the win, coach Hill discussed the team’s somewhat mixed performance. “[We] didn’t play our best basketball tonight – which is always a bit disappointing – but a win is a win, and we got number 11 tonight,” said Hill.
As Hill said, tonight’s win puts the Marauders at 11-10, as they head into senior night Friday against River Valley. The Buckeyes drop to 8-11 after the loss, but won’t have long to figure things out until their next game in the Alley against Alexander on Friday.