Sports
Meigs Survives South Point in Overtime Thriller
By: David Butz
Posted on:
In playoff basketball, every team has their identity. When the game becomes tight, can a team play to their strengths and use those strengths to win?
During Meigs’ playoff matchup Monday night against South Point, they proved they can do just that as they won 48-43 in overtime.
On opening day of the boys’ sectional round, the Meigs Marauders (13-10) faced the South Point Pointers (7-15) at Jackson High School. From start to finish, these teams battled back and forth for the sectional title.
Anyone can boast about being physical and putting in the effort, but the final 12 minutes of this game can be explained with two words: championship defense. Neither team gave up an inch of space on the court and contested every single effort on the offensive side of the ball.
Late in the game for the Pointers, the closer was Nakyan Turner. Down two points with 56 seconds left in regulation, the sophomore guard drove into the paint and relied on an impeccable touch to get his tough layup to fall. His sweet finish would tie the game at 41 points apiece.
Meigs responded defensively with an unlikely hero late in the game. Freshman guard, Ty Bartrum, younger brother of senior Zach Bartrum, had two huge steals to seal it for Meigs.
One happened with 90 seconds left in the fourth to maintain the lead and the next with 10 seconds left in OT to secure the victory. Outside of the defense, his free throw shooting late in the game was the difference maker that led to overtime.
The Pointers ended the fourth quarter outscoring the Marauders 6-5 in the frame, but the most valuable player of the quarter had to be Marcus Malone, despite not having a single point in the quarter.
With under two minutes remaining in the fourth quarter and the game tied, Malone had three blocks in just one possession. His effort shut Meigs down as it had three of their best looks of the final minutes shut down.
While plenty of games might go back and forth, very few remain that way up until the final buzzer. With Meigs leading 36-35 at the start of the fourth, both teams relied on their defense and physicality to compete for the victory.
As huge as the defenses were, there were still some impressive showings from two natural born scorers. One performance coming from Weston Baer, the other coming from sophomore Austin Webb.
In his first game coming off the emotional senior night, in which Baer scored his 1,000th point, he took most of the scoring load for his squad with 19 points, the only Marauder in double figures.
It was a similar story for the Pointers. Webb dropped a game-high 21 points, making him the only player on his team in double digits.
After taking the win Monday night, Meigs will be back at Jackson High School on Friday night to take on undefeated Wheelersburg. As for the Pointers, their season comes to an end after the heartbreaking loss in the first round of the playoffs.