by JOHN HOWLEY / sportingpumpkin.com
It was a big Saturday night for Circleville as the Tigers battled through two overtimes to defeat Fairfield Union 47-44 and they saw teammate Briley Cramer surpass 1,000 points for his career.
The shot that got Cramer to 1,000 also helped give the Tigers a lift.
CHS had fallen behind 16-4 during the first quarter and was trailing 22-10 when Cramer hit a three-pointer to give him his 1,000th point with 5:17 left in the first half.
“I had my feet set, I felt it and thought it was going to go in and just shot it,” he said. “I’ve been looking forward to it my whole basketball career.”
Circleville (7-3, 2-3) coach Cody Carpenter said Cramer’s achievement is the payoff from years of hard work. “It’s because he never missed an offseason workout, even when he had surgery he was in there. Everything he’s gotten, he deserves.”
After a brief stoppage of play to present Cramer with the game ball and him giving it to his family, the Tigers hit the floor with a renewed focus.
“It’s amazing what one shot will do, or one defensive stop will do to change a team. When he hit that shot, I think it was a relief for everyone in a sense that we were so excited and motivated for him to achieve that,” Carpenter said. “I think he was relieved it was done and we were dialed in from then on.”
Circleville held the Falcons (6-5, 3-3) scoreless the rest of the half while adding a three-pointer from Riley Jenkins and a three-point play from Cramer to go in at halftime down 22-19.
“We got off to another bad start. Whatever it is, this group never loses their composure,” Carpenter said. “They always believe, and we got it back to within a one possession game at halftime.
“At halftime we talked like we did at Miami Trace. We made a couple of adjustments and said guys we’re in this game and we’re going to win it.”
The Falcons stayed in front most of the third with Circleville tying the game on a pair of Jack Kline free throws with 3:08 left and then the Tigers took their first lead of the night when Jenkins scored off an offensive rebound with 10 seconds left to make the score 30-28.
In the fourth, the Falcons were able to get back on top to lead by three with 3:37 left.
Circleville answered with a basket from Drew Thornsley at the three-minute mark and then got the lead back 90 seconds later on a basket from Slater Search.
The Falcons missed on their next possession with Search grabbing the rebound with 50 seconds left and the Tigers up 36-35.
With only one team foul in the quarter, the Falcons started fouling to send Circleville to the line and committed three within three seconds to get to four team fouls.
But Circleville turned the ball over on the ensuing inbounds play. The Falcons called a timeout with 22 seconds left but were then whistled for an over-and-back violation on their inbounds play.
When Circleville inbounded the ball, Search was fouled and hit both shots to give CHS a three-point advantage with 19 seconds on the clock.
After another timeout, the Falcons inbounded to Caleb Schmelzer who looked for an opening and took a shot with eight seconds on the clock. His shot was off the mark, but he had followed it in, got control of the rebound and fed it to Caleb Redding who knocked down a three to send the game to overtime.
“These are the games that you love and want to play,” Carpenter said. “They came over and I just couldn’t help but laugh at them, like ‘Guys we’re having fun now, aren’t we?’
“They knew that they were going to win the game. They didn’t lose their composure. They sat there and they were dialed in and knew we were going to win no matter how we had to do it.”
In the first four-minute overtime, Schmelzer scored and was fouled with 3:20 left but he missed the extra free throw.
Search scored for Circleville 20 seconds later to tie the game and those were the only points of the first overtime.
In the second overtime, Schmelzer hit one of two free throws for an early Falcon lead.
Cramer came back with a basket at the 3:31 mark and the next score came a minute later when Search grabbed an offensive rebound and put it back in for a three-point Tiger lead.
Scmelzer made it a one-point game again with a basket 20 seconds later.
A foul sent Cramer to the line with 1:33 on the clock and he hit both.
Coming back on the other end, Keegan Arnett was fouled in a battle for control of the ball, and he hit one of two for the Falcons with 1:20 left.
Circleville was working the ball and running the clock when the Tigers were hit with a five-second call. CHS got the ball back on the defensive end when they got control of a loose ball.
Cramer was fouled with 31 seconds and hit one of two.
After a timeout with 27 seconds left, Fairfield Union worked the ball and managed three shots, but none found their mark.
Cramer finished the night as the game’s top scorer with 17 points and 1,012 for his career.
“The win is more important than the thousand and I’m glad we got it,” Cramer said. “We were all tired. We knew we had to lock in on defense. We converted on our free throws and got the win.”
Cramer is the eighth boy from Circleville and 14th Tiger to reach 1,000 points in his career.
Riley Jenkins had 11 points for the Tigers and Search had eight points to go with 10 rebounds.
Schmelzer led FU with 13 points, Keegan Arnett had 12 and Caleb Redding had 11.
Circleville 47, Fairfield Union 44 2OT
Fairfield Union — Koen Eichhorn 1-0-2, Hunter Clark 1-0-2, Keegan Arnett 5-1-12, Isiah Delong 1-0-2, Caleb Redding 4-1-11, Caleb Schmelzer 5-1-13, Max Stansbury 1-0-2. Three-point goals — Arnett, Redding (2), Schmelzer (2). Total — 18-46 3-9 44
Circleville — Drew Thornsley 2-0-5, Briley Cramer 6-4-17, Jack Kline 0-2-2, Slater Search 3-2-8, Riley Jenkins 4-0-11, Ed Kirk 2-0-4. Three-point goals — Thornsley, Cramer, Jenkins (3). Total — 17-38 8-9 47.
Quarter scores 1 2 3 4 OT OT F
Fairfield Union 18 4 6 10 2 4 44
Circleville 7 12 11 8 2 7 47
Circleville High School’s 1,000-point scorers
Kenzie McConnell (Circleville, 2017-2021), 1,570
Casse Mogan (Circleville, 2004-08), 1,427
Aaron Kanitz (Circleville, 1993-97), 1,265
Sara Hildenbrand (Circleville, 1996-2000), 1,200
Staci Ballou (Circleville, 1988-92), 1,167
Stephanie Garrett (Circleville, 1988-92), 1,121
Luke McConnell (Circleville, 1981-84), 1,092
Jordin Blakeman (Circleville, 2013-2017), 1,091
Gene Stonerock (Circleville & Williamsport, 1952-56), 1,053
Ashley Hoskins (Circleville, 1989-92), 1,045
Tim Stonerock (Circleville, 1964-67), 1,029
Dave Truex (Circleville, 1971-74), 1,016
Craig Stewart (Circleville, 2000-03), 1,013
Briley Cramer (Circleville, 2020-active), 1012
