KINNIKINNICK — On a night when Zane Trace was honoring longtime coach Gary Kellough for his five decades of coaching, the Pioneers were able to dispatch the visiting Westfall Mustangs 52-40.
It was the latest of more than 550 wins for Kellough in his 52 seasons. He will be hanging up his whistle after this season.
The Mustangs lost leading their season’s leading scorer in the final minute of the first half when Brody Clark left with a leg injury and only four points.
Jeremiah Layton finished as Westfall’s top scorer with 14 points, and he had seven rebounds. Henry Barnes had 10 points and Brydan Gall had eight.
Landon Robinson led ZT with 15 points and Landen Jarrell had 11.
According to Litter Media, Kellough has won 10 Scioto Valley Conference Championships, six SEOAL titles (five at Chillicothe and one at Logan), seven district titles, was a six-time regional semifinalist and led Chillicothe to a state championship in 2008.
Westfall (14-7, 9-4) wraps up the regular season hosting Adena Friday.
Quarter scores 1 2 3 4 F
Westfall 5 9 13 13 40
Zane Trace 13 11 15 13 52
Low-scoring first half spells trouble for Circleville
Circleville found itself in a big hole after the first half as Liberty Union went back home with a 65-52 win Tuesday night.
A 13-6 first quarter gave way to an 18-9 second for a 31-15 Liberty Union lead at halftime.
Circleville got its offense going a little in the second half as Briley Cramer had seven points in the third, Slater Search had four and Jack Kline had a bucket, but LU managed one more point than the Tigers in the quarter to make it a 45-28 game.
Circleville put up 24 points in the fourth led by nine from Jack Kline and seven from Slater Search.
Cramer finished as Circleville’s top scorer with 16 points while Kline and Search each had 11 and Riley Jenkins put in nine.
Liberty Union (9-12, 6-8) finishes the regular season at Fredericktown Friday night and can finish no worse than a tie for fifth in the league.
Circleville (10-11, 3-10) finishes up the regular season on the road at Bloom-Carroll Friday night.
Liberty Union 65, Circleville 52
Liberty Union — Slade McClaskey 2-2-6, Matt Hinton 2-0-5, Noah Shook 3-4-11, Eli Kocher 1-0-3, Tomas Winter 6-1-16. Landon Piccirillo 2-2-7, Cooper Manson 1-1-3, Luke Williams 6-0-14. Three-point goals — Hinton, Shook, Kocher, Winter (3), Piccirillo, Williams (2). Total — 23-10-65
Circleville — Preston Hulse 0-1-1, Drew Thornsley 1-1-3, Briley Cramer 4-8-16, Jack Kline 4-2-11, Slater Search 5-0-11, Riley Jenkins 3-0-9, Ed Kirk 0-1-1. Three-point goals — Kline, Search, Jenkins (3). Total — 17-13- 52.
Quarter scores 1 2 3 4 F
Liberty Union 13 18 14 20 65
Circleville 6 9 13 24 52
Falcons takes down Braves
Fairfield Union was a 49-43 winner over Logan Elm in MSL action Tuesday night.
Caleb Schmelzer led the Falcons with 27 points while Keegan Arnett and Caleb Redding each had eight.
Logan Elm (8-13, 5-8) is home with Teays Valley Wednesday night to wrap up the regular season.
New Hope topples Wellington
COLUMBUS – Xander Rink had 17 of his 24 points in the first half to help New Hope to a 68-44 win over visiting Wellington Tuesday night.
The Statesmen had a 17-7 lead in the early going but five three-pointers helped Wellington close the gap to 24-19. New Hope was able to add a few points to its advantage in the second to lead 38-30 at the half.
“We played really well on the offensive end, we attacked in transition, shared the ball well and took advantage of matchups,” New Hope coach Shane Roese said. “Defensively, we chose to play a little zone early because we felt they would struggle from the perimeter but they made five 3s in the first quarter. Our intensity was solid they just made some shots.”
New Hope picked up its defense in the second half as it held the Jaguars to seven points in each of the final two periods.
“We went back to straight man defense and locked them down in the third quarter to get out to 17-point lead,” Roese said. “We were very pleased with our offense in the second half, we had a lot of quality possessions where we used a little clock and got the shots we wanted.
“Lane Bruning and Xander Rink really controlled the paint on both ends. And Hunter Cavanaugh did a great job of getting them the ball in spots they could attack the rim and score.”
Along with his 24 points, Rink also had 10 rebounds and four assists.
Bruning had 15 points and six rebounds, Tyler Cook put in 11 points and grabbed seven rebounds and Cavanaugh had 11 assists to go with seven points.
The Statesmen begin their OCSAA post-season tournament Saturday night at 6 hosting Ross Christian.
Quarter scores 1 2 3 4 F
New Hope 24 14 16 14 68
Wellington 19 11 7 7 44
Vikings claim piece of league title
ASHVILLE – Teays Valley clinched a piece of the Mid-State League Buckeye title with a convincing 63-21 win over Amanda-Clearcreek Tuesday night.
The Vikings held the Aces to single-digit scoring in all four quarters.
Luke Burgett led the Vikings (14-6, 11-2) with 12 points and Sam Miller and Brody Fields each had 11 as 10 TV players scored in the game.
Maddox Cupp led the Aces (1-20, 0-13) with 10.
Quarter scores 1 2 3 4 F
Amanda-Clearcreek 9 4 2 6 21
Teays Valley 23 10 22 8 63
