by JOHN HOWLEY / sportingpumpkin.com
WASHINGTON COURT HOUSE — Logan Elm refuses to let its 14th seed determine how it is going to play in the Southeast District tournament as the Braves took down No. 6 seed Unioto Saturday night 58-57 in dramatic fashion.
After beating No. 3 seed Washington Court House with no time on the clock in overtime a few days earlier, the Braves took down the Shermans on a shot with only one second left to play.
With 6.7 seconds left in the game, LE inbounded to Ne’miah Waugh who held off a steal attempt by Caden Cutright and made a spin move to get a shot off over the outstretched hand of K.B. Perkins for the game-winner.
“In the huddle, our assistant coach, coach Holbert, he said it’s all on you. Coach Dropsey put a guy in the corner just in case I needed to kick it, but this game is too big, so I had to go get it, I had to go get it,” Waugh said.
over Unioto’s K.B. Perkins Saturday night. (see more game photos)
The junior also hit the overtime free throw with no time on the clock to send the Braves past WCH Tuesday.
“I feel like when it comes down to it like that, my team, they know, when it’s like that we’ve got to take the last shot, I take that responsibility,” he said.
“They forced him right, where he caught it, that’s the way he had to go. He didn’t have Tyler (Speas) in the corner like we had hoped. But Ne’miah is a very strong kid, he got him on his hip and that was enough,” LE coach Nate Dropsey said.
That basket finished off a 26-point effort for Waugh.
After taking the lead midway through the first period, LE was up 14-6 at the end of the first quarter, 29-18 at halftime and 45-40 after three.
Unioto scored eight of the first 10 points in the fourth to get on top 48-47 with five minutes left.
Logan Elm tied the game three times and found itself down 57-54 with 1:20 left.
Tyler Speas hit a free throw for LE to make it a two-point game again with a minute left.
With the clock winding down, the Braves committed their fifth team foul with 31 seconds and Unioto’s Caden Cutright hit the second of two free throws for a three-point Sherman edge again.
Following a timeout, LE got the ball to Waugh who scored with 12 seconds left to cut the gap to one and the Braves got the ball back when the Shermans couldn’t handle a long inbounds pass turning the ball over and setting up Waugh’s big shot.
The officials put 1.1 seconds back on the clock after the bucket and Blake Fitch got off a half-court shot, but it wasn’t to be sending Logan Elm to the district semifinals at Ohio University on March 4.
“That’s what you want in a sectional final. We knew we were in for a battle,” Dropsey said. “When it was going back and forth like that – coach Hoops, he’s got guys that he can put the ball in their hands to make plays, we’ve got guys that we can put the ball in to make plays and, fortunately for us, Ne’miah was the one who made the last one.”
That Waugh would be able to make that play or any play in the fourth quarter was in doubt earlier when he left the game at the end of the third quarter dragging his left shoulder after a hard landing following a missed bucket.
“I went up for a layup and got hit a little bit. I tried to stop myself, which was not a good idea, I landed right on my shoulder. But we’re good,” he said. “We came back in the clutch when we needed to and got it done.”
Along with 26 from Waugh, Speas put in 16.
Perkins led Unioto with 22 and Fitch put in 10.
Things don’t get any easier for Logan Elm (12-13) as No. 2 seed Warren is next up, but it’s a challenge LE hasn’t backed down from yet.
“To go up against Washington Court House, to go up against Unioto – those are two excellent basketball teams. I’ve got a lot of respect for both of their programs,” Dropsey said. “We knew that was two tall tests for us. We wrote on the board all week ‘Give ourselves a chance to play for a championship.’ Today we changed that to ‘Win a championship.’
“Fortunately, we made just enough plays to be able to do that.”
The last time the Braves played at the Convo was in 2020 when they beat Warren 51-45 to win a district championship a few days before the COVID-19 pandemic led to the cancellation of the state tournament.
The game on March 4 is slated for an 8 p.m. tip.
Logan Elm 58, Unioto 57
Logan Elm — Camden Redd 1-1-3, Tyler Speas 4-4-16, Carson Summers 2-1-5, Brody Sabine 2-0-6, Ne’miah Waugh 7-10-26, Keegan Diehl 1-0-2. Three-point goals — Speas (4), Sabine (2), Waugh (2). Total— 17-33 16-22 58.
Unioto — KB Perkins 6-10-22, Blake Fitch 5-0-10, Newton Hoops 3-0-7, Blake Hoops 2-0-5, Caden Cutright 2-1-7, Ashton Crace 1-2-4, Jordan Perkins 1-0-2. Three-point goals — N Hoops, B Hoops, Cutright (2). Total— 20-13-57.
Quarter scores 1 2 3 4 F
Logan Elm 14 15 16 13 58
Unioto 6 12 22 17 57
