Circleville 57, Amanda-Clearcreek 50
AMANDA — Circleville used its size and second half free throw shooting to leave Amanda-Clearcreek with a 57-50 win Friday night.
The Tigers’ size advantage helped them to a 27-22 rebounding advantage – with 13 of those being on the offensive end.
“In a game like today, it makes a huge difference,” Circleville coach Evan Callihan said. “Those Amanda guys – to me – they’re better than what their record is, and those guys play hard. Coming over here we knew we had to play well.
“We think rebounding is a lot of heart and a lot of effort. We’re fortunate we’ve got some bigger guys and some stronger guys. That was one of our big keys going into this game was we had to win the rebounding battle.”
The Tigers used a couple of offensive boards to help them get out to an 8-4 early lead.
The Aces ran some baskets together to go up 10-8.
After a three-pointer from Jack Kline put Circleville back on top, the Tigers added two more scores off AC turnovers and ended the period with a 17-13 lead.
Circleville stayed in front to lead 32-25 at halftime.
The Aces shot well in the first half as they went 11-17 from the field but were 1-6 from the line.
Circleville kept the lead intact in the second half.
Ed Kirk had seven of his game-high 21 points in the third, including converting five of six free throws.
“Ed had a great game for us,” Callihan said. “That kid has come a long way. I’m hard on him, but he’s responded to me. We split up guards and posts a lot and coach Sims has done a great job working with our post guys in practice. He’s gotten a lot better. He’s more comfortable inside. His free throws – he’s got a lot of confidence there.”
Circleville was up 47-36 heading into the final quarter.
The Tigers kept the Aces from making a comeback in the fourth, hitting six of 10 free throws along with a couple more baskets from Kirk to keep the lead in the 10 to 12-point range most of the period.
“We made free throws when we needed, down the stretch in the third and fourth quarter,” Callihan said. “Our threes weren’t falling so we wanted to get the ball inside and use our size. We were fortunate where we made free throws down the stretch when we needed them.”
While the Aces shot 55 percent from the field, they struggled at the line as they hit on only five of 14 attempts.
“We didn’t make our free throws and that hurts us,” AC coach Ray Miller said. “That hurt us the whole game and has hurt us all season. We’re shooting fifty percent from the free throw line and you’re not going to win games when you do that.”
Along with Kirk’s 21, Circleville got 12 from Riley Jenkins and 10 from Kole Nungester.
Nick Holland led the aces with 15 and Colton Westhoven had 12.
Kirk and Jack Kline led Circleville with six rebounds each and Westhoven led the Aces with eight rebounds.
“We play hard, I’ll never question the effort we give. They’ve got bigger guys, and I think that hurts us,” Miller ssaid. “They really hurt us bad on the offensive glass. They got a lot of second shots, and we weren’t able to block them out. I thought we were in position some, but we’re so small.”
While his six points and three rebounds didn’t lead the Tigers, Callihan said senior Drew Thornsley came up big.
“He gave us a lot of plays that I feel like don’t always show up in the stat sheet, whether it’s getting a deflection or getting back on defense and a lot of times he’s guarding the other team’s best player,” Callihan said.
Circleville (9-5, 6-2) hosts Logan Elm Tuesday and the Aces (3-13, 1-7) head to Fairfield Union that night.
Circleville 57, Amanda-Clearcreek 50
Circleville — Kole Nungester 3-4-10, Drew Thornsley 2-2-6, Jack Kline 3-0-8, Riley Jenkins 4-0-12, Ed Kirk 6-5-21. Three-point goals — Kline (2), Jenkins (4). Totals — 20-47 11-17 57
Amanda-Clearcreek — Nick Holland 7-0-15, Colton Westhoven 6-0-12, Branson Fowler 3-0-7, Logan Stevens 0-1-1, Hayden Dunn 1-2-5, Carter Madison 3-2-8, Boston Fowler 1-0-2. Three-point goals — Holland, Bl Fowler, Dunn. Totals — 21-38 5-14 50.
Quarter scores 1 2 3 4 F
Circleville 17 15 15 10 57
Amanda-Clearcreek 13 12 11 14 50
Hamilton Township 66, Logan Elm 52
CIRCLEVILLE — Logan Elm kept within striking distance but wasn’t able to overtake visiting Hamilton Township Friday night as the Rangers picked up a 66-52 win to stay unbeaten in league play.
The Rangers (13-2, 8-0) took an early 13-5 lead in the first quarter and were up 29-22 at the half. HT’s lead was eight (43-35) entering the final period.
Tyler Speas led the Braves with 20 points, Ne’miah Waugh had 11 and Lucas Bialy added 10.
Jovon McBride led the Rangers with 24 points, Lucas King had 15 and Landon Hensell put in 11.
The Braves (4-11, 2-6) head to Circleville Tuesday night.
Quarter scores 1 2 3 4 F
Hamilton Township 13 16 14 23 66
Logan Elm 5 17 13 17 52
Reynoldsburg 89, Teays Valley 41
ASHVILLE — Teays Valley faced a tough task Friday night as Reynoldsburg paid a visit.
The Raiders showed why they’re ranked as the second-best team in the state regardless of size by MaxPreps as they got out to the early lead on the way to an 89-41 win.
Reynoldsburg (14-0, 8-0) led 22-11 after the first period and 49-24 at halftime.
Jordan Fisher was a big reason for the fast start as the 6-5 forward (headed to Ohio University) scored 16 of his game-high 22 points in the first quarter.
Jorden Bowen had 16, Xavier McKinney had 14 and freshman Mekhi Roddy came on in the second half to put in 13 for the visitors.
Tanner Smith led the Vikings with 16 points, Lane Struckman had 10 and Jayden Morrison added nine.
The Vikings were without the services of leading scorer Brody Fields Friday.
TV (2-12, 1-7) heads to Lancaster Monday night.
Quarter scores 1 2 3 4 F
Reynoldsburg 22 27 29 11 89
Teays Valley 11 13 12 5 41
Reynoldsburg 46, Teays Valley 39
REYNOLDSBURG — Reynoldsburg finished strong to send Teays Valley home on the short end of a 46-39 score
The Raiders (8-8, 6-3) outscored the Vikings 16-7 in the final eight minutes to complete a season sweep.
Sa’Mahn Johnson led Reynoldsburg with 27 points.
Tessa Horsley led the Vikings with 12.
TV (5-11, 4-5) heads to Grove City Monday.
Quarter scores 1 2 3 4 F
Teays Valley 8 10 14 7 39
Reynoldsburg 9 16 5 16 46
Braves second after opening rounds of Sally George Invitational
MARION — Logan Elm sits a half-point out of first through quarterfinal action at the Sally George Invitational at Pleasant High School.
Dawsen Hudson (113), Blaine Holzschuh (126), Gavin Hoover (132), David Little (138) and Nehemiah Hess (144) have advanced to the championship semifinals in their respective weight classes for the Braves.
Northmor holds the lead after Friday’s wrestling with 79 points while the Braves and Westland each have 78.5
Wrestling resumes at 10 a.m. Saturday.