No. 1 Circleville 68, No. 8 Gallia Academy 36
ATHENS — Circleville earned a spot in a Division IV Southeast District championship game by ousting Gallia Academy 68-36 Sunday afternoon at Ohio University.
Other than an early 2-0 deficit, the top-seeded Tigers never trailed Sunday.
“We had six days to prepare, and that’s tough this time of year. I mean, we just had practice 70 yesterday, hadn’t played in nine days, so practice can get kind of boring,” Circleville coach Evan Callihan said. “But I thought our guys showed up all week. We’ve walked through their plays probably 10 or 15 times throughout the week, and I thought our guys did a great job executing defensively, and that was our big thing. We felt like teams at this point in the season are advancing with their defense.”
Circleville held leads of 12-8, 24-15 and 43-29 after each of the first three quarters.
Just to make sure the Blue Devils didn’t have any chance at a late comeback, the Tigers rattled off 19 straight points in the fourth quarter.
Kole Nungester had another solid effort in leading the Tigers with 22 points. Riley Jenkins had Circleville’s last seven points of the first half in scoring 13 for the game. Blain Fowler had 13, as well. Jack Kline had 10 in the first four minutes of the fourth quarter to finish with 12.
“Kole had a great night getting to the basket,” Callihan said. “I thought Blaine made some big shots when he needed to, had some big offensive rebounds and just driving to the basket. Jack, he did a great job scoring, but he had some big assists in that game. Riley Jenkins inside – it was a total team — everyone who stepped on the floor.
“Glavine (Bigam) defensively, (Ty) Reed was who he focused on … we held him to two points.”
Teams in the Southeast District usually have a goal of making it to Ohio University in the tournament, and Callihan said they put an emphasis on not being satisfied with just making it to the Convo.
“We feel like a lot of teams coming down here, it’s a good goal to have, but we really talked to our guys like, we want more than just stepping on the floor today,” Callihan said. “So, we said, take it in during warmups, then after that, it’s down to business.
“It was a goal for us, but we want a little bit more.”
The Tigers outrebounded their opponents, as well, 38-29.
Fowler led the Tigers with 11 and Nungester had nine.
Macen Meadows led GA with 11 points. Gabe Hammons had eight rebounds to go with five points.
Circleville returns to Ohio University Thursday night for a 6 p.m. matchup with Waverly.
“It’s a lot of walkthrough stuff at this point. It’s a lot of mental stuff, a lot of shooting,” Callihan said. “At this point in the year, we don’t have to be on the floor for two hours. It’s a lot of film. A lot of prep work.
“Just to be playing in March, it’s a good problem to have. So, anytime you’re practicing in March, we’ll take it.”
No. 1 Circleville 68, No. 8 Gallia Academy 36
Gallia Academy — Dee Clark-Reed 1-0-2, Ty Reed 1-0-2, Ethan Rose 2-0-5, Alex Blair 3-0-7, Gabe Hammons 2-1-5, Macen Meadows 5-0-11, Colson Miller 2-0-4. Three-point goals — Wray, Savage. Totals —16-55 1-3 36.
Circleville — Kole Nungester 9-2-22, Blain Fiowler 5-2-13, Glavine Bigam 1-0-3, Jack Kline 5-2-12, Riley Jenkins 6-0-13, Ed Kirk 2-1-5. Three-point goals — Nungester (2), Fowler, Jenkins. Totals — 20-55 11-20.
Quarter scores 1 2 3 4 F
Gallia Academy 8 7 14 7 36
Circleville 12 12 19 25 68