Whiteoak Wildcats dominate East en route to sectional semifinal win
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
MOWRYSTOWN — From start to finish, the No. 12 seeded Whiteoak Wildcats set the tone in their Division IV SE District sectional semifinal game by defending their home court with a 72-35 win over the visiting No. 21 seeded Sciotoville East Tartans.
Whiteoak let the visitors know they weren’t losing on their home court in the postseason, and that message was heard loud and clear in the first frame as Whiteoak built a 23-6 lead after eight minutes of action.
Whiteoak (10-10) took care of business in the Division IV sectional game from the very start of play with an 8-0 run in the early stages of the first frame as Carson Emery sank a jumper for the first points of the game, and that was followed with a 3-pointer from Bradley Ashbaugh for a 5-0 lead. Emery added another jumper for two points, and Landon Barnett made a free throw as he made a steal and was fouled while going to the hoop with 5:57 left on the clock.
East scored their first two points of the game with 3:53 left in the opening quarter, only to see the Wildcats answer with two more points by Emery. Another basket was made by the Tartans, and it was answered with back-to-back 3-pointers by Ashbaugh, putting WHS ahead by 12 points at 16-4 with 2:55 remaining in the first frame.
Two free throws went through the hoop by East, only to see the Wildcats go on a 7-0 run to end the first frame with two put-back baskets by Ashbaugh and a 3-pointer from Logan Bieler for the 17-point lead at the conclusion of the first frame.
“Tonight was a good win, and you have to win the first one to get to the next one, and I told the kids to never underestimate anybody in the tournament,” WHS head coach Ryan Barnett said. “Their (East) record wasn’t as good coming in, and we had quite a few things to work on. The kids looked good, and now we have to prep for Friday.”
Whiteoak led by 24 points when the game reached halftime, outscoring the East squad 20-13 in the frame for a 43-19 lead.
Whiteoak had Ashbaugh score 10 points in the second frame with two more 3-pointers and two two-point baskets, giving him 23 points in the first half alone, with five 3-pointers in the opening half. For the game, Ashbaugh totaled 26 points.
“Bradley shot the ball really well,” Barnett said. “We also played super good defense early on, and offensively we moved the ball around and got the guys open we needed to get open and pushed the ball when we needed to. Everything looked good.”
Also in the second frame, Evan DeAtley knocked down a 3-pointer and a free throw, while teammate Barnett scored three points in the quarter. The second quarter also saw Bieler score two points and Weston Blair made a free throw.
The offense of Whiteoak stood strong in the third as the roster began to rotate more, outscoring East 19-14, for a lead of 62-33 after three quarters.
In the third, Ashbaugh scored three points, Luken Roades made two free throws, Emery added five points, Bieler made one free throw, Barnett scored two points and Bryce Bailey made three baskets for six points.
In the fourth quarter for Whiteoak, Connor Butler made a basket, while Roades made two buckets for four points. DeAtley and Robbie Raines also both connected with a basket in a quarter where the Wildcats scored 10 points. East scored two points in the fourth.
Other final scoring totals following the 26-point game by Ashbaugh included 11 points from Emery and six points each by Roades, DeAtley, Bieler, Barnett and Bailey. Finishing with two points each were Butler and Raines, and having one point in the win was Blair.
For the game, the Wildcats totaled 21 two-point baskets, seven 3-pointers and they were 9-of-16 from the free-throw line. East finished with 10 two-point baskets, three 3-pointers and they went 6-of-8 in the free-throw attempts.
East was led by Landehn Pernell with 10 points.
Next for the Wildcats is a road game in the sectional finals on Friday, Feb. 18 against the No. 5 seeded Federal Hocking Lancers at 7 p.m. at Federal Hocking High School. WHS last won a sectional championship in 2019, as they have 13 total sectional championships in program history.
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Whiteoak let the visitors know they weren’t losing on their home court in the postseason, and that message was heard loud and clear in the first frame as Whiteoak built a 23-6 lead after eight minutes of action.
Whiteoak (10-10) took care of business in the Division IV sectional game from the very start of play with an 8-0 run in the early stages of the first frame as Carson Emery sank a jumper for the first points of the game, and that was followed with a 3-pointer from Bradley Ashbaugh for a 5-0 lead. Emery added another jumper for two points, and Landon Barnett made a free throw as he made a steal and was fouled while going to the hoop with 5:57 left on the clock.
East scored their first two points of the game with 3:53 left in the opening quarter, only to see the Wildcats answer with two more points by Emery. Another basket was made by the Tartans, and it was answered with back-to-back 3-pointers by Ashbaugh, putting WHS ahead by 12 points at 16-4 with 2:55 remaining in the first frame.
Two free throws went through the hoop by East, only to see the Wildcats go on a 7-0 run to end the first frame with two put-back baskets by Ashbaugh and a 3-pointer from Logan Bieler for the 17-point lead at the conclusion of the first frame.
“Tonight was a good win, and you have to win the first one to get to the next one, and I told the kids to never underestimate anybody in the tournament,” WHS head coach Ryan Barnett said. “Their (East) record wasn’t as good coming in, and we had quite a few things to work on. The kids looked good, and now we have to prep for Friday.”
Whiteoak led by 24 points when the game reached halftime, outscoring the East squad 20-13 in the frame for a 43-19 lead.
Whiteoak had Ashbaugh score 10 points in the second frame with two more 3-pointers and two two-point baskets, giving him 23 points in the first half alone, with five 3-pointers in the opening half. For the game, Ashbaugh totaled 26 points.
“Bradley shot the ball really well,” Barnett said. “We also played super good defense early on, and offensively we moved the ball around and got the guys open we needed to get open and pushed the ball when we needed to. Everything looked good.”
Also in the second frame, Evan DeAtley knocked down a 3-pointer and a free throw, while teammate Barnett scored three points in the quarter. The second quarter also saw Bieler score two points and Weston Blair made a free throw.
The offense of Whiteoak stood strong in the third as the roster began to rotate more, outscoring East 19-14, for a lead of 62-33 after three quarters.
In the third, Ashbaugh scored three points, Luken Roades made two free throws, Emery added five points, Bieler made one free throw, Barnett scored two points and Bryce Bailey made three baskets for six points.
In the fourth quarter for Whiteoak, Connor Butler made a basket, while Roades made two buckets for four points. DeAtley and Robbie Raines also both connected with a basket in a quarter where the Wildcats scored 10 points. East scored two points in the fourth.
Other final scoring totals following the 26-point game by Ashbaugh included 11 points from Emery and six points each by Roades, DeAtley, Bieler, Barnett and Bailey. Finishing with two points each were Butler and Raines, and having one point in the win was Blair.
For the game, the Wildcats totaled 21 two-point baskets, seven 3-pointers and they were 9-of-16 from the free-throw line. East finished with 10 two-point baskets, three 3-pointers and they went 6-of-8 in the free-throw attempts.
East was led by Landehn Pernell with 10 points.
Next for the Wildcats is a road game in the sectional finals on Friday, Feb. 18 against the No. 5 seeded Federal Hocking Lancers at 7 p.m. at Federal Hocking High School. WHS last won a sectional championship in 2019, as they have 13 total sectional championships in program history.
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