1 week ago
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Tuesday, Dec. 30
Wheelersburg 54, Ironton 46 (BBKB)
Behind another balanced scoring effort and gritty defensive work, the Wheelersburg Pirates’ boys basketball program defended home court successfully as Wheelersburg kept its unbeaten mark and knocked Ironton off of the ranks of the unbeaten in one fell swoop with a 54-46 victory over the Fighting Tigers Tuesday evening at Wheelersburg High School in Wheelersburg.
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The key theme of the contest was the Pirates’ work defensively, as Ironton was held to just 19 second-half points and two field goals in the fourth quarter. Wheelersburg ultimately went on a 10-0 run in the middle of the fourth quarter to close the deal.
“We came in with a focus over the last couple of days to figure out our identity and how we’re approaching these games on the defensive end,” Wheelersburg head coach Alex Prater said. “Obviously, Ironton came in with a ton of talent and is playing extremely well, and (Ashton) Layne is an exceptional player who does a lot of things really well and is hard to stop. We had to rely on our identity, which is our defense, and we kind of had to retool and refocus. Defensively, it’s about trusting each other. We’re just trying to be solid, trust each other and be physical when we go rebound the ball. We’re not going to overwhelm anybody with our size, and we understand that, so we’ve got to get into people and be more aggressive with our opponents.”
While Wheelersburg was led by a balanced scoring effort that included three double-figure outings from Braylon Rucker (15), Hunter Bivens (12) and Landon McGraw (10), as well as an eight-point outing from Xavier Miller, the game was won on the defensive end of the floor, where Bivens, McGraw and freshman forward Graer Woodward were among those who stood out on that front.
“Graer has figured out how to play varsity basketball as a freshman,” Prater said. “He is an exceptional defender. To be where he’s at defensively this early in his career certainly has us excited. He works extremely hard. Tanner is the ultimate team guy. I don’t think he was happy with his performance against Portsmouth. He follows that up by coming in at 6 a.m. and getting shots up and putting in the extra work. The success that he has is not accidental. It doesn’t just happen. He puts in the work and the time, and it pays off for him. Landon is such a mature individual, a captain alongside Tanner Bivens. He leads this team not only by example, but also by being a positive voice for his teammates.”
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With the game tied at 43 after a pair of offensive rebounds allowed Ironton to tie the score with a bucket, Prater called a timeout, which proved to be crucial.
“The timeout message was, ‘We’re guarding fine. We’ve got to box out and rebound the basketball. Let’s get stops, let’s get rebounds and let’s put pressure on them.’ I thought that was a really important sequence where we were able to get multiple stops strung together, throw it ahead and get some stuff in transition. That’s the brand of basketball that we want to play.”
Rucker scored 11 of his 15 points in the second half while Bivens notched all 12 of his tallies in the opening half of play to lead Wheelersburg, who moved to 3-0 to begin the 2025-26 season with the win. Ironton fell to 6-1 with the loss.
Wheelersburg hosted Waverly Friday evening in its SOC III opener.
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Green 66, Western 58 (BBKB)
Behind a 39-point second half and a balanced scoring effort, the Green Bobcats’ boys basketball program was able to claim a 66-58 victory over the Western Indians’ boys basketball program Tuesday evening in a home contest that was held at Green High School in Franklin Furnace.
Gabe Blevins ultimately scored scored 13 of his 22 points in the second half to finish as the game-high scorer while heading Green’s charge offensively to boot. Uriah Satterfield added in nine of his 12 points following the halftime break while Jonathan Knapp also added in 12 points, all coming after the final three quarters of play.
Noah McMackin (six points; five in first quarter), Brennan Renison (all six points in fourth quarter), Riddick Jenkins (five points) and Jacob Sampson (three points) rounded out the balanced scoring effort.
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Green improved to 3-4 and played Clay Friday evening in its SOC I opener.
Mowrystown Whiteoak 71, Northwest 67, 3 OT (BBKB)
In a three overtime marathon Tuesday evening, the Northwest Mohawks’ boys basketball program suffered a heartbreaking defeat as Northwest fell to Mowrystown Whiteoak, 71-67, in triple overtime Tuesday evening at Northwest High School in McDermott.
Northwest was led by a 20-point effort from Brycen Montavon while Carson Christian posted 16 tallies and Aidden Armbrister 13 for the Mohawks in the loss.
Northwest (5-4) hosts Eastern Pike Friday evening in its SOC II opener.
ADDITIONAL SCORES
Clay 55, River Valley 51
New Boston Glenwood 59, Ripley-Union-Lewis-Huntington 57
Notre Dame 59, Manchester 42
South Webster 61, Symmes Valley 36
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