In a battle of #1 seeds, Warren (17-2) earned a 50-48 victory over Chillicothe (13-7) Friday night.
The Cavs had a chance to tie at the end of regulation, but the pass to MaLik London bounced away from his grasp and was recovered by Warren to secure the win.
Chillicothe had used a 7-0 run to close out the first quarter to take an 18-15 lead, but the Warriors rallied back to regain the lead in the second.
There were ten lead
changes as the two clubs see-sawed their way to a 29-28 halftime score. Aaron
Elliott hit a shot just before the close of the half to put the Cavs
ahead.
The Warriors used
three-point shots by Jeremy Hastie to push ahead in the 3rd quarter 33-31 and 36-33. Zach Johnson hit a free throw and another basket to knot the game at 36. As Chillicothe did in the first, Warren closed out the third with a
7-0 run to jump out to the largest lead by wither team on the night at 43-36.
In the final period, the Cavs forced Warren turnovers and whittled away at the seven point deficit. A basket by London, Elliott with a three-point play and Zach Johnson had jumpers back-to-back to tie at 45 with 5:59 remaining.
Evan French, who had 40-points in the Warriors’ 65-56 loss at Hatton Gym, hit his only 3-pointer on the night to lift Warren to a 48-45 lead. Tyler Ward nailed a shot on the next possession to extend the Warriors’ lead to five at 50-45 with 3:20 to play.
The Cavs would cut it close with a field goal by Johnson and a free throw by Jones, but were unable to capitalize in the end.
Johnson led all scorers with 15 points with 7 rebounds. London had 11 points, 9boards and 8 blocked shots, Jones added 11 points with 10 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals. Aaron Elliott finished with 9 points and Adam Bixler 2.
Warren was led by Hastie with 14 and Josh Winland with 10.
The Warriors have a makeup game this Tuesday with Fort Frye while the Cavs prepare for the winner of Tuesday’s Jackson/Washington C.H. Sectional Semi-Final at Southeastern High School. The winner plays Chillicothe at 5pm Saturday February 25th in the Sectional Final.
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