West tops North Adams in thriller, advances to first-ever Elite 8

Brock Netter, Staff Writer

Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by OhioHealth.

LOGAN — All season long, this West team has been “the one.”

The one to end Wheelersburg’s SOC II unbeaten streak, the one to win the school’s first-ever conference title and the one to reach 20 wins in a season. 

Now, it’s the one to punch the program’s first-ever Elite 8 tickets and the Senators (25-1) have Emma Sayre to thank for it.

The junior guard got a steal off a North Adams inbound, split a pair of defenders and scored the game-winning layup to give the Senators a 52-51 lead with 4.3 seconds remaining.

Sayre’s bucket ended North Adams’ perfect season in a Division III regional semifinal at Logan High School. The Senators are now one win away from a Final 4.

“We just kept fighting,” West coach Larry Howell said. “These kids are relentless. They put the work in. Hard work pays off and they know it. We had, on the board before the game, that we had to fight. You know you’re going to get punched. You’re playing good basketball teams. But you just have to keep coming back. But it’s all about heart. These kids have huge hearts and that’s what won them that ballgame.”

The nerves were there for both teams in the opening eight minutes as each committed seven turnovers. 

They went neck-and-neck early, trading leads until a rebound and put-back from NA’s Katelynn Boerger tied the game at 9-9. West’s Charlie Jo Howard then buried a 3 to put the Senators ahead 12-9 after the first quarter.

Lexi Deaver opened the second with a triple, followed by two free throws from Maelynn Howell to complete an 8-2 run, extending West’s lead to 17-11. 

The Senators continued to build its advantage behind Howell and Sayre, pushing it to 23-14 before Keetyn Hupp canned a triple to cut the deficit to 23-17 at halftime. 

That shot from Hupp served as a spark for the Green Devils (25-1), and they turned it into a full fire. 

Harlee Brand drilled a 3 as part of a 7-1 run to open the third, which tied the game at 24-24 before Laney Ruckel scored from deep to give NA a 27-26 lead. 

Continuing to pour it on, Hupp and Boerger led the charge on an 8-0 run, giving the Devils their biggest lead of the game at 37-27. 

“It was about what they were doing,” Howell said of North Adams’ 8-0 run. “They came out posting Lexi so we switched Maelynn back onto Hupp. But they just hit shots. When teams hit shots, they get momentum and energy going. We just had to keep fighting. We were struggling on offense and had way too many turnovers. But we had to clean those things up, got some momentum with some put-backs and we started pressing, just to try to increase the tempo.”

The Senators, albeit on the ropes, were far from being knocked out of the fight.

Baskets were traded before West junior Kate Rollins hit a shot to beat the third quarter buzzer, bringing NA’s lead to 39-32 heading to the fourth.

Brand and Jones each connected on a shot from distance to begin the final eight minutes, keeping the Green Devils ahead at 45-38 as time continued to melt away. 

The Senators, though, applied late pressure and managed to cut the deficit to 47-43. But Ruckel buried a trey from the corner to push the lead back up to 50-43 with 2:42 left.

Still, the Senators refused to go away.

Howard buried a triple, then got a steal and bucket, followed by Emma Sayre hitting two free throws for a 7-0 run in 42 seconds of game time, tying the game at 50-50 with exactly two minutes remaining.

“Charlie Jo hits the 3 and then has the presence of mind to get the steal and score again,” Howell said. “In tournament basketball, a five-point swing is huge. The crowd is going crazy, the bench is going crazy and the kids feed off that energy. That’s kind of what helped us make the last play. They were talking in the huddle about how they could rest tomorrow. They wanted to give it everything they had.”

Jones split a pair at the line on the other end to give the Green Devils a 51-50 lead until the final moments.

That’s when Sayre became a hero.

The lightning-quick guard stole the inbounds pass, beat two defenders and finished at the bucket. It produced the night’s final and sent the West Side of Portsmouth into a jubilant celebration.

“Emma is relentless. She’s been battling laryngitis, so she doesn’t hardly have a voice,” Howell said. “She hasn’t been able to speak at practice the last two days. I messaged her this morning and asked how she was feeling. She goes, ‘Coach, i still don’t feel very good. But I’ll be ready by game time.’ You saw how she played. She’s such a tough kid. I’m glad she’s on our team.”

The Senators will return to action at 7 p.m. on Friday, back at Logan High School, against Wheelersburg — a 49-47 winner over Union Local on Wednesday — in a Division III regional championship game.

A win for either team would be that program’s first-regional championship and will mark Scioto County’s first regional title since 1980.

“We have to rebound the ball, play defense and we have to take care of the basketball,” Howell said. “We keep it simple. We know it’s going to be a game of swings. Wheelersburg’s a great team with a lot of seniors. I think it’s going to be a great, exciting game. A team from Scioto County is finally going back to the Final 4. It’s going to be a battle. We’re looking forward to it.”

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