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CIRCLEVILLE — When Ed Kirk and Kole Nungester get going, stopping a freight train may be an easier task than silencing the two’s production on the basketball floor.
On Tuesday, Ed Kirk and Kole Nungester got going … and it didn’t take long for it to happen.
Circleville’s junior duo paced the way to a 20-4 lead from the get-go, giving their Tigers an early advantage and one they never looked back from in a dominant 46-35 win over rival Logan Elm.
CREDIT: Derrick Webb/SOSA
“I felt like we had a really good practice [on Monday],” Circleville coach Evan Callihan said. “We had a lot of energy, the guys were high-fiving and moving around well. This time of the year, late in the season, we’ve talked about doing the little things in practice. I think that carried over. We got out to a great start and I give a lot of credit to the guys on the defensive end. That’s been our big focus. It’s what we work on the most. I thought our guys executed our game plan tremendously.”
Kirk scored with 6:58 left in the first quarter and it was surely a sign of things to come.
After a bucket from Nungester and another score from Kirk, the Tigers (10-5, 7-2 MSL) had a 6-0 lead with 5:51 to go. Logan Elm’s Ne’Miah Waugh then put the Braves on the board but Nungester and Kirk pieced together another 6-0 run before Circleville took a 12-4 lead into the second.
“He’s put in a lot of work, especially over the summer,” Callihan said of Kirk. “He’s come a long way with his work ethic and just finishing around the basket. He’s someone who has really matured and plays with a lot of energy and fight. From June 1 to now, the growth that he’s shown, I’m just really proud of him.”
The second began much like the first — with the Tigers finding a way to put the ball in the bucket while standing tall on the defensive end.
Kirk scored for a 14-4 count before Riley Jenkins nailed back-to-back triples at the 4:20 and 3:51 marks, forcing an LE timeout and extending the advantage to 20-4. By halftime, that edge had stretched to 17 at 27-10.
“We have a lot of respect for Logan Elm,” Callihan said. “That’s a great basketball program and they’ve had a lot of success over the years. Waugh is someone who can score a lot of them and [Tyler] Speas can shoot the 3. Those were two names we really wanted to focus on defensively. I thought our guys, Drew Thornsley, Jack Kline, Kiser Cassidy and Blain Fowler did a great job doing that.”
Both teams hit an offensive lull in the third, scoring a combined 13 points. But that was just fine with the Tigers, who took a 35-15 lead into the final eight minutes.
PHOTOS: Images from Circleville’s win over Logan Elm
However, that trend would change in the fourth when Logan Elm (4-12, 2-7 MSL) finally started to piece an offensive rhythm together.
Trailing 39-22 with just over five minutes remaining, Waugh and Speas caught fire.
Those two led Logan Elm on a 10-0 run that spanned two minutes of game time and ended with back-to-back triples from Speas and teammate Lucas Bialy, bringing the deficit to 39-32.
But it was too little, too late. Nungester got a shot to fall, ending the run and allowing Circleville to breathe easier. And, down the stretch, the Tigers’ point guard put the game away from the charity stripe, eventually sealing an 11-point victory.
“We knew Logan Elm was going to keep swinging,” Callihan said. “When they cut our lead to 10 points, the stuff that our guys were saying in the huddle was stuff we’ve been looking for. It’s just handling adversity. It’s a game of runs. They made a run and our guys handled it.”
Statistically, Kirk led the Tigers with a double-double of 18 points and 11 rebounds. Nungester added 14 points, nine boards and four assists, and Jenkins posted eight points and five rebounds.
Waugh paced Logan Elm with 17 points, 10 rebounds and four assists while Speas added 13 points of his own to the Braves’ totals.
Logan Elm will attempt to get back in the win column on Saturday at Amanda-Clearcreek.
Meanwhile, Circleville is back in action on Thursday evening, hosting Fairfield Union in another MSL matchup. The Tigers will then travel to Hamilton Township on Saturday.
Needless to say, it doesn’t get any easier.
“We’ve talked a lot as a team and with our schedule, we feel like we can beat anyone on it,” Callihan said. “But we also feel like anyone can beat us if we don’t play hard. It’s the little things on any given night. Our road doesn’t get any easier. We’ve got Fairfield Union coming to town and that’s our focus right now. You’re remembered by what you do in February. You want to be ascending at that time and I feel like we’re doing that. We just have to take it one step at a time.”
BOX SCORE
Logan Elm: 4-6-7-18 — 35
Circleville: 12-15-6-13 — 46
Logan Elm: 14-45 FG, 1-2 FT, 6-25 3pt., 19 rebounds (Waugh 10), 7 turnovers, 6 assists (Waugh 4). Scoring: Waugh 17, Speas 13, Bialy 3, Neff 2.
Circleville: 19-47 FG, 5-9 FT, 3-7 3pt., 30 rebounds (Kirk 11), 11 turnovers, 11 assists (Nungester 4). Scoring: Kirk 18, Nungester 14, Jenkins 8, Kline 4, Fowler 2.
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