Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by OhioHealth.
KINNIKINNICK — A late run to close out the first half and a Herculean scoring effort in each half allowed Zane Trace to advance on Friday.
Grady Stewart and Landon Robinson led that charge, pacing the Pioneers to a 76-56 opening round win over Nelsonville-York.
The Buckeyes jumped out to a 20-15 first quarter lead as sophomore Cam Sullivan and junior Bean Martin combined for 14 points, but Stewart was able to keep the Pioneers within reach as the junior torched the nets for 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting in the opening minutes of action.
“Grady is a kid who cares so much and really wants to be successful,” Zane Trace coach Tyler Cassidy said. “He starts the game with a lot of nerves, but when he sees that first shot go in, everything just goes away and he get’s things going. We were struggling to start, and he kept us afloat until we picked it up.”
CREDIT: Raymond Gleadle/SOSA
The Pioneers (19-4) still had some struggles to begin the second quarter, although junior Gunnar McCullough’s efforts helped keep them close. Nelsonville extended the lead with interior scores from Briant Call, Grant Elliott and a putback from Sullivan to give the Buckeyes a 26-19 lead — their largest of the game.
Over the final four minutes of the first half, the Pioneers began putting it all together as five different players contributed points to an 11-0 run to finish the first half.
An inside score from McCullough, a triple from Stewart, a driving score from Landon Robinson and a midrange pull-up jumper from Landen Jarrell gave the Pioneers their first lead of the game since midway through the first quarter. Senior Judah Hanks then finished off the half for the Pioneers with a nice driving layup from the left wing to give the Pioneers a 30-26 lead at the break.
“Nelsonville was doing a really good job of breaking our pressure, and there were times we couldn’t even set up our press,” Cassidy said. “We switched up and played more man defense until we could go back to our three quarter and 1-2-2 defense. It was effective, allowed us to get a couple easy buckets on the other end and our guys were playing with some great energy.”
Out of halftime, Nelsonville (14-9) created life on the defensive end, but Zane Trace’s defensive effort helped the Pioneers maintain a small lead.
A basket from Call cut the lead to 30-29, before a putback from Zane Trace’s Noah Houston was countered with a cutting score from Nelsonville’s Alec Thompson to make it a 32-31 game.
The Buckeyes would never get that close again.
ZT put together an 11-2 run with Jarrell, McCullough and Stewart each scoring, before a three-point play from Robinson put the capper on the run.
It appeared as if the Buckeyes still had some life after a triple from Thompson and a short jumper from Call, wrapped around a layup from Robinson.
But the play of the game came with 1:20 to play in the third quarter and it grabbed all of the momentum left for the Pioneers.
Following a defensive stop, the Buckeyes got the ball into the paint for a short attempt that was blocked by Robinson. NY collected the rebound and attempted another look, which was once again blocked by Robinson. Jarrell collected the deflection and pushed the ball up-court where he found Robinson near the 3-point line. Robinson caught the pass and connected on a high arching triple to give the Pioneers a 48-38 lead.
“Those blocks got everything started for him and then knocking down that 3 I think really sparked his confidence for the rest of the night,” Cassidy said. “It was great to see him as a senior have those moments in his last home game.”
Nelsonville-York closed the third on a 4-0 burst, sprang by Landon Inman and Call each scoring driving baskets, and the Buckeyes even cut the lead to 48-44 early in the fourth with a score from Thompson.
Following a pair of missed free throws for the Pioneers, the game looked to be temporarily in question. But after getting a defensive stop, it was Robinson’s time to shine once again.
With 6:25 to play, he knocked down his second triple before Stewart scored at the rim to make it a 53-44 game. A bucket from Thompson looked to keep the game interesting, but another look from downtown from Robinson and a pair of free throws from McCullough pushed the lead to 58-44.
Robinson buried his fourth triple of the second half to all but put the game away for the Pioneers before a trio of driving layups from Jarrell and Ezra Rippeth helped Zane Trace clear the bench and celebrate their 19th win of the season.
The Buckeyes close their season at 14-9 and will return three starters, including team-high scorer Alec Thompson and Sullivan. NY will graduate Call, who had 10 points and nine rebounds, and Inman, who finished with a game-high seven assists.
The Pioneers had three players in double-digit scoring figures, led by Stewart’s 22 and Robinson’s 21. The Pioneers also had an outstanding 11 players in the scoring column in the victory as well.
Zane Trace (19-4) will advance to Monday’s district semifinal where it will meet Ironton. The Pioneers will look to advance to Friday’s district championship to be played at Ohio University’s Convocation Center.
“The biggest thing for us is making sure that we stay connected and focused in practice this week,” Robinson said. “We want these guys to experience what it’s like to play at the Convo. Me and LJ (Landen Jarrell) are the only ones who touched the court the last time we were there, so we want to get these guys back there.”
BOX SCORE
Nelsonville-York: 20-6-16-14 — 56
Zane Trace: 15-15-18-28 — 76
Nelsonville-York: 23-51 FG, 5-14 3pt., 5-10 FT, 22 rebounds (Call 9), 9 assists (Inman 7), 15 turnovers. Scoring: Thompson 16, Call 10, Martin 8, Sullivan 8, Inman 4, Schultz 4, Elliott 3, Lavy 3.
Zane Trace: 32-55 FG, 9-22 3pt, 3-6 FT, 26 rebounds (Houston 7), 17 assists (Jarrell 5), 11 turnovers. Scoring: Stewart 22, Robinson 21, McCullough 12, Jarrell 6, Rippeth 4, T. Singer 3, Hanks 2, Houston 2, Ray 2, Stevens 2.
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