Brock Netter, Staff Writer
Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by OhioHealth.
ATHENS — For a six-minute stretch, Beau Stephens was the most impactful player on the court.
Turns out, that was the jolt that South Webster needed to win yet another district championship trophy.
Stephens came off the bench and scored all 14 of his points in the first half to help the Jeeps (20-3) earn a 59-44 victory over Fairfield — claiming its second consecutive district title in the process.
CREDIT: Raymond Gleadle/SOSA
“It’s definitely special to win a district, even more so to go back-to-back and we have a great groups of guys that have been able to achieve that,” South Webster coach Norm Persin said. “This was the first goal we set out to achieve and now there’s more to be done, but I’m happy for our kids to celebrate this one.”
Fairfield (17-7) couldn’t have dreamed of a better start. Logan McIntosh, Griffin Friend and Brody Smith all scored to give the Lions a quick 6-0 lead.
“We had to regroup, there was absolutely no energy from our guys on the floor at all,” Persin said. “We talked about the things they were doing to do offensively, and they executed it early. That timeout allowed out guys to settle in and regroup.”
The Jeeps got on the board and eventually took a 13-12 lead behind Dylan Shupert and Eli Roberts. Stephens scored the team’s last four points of the quarter to keep SW ahead 17-16 after the first eight minutes.
He then took over the game.
Stephens cashed in on back-to-back 3-point field goals, giving him 10 straight points and extending the Jeeps’ advantage to 23-16. Then, he added two more buckets, followed by a steal and a two-handed flush from Roberts, to cap a 13-0 run, making it 30-16.
“Beau played such a great game, and give us not just great production but great minutes throughout the game,” Persin said. “He hit a pair of 3’s and played a remarkable game. He carried our offense in the first half.”
The Lions regained some momentum and ended the frame on a 7-0 run behind Smith and McIntosh, which cut the lead to 30-23 at the break.
McIntosh opened the third with a bucket, but South Webster quickly answered with a triple from Roberts and buckets from Hunter Barnard and Owen Mault for 7-0 run, making it 37-25 — a lead that never slipped under double-digits throughout the rest of the night.
“Our kids did a great job of sharing the ball tonight, led by Christian White, and really got up the floor in a hurry,” Persin said. “Our biggest thing was making sure Smith didn’t have any room to shoot the ball. I thought our defense played really well, and we took advantage of some mismatches in the second half that allowed us to pull away.”
Roberts finished the night with 19 points and nine rebounds to lead the Jeeps. Alongside Stephens’ 14 points, Shupert added 10 points.
For Fairfield, McIntosh finished with 19 points.
As Fairfield’s season reaches its end, South Webster returns to action at 8 p.m. on Thursday at Ohio Dominican University in a Division VII regional semifinal against Patriot Prep, who won a Central District title to advance.
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