Derrick Webb, Managing Editor
Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by OhioHealth.
ATHENS — South Webster didn’t play well on Saturday night. That’s no secret.
But sometimes, the mark of an elite team is pushing through an off night and grinding out a win.
Despite shooting just 27.3 percent from the floor, the Jeeps (22-3) survived and advanced in the truest of forms, outlasting Notre Dame in a Division VII regional final on Saturday by a 36-34 final at Ohio University.
“All you have to do is look at our shooting percentage and how bad it was,” South Webster coach Norm Persin said. “But coming out in the second half, we played with some energy and hit some shots. After that, we got every loose ball, we were diving on the floor and we were getting steals coming down on defense. To win a game like that and shoot like we did, it’s like, ‘We won and that’s all that matters.’ You want to put a blindfold on. But we’re moving onto the Final 4. It’s about surviving and advancing.”
CREDIT: Derrick Webb/SOSA
Last season, South Webster found itself in a similar spot … but with a flipped script.
In a Division IV regional final against Berlin Hiland, they had a 10-point lead going into halftime. However, they eventually dropped a 48-45 decision in overtime, ending what should’ve been a Final 4 run.
Fast forward to a year later and they can say they’ve applied a lesson learned.
“Last year, the same thing happened, except we lost,” Persin said. “We were up 12 points at halftime and we were down 10 tonight. It was kind of like deja vu but we changed the script around. Last year, we felt like we gave the game away, especially in the last four minutes. Tonight, we earned it. We earned a win. Four of our kids were here at this point last year. They played a bunch of minutes. They learned from that and they’re moving on.”
Early on, Notre Dame (20-6) was the aggressor and the Titans’ charge was led by Brady Davis and Landon Barbarits. That duo gave Notre Dame an early 11-8 lead and, thanks to a 3 from Myles Phillips, helped the Titans take a 14-8 lead into the second.
Barbarits extended the lead to 19-10 with 6:21 to go before halftime before South Webster’s Brycin McClintic answered on the other end. The teams would continue to trade buckets until the break before Davis gave ND a 23-13 edge with two free throws.
But as well as Notre Dame played in the first half, it all began to slowly unravel in the second.
SW’s Owen Mault dialed long distance before Hunter Barnard followed suit, cutting the deficit to 23-20. When Eli Roberts nailed a triple at the 5:41 mark in the third, it forced a 23-23 tie and capped a 10-0 run.
“We came into halftime and were like, ‘What are we doing?’ We needed to pick it up. Our energy was dead,” SW’s Dylan Shupert said. “We knew we had to play a lot better in the second half or we’d lose like we did last year. We didn’t want that to happen.”
Roberts gave South Webster a 27-25 lead with two free throws at the 2:30 mark, but the Titans went back in front at 29-27, thanks to a bucket from Aaryn Bradford. Then, with 15.7 seconds to play, SW’s Beau Stephens scored to force a 29-29 deadlock heading into the final eight minutes.
In the fourth, Mault gave the Jeeps a 31-29 lead with a basket and they never trailed again. Roberts scored three points the old-fashioned way with 5:41 to go, making it 34-29, before Barbarits followed suit on the other end at the 3:36 mark.
Roberts and Barbarits traded baskets with 2:22 and 1:56 to go, setting up one final chance for ND to tie or win.
The Titans received the basketball with just over a minute to play and couldn’t get past SW’s tightlock defense — one that held ND to just nine second half points.
One final shot attempt went wide right and the Jeeps celebrated their third-ever regional championship — the first since 2006.
“We were great in the second half, defensively,” Persin said. “I thought the play of the game was the one that Eli made at the end of the half. We told the kids in the timeout before that [Notre Dame] was going to shoot a 3. I really believed that because they didn’t want to go to overtime. He got out on his man as they were running the clock down and I think he may have even tipped the ball. But it way wide when they shot it. So that was the big play defensively.”
Statistically, Shupert led the Jeeps in scoring with 11 points alongside four rebounds. Roberts finished with 10 points and six boards, and Owen Mault chipped in with five points.
Barbarits led the Titans with a game-high 15 points while Davis finished with 11 of his own. Phillips also made a difference, tallying six points, nine rebounds and three assists.
“We had a sour taste in our mouths after last year and we just wanted to get back here,” Shupert said. “We just wanted to win and it feels great. It’s a feeling like no other.”
While Notre Dame’s season comes to an end after a first-ever trip to the Elite 8, the Jeeps will look towards a Division VII state semifinal matchup at 7 p.m. on Friday. Their opponent will be Cornerstone Christian, who beat
“We can definitely get better than we were tonight,” Persin said. “You know, Patriot Prep was a very good team in the regional semifinal. Fairfield [in the district final] was very good. We knew that was going to be a tough game. So I think we beat two quality teams to get here tonight. And when you win by two points, you win. That’s all that matters at the end of the day.”
BOX SCORE
Notre Dame: 14-9-6-5 — 34
South Webster: 8-5-16-7 — 36
Notre Dame: 12-29 FG, 7-8 FT, 3-13 3pt., 20 rebounds (Phillips 9), 16 turnovers, 8 assists (Phillips 3). Scoring: Barbarits 15, Davis 11, Phillips 6, McGraw 2.
South Webster: 12-44 FG, 7-9 FT, 5-23 3pt., 25 rebounds (Roberts 6), 3 turnovers, 7 assists (White 3). Scoring: Shupert 11, Roberts 10, Mault 5, Barnard 4, Stephens 3, McClintic 2, White 1.
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