NEW RIEGEL 60, GIBSONBURG 55
By Kyle Holsinger
RIEGEL — New Riegel cut the net down as Shane Jones was 10-of-12 from the free throw line; going to the charity stripe three times late in the game for the Blue Jackets to seal a home sectional final win against Sandusky Bay Conference foe Gibsonburg, 60-55.
“He’s just been a tremendous player for years here,” New Riegel coach Dave Losey said about his star player. “He’s a great athlete, he’s a great kid, and we trust him with the ball in his hands at the end.”
The first of those late foul shots came when Jones, a senior who leads the SBC in free throw percentage, was fouled with 7.5 seconds left in the game and New Riegel leading, 56-55. Jones was four-of-four from the charity stripe to that point when he stepped to the line—making his first and missing his second to put the Blue Jackets up by 2.
The Golden Bears’ Aiden Morant rebounded the basketball and was falling out-of-bounds when he attempted to call a timeout. Unfortunately for Gibsonburg, they were out of timeouts and this resulted in a technical foul being called. New Riegel coach sent Jones back to the foul line, and Jones missed the first but made the second; giving his team the ball with 5.9 seconds left and a three-point advantage.
A quick foul by Gibsonburg (15-8) on the inbounded pass to Jones gave Morant his fifth and final foul to give with five seconds remaining. Jones sank both of his free throws to finish out the scoring 60-55.
The game started with Gibsonburg sophomore Reece Walby making a three-pointer from the right corner. The Blue Jacket’s Jones drew a foul and made his first two free throws on the very next possession.
Sophomore Hunter Wasserman then threw a pass inside to Walby who made a bunny shot for the Golden Bears. New Riegel (16-6) again responded fightback with Jones hitting a three on the right wing to tie things up, 5-5.
A couple possessions later, Blue Jacket senior Carson Pahl banked it in off of a post move for New Riegel’s first lead of the game. Minutes later, Gibsonburg’s Aiden Senters nailed a trey from the left corner to give his team a point lead.
On the ensuing trip down the floor, the Blue Jackets’ Pahl put back an offensive rebound only to be answered with a spot up jumper by Morant. After a steal by senior Camden Mooney, the Golden Bears were able to score when Luke Foster banked it off the glass down low to extend the lead to three points at the end of the first quarter: Gibsonburg 12, New Riegel 9.
The Navy and Gold’s Jones came off a screen and hit a jumper from the foul line to start the second quarter. That’s when Golden Bear senior Grant Dawson hit a pair of foul shots, but the Blue Jackets came right back as senior Jayden Nye dribble-penetrated for a left-hand layup to get back within one point.
For about a three minute stretch, Gibsonburg went on a 9-0 run. Walby got it started by converting one-of-two free throws for the Orange & Black. After a Wasserman steal, Senters made two more free throws. Their next possession, Senters drained a three from the right wing, and a Walby three from the top of the key forced New Riegel to call a timeout with 3:56 to go in the first half—23-13 in favor go the Golden Bears.
Coming out of the timeout, Blue Jacket senior, Carter Clouse pump faked and scored in the paint to end the run.
After a defensive stop, Clouse was fouled while attempting a three-point shot, making two-of-three attempts from the foul line to make it a six-point game. Jones then made two foul shots to cap a 6-0 run for the Blue Jackets. From here, the teams scored on the final seven possessions of the first half.
The teams swapped free throws as Gibsonburg’s Walby made a couple, Jones hit his other free throws for the Navy & Gold, and Mooney made two to give the Golden Bears a 27-21 lead.
New Riegel’s Alec Hohman scored on a short jumper, but was answered by a floater in the lane from the Golden Bears’ Mooney. A bank shot by Cameron Hohman made it a four-point game with little time left.
That’s when Walby hit a buzzer beater from inside half court to give Gibsonburg a 32-25 halftime lead.
New Riegel came out struck first in the second half when Nye made a three. On the Blue Jackets’ next possession, Aiden Faeth scored in the paint to make it a two-point contest.
The Golden Bears’ Mooney then hit a three from the right corner to extend his teams’ lead. A left-hand layup from New Riegel’s Jones made it 35-32.
Several minutes passed before the Blue Jackets’ Paul scored on a post move to get within one, and a baseline layup from Alec Hohman gave New Riegel their first lead since the first quarter, 36-35.
A couple Walby free throws and a fast break layup by Morant saw Gibsonburg back on top by three. The Blue Jackets’ Faeth stepped up and converted an and-one opportunity to tie things back up.
New Riegel’s Brayden Schalk’s three pointer was answered with a three by Walby and the third quarter ended with the teams tied 42-all.
A free throw by Foster gave the Golden Bears’ an edge, but Jones made a short jumper for another lead change. A Morant layup for Gibsonburg was one-upped by a Nye knocked down three to go up by two.
A put back by Alec Hohman and a fast break layup by Jones on back-to-back possessions pushed the Blue Jacket’s lead to six.
Morant made a couple threes on the right wing with a hook shot from New Riegel’s Pahl sandwiched in between to make it a two-point game with 2:30 to go.
After Alec Hohman scored on a finger roll for the Blue Jackets, the Orange & Black’s Wasserman splashed a jumper.
A free throw by Nye was matched with the Golden Bears’ scoring on a short jumper from Mooney. That’s when Jones was sent to the line at the end to clinch the game.
“A lot of momentum swings,” Coach Losey said. “We got down early. That run in the second quarter really hurt us.”
Losey stated he felt the Blue Jackets didn’t execute well for the first fourteen minutes of the game. “We came out at halftime, made some adjustments and the kids did a real good job.”
“This is always tough because a lot of emotions after, you know,” Gibsonburg coach Carrie Strausbaugh said. “The best part, I think, about high school basketball is the tournament where it sucks for us right now. It’s one and done every single night of the tournament. You got to bring it.
Coach Strausbaugh felt like his team brought it as far as effort. “They left it all out there,” he concluded.
This was the third time the two teams had faced other with the home team winning each and all games were decided by six points or less. The Golden Bears winning the first matchup on December 6 by a score of 45-43. On January 31, New Riegel avenged the previous loss with a
New Riegel’s Jones led all scorers with 21 points as the Blue Jackets advance to face SBC Champion Old Fort in a district semifinal matchup at Fostoria High School Thursday, Feb. 27 at 6 p.m.
Gibsonburg’s Walby finished with 19 points and Morant chipped-in 12.
