MCGUFFEY – Coldwater continued a tradition in their annual meeting with Upper Scioto Valley that the road team walks away with a victory as the Cavs came back from an early 14-8 deficit to earn a 64-61 victory.
USV opened Saturday evening’s contest at Alumni Fieldhouse with a quick 7-2 spurt on the scoreboard led by juniors Jackson Rohrs and a Kadyn Hurley three pointer in the first period.
Each team took their swings in the second stanza that were reminiscent of a heavyweight prize fight that led to runs of baskets and a three point halftime lead for the Rams.
Behind three point goals by Rohrs and sophomore Drew Stephens USV pushed ahead 26-21 with 2:24 remaining after a pair of triples from Coldwater’s Kevin Fisher got his team within three and tied the game at 20-20 just moments earlier.
The Cavaliers first lead of the contest came with just :46 gone in the third on a basket by senior Zach McKibben who quickly pushed the advantage to three with a steal and score just moments later.
On his teams first half Cavs coach Nick Fisher stated “They hurt us on the board in the first half.”
Finding themselves behind in the game for the first time the Rams chipped away at the expanding Cavalier lead thanks to the duo of Jackson Rohrs and Connor Sanders who combined for a seven point spurt to tie the game at 32-32 and pull ahead at 35-32 on a Sanders make from deep.
Free throws and three pointers through the final eight minutes from McKibben pushed the visitors into a 46-45 lead in the early moments of the fourth quarter before a triple from Myles Blasingame sent the contest into a timeout with 4:40 and a 49-45 advantage on the scoreboard.
Over the course of the rest of the fourth the Cavaliers engaged in a team free throw shooting contest between McKibben, Jay Muhlenkamp, and Ethan Post who combined to hit on 10 of 15 from the line.
Upper Scioto Valley’s final chances came with under a minute remaining and trailing by a pair of points on made free throws from Jackson Rohrs to cut the lead to just a point 60-59 before Coldwater finished off the win as time expired.
“We struggled to get going but played the second half with a lot more energy. Zach McKibben really played locked in on both sides of the ball. Jay Muhlenkamp had a nice game especially in the first half” Coldwater coach Nick Fisher said on his teams performance. “We cleaned things up in the second half and executed enough down the stretch to pull off the win.”
Zach McKibben led Coldwater (8-9) in scoring with 16 points while Jackson Rohrs (20), and Connor Sanders (18) paced the Rams (8-7) points.
USV is home for Riverside on Friday evening while the Cavaliers play host to Parkway in a Midwest Athletic Conference tilt on the same evening.
Scoring:
Coldwater (64):
Carson Muhlenkamp 2
Zach McKibben 16
Myles Blasingame 8
Tyler Schwieterman 6
Jay Muhlenkamp 11
Ethan Post 9
Jesse Meyer 5
Kevin Fisher 6
USV (61):
Jackson Rohrs 20
Drew Stephens 11
Connor Sanders 18
Kadyn Hurley 11
Alex Sanders 1