Titans survive Flyers upset bid; stay atop SOC

IRONTON — A late rally by St. Joseph nearly turned the Southern Ohio Conference title picture on its head on Tuesday night. However, the first place Portsmouth Notre Dame Titans made the needed plays down the stretch and were able beat the Flyers 41-40 at the Parish Life Center.

The Flyers (7-10, 4-3) took an 8-4 first quarter lead as Carson Willis and Barrett Waginger hit 3-pointers and Zane Dressel added a basket.

Garrett Barbarits hit a pair of 3-pointers and Kenady McGraw had 5 points including a trey as Notre Dame (12-4, 7-0) rallied to take a 20-14 halftime lead.

Waginger knocked down a pair of triples to account for the Flyers’ offense.

The Flyers cut the deficit to two points in the third quarter as Eli Whaley drilled a trifecta and scored 5 points  with Willis and Waginger scoring 4 points each.

Archie West scored 7 points in the third quarter as the Titans were left clinging to a 31-29 lead.

Midway through the fourth a technical foul allowed the Flyers to get within 33-31 following a pair of made free throws by Whaley.

The Flyers had a lengthy offensive possession following the free throws, but McGraw came up with a huge defensive play with a blocked shot to keep Notre Dame ahead.

However, the Flyers would finally tie the game up at 33-all following a steal and lay up from Barrett Waginger.

The teams would trade answering baskets. First, Barbarits drilled a 3-pointer to put Notre Dame back ahead. Then Willis hit a turnaround jumper in the lane to cut the deficit to one.

Sawyer Rutman sank a free throw and Zion Boerger added two more from the foul line to give the Titans a 39-35 lead with 40 seconds remaining.

Needing a quick answer, Barrett Waginger hit a trey from the top of the key to cut the deficit to one and quickly fouled.

West went to the line and made good on both his attempts to give the Titans a 41-38 lead with 16 seconds remaining.

Carter Johnson would score on a layup to make it 41-40, but time would expire and the Titans picked up the win.

Whaley scored 13 points and Waginger 12 points to lead the Flyers. Beckham Waginger and Barrett Waginger had 4 rebounds each.

Barbarits had 11 points and Boerger 10 to pace the Titans.

Notre Dame 4 16 11 10 = 41

St. Joseph 8 6 15 11 = 40

PORTSMOUTH NOTRE DAME (12-4, 7-0): Archie West 2 1 2-2 9, Sawyer Rutman 0 0 1-2 1, Jaxon Stamback 1 0 0-0 2, Luke Hamilton 0 0 0-0 0, Keagan Fowler 0 0 0-0 0, Garrett Barbarits 1 3 0-0 11, Zion Boerger 2 0 6-6 10, Kenady McGraw 2 1 0-0 7, Ethan Kingery 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 7 6 9-10 41: Fouls: 10. Fouled out: None.

ST. JOSEPH (7-10, 4-3): Jack Whaley 0 0 0-0 0, Eli Whaley 1 3 2-2 13, Barrett Waginger 2 2 2-2 12, , Beckham Waginger 1 0 0-0 2, Zane Dressel 1 0 0-0 2, Carson Willis 3 1 0-0 9, Carter Johnson 1 0 0-0 2. Totals: 15-47 4-4 40. 3-pt goals: 6-20. Rebounds: 18 (Be. Waginger 4, Ba. Waginger 4). Assists: 8 (Dressel 2, Be. Waginger 2, Ba. Waginger 2). Steals: 8 (Ba. Waginger 3, Willis 2). Turnovers: 7. Fouls: 13. Fouled out: Willis.