Defense helps Pirates rally late to beat Dragons, advance to district finals

ATHENS — When it comes to tournament basketball, the most important factor in the outcome is defense.

The Wheelersburg Pirates made defense their main area of concern heading into their Division 5 district semifinal game on Tuesday at the Ohio University Convocation Center. And it was their defense that gave them a hard-fought 60-52 win over the Fairland Dragons.

The Pirates now play Ironton at 2 p.m. Saturday in the district finals at the Convocation Center.

Wheelersburg (15-6) struggle with their offense, but the defense kept them in the game and eventually it was the defense that produced the scoring that rallied them to the win.

“Obviously, we couldn’t throw it in the ocean. It was so important for us to rely on our defense coming in. Fairland is so talented. They shoot it so well. They do so many things offensively,” said Pirates coach Alex Prater.

“I was really proud of our guys. I thought they were locked in and focused on our game plan and made it really tough on Fairland.”

The game was tied three times early before Cliff Fransen’s steal and layup gave Fairland a 10-8 lead. Hunter Bivens got a trey for the Pirates for an 11-10 lead.

But the Dragons answered with a trifecta by Gerald Love to regain the lead and then Fransen hit a shot driving across the lane with 15 seconds on the clock and the Dragons led 15-11.

Fransen started the second quarter scoring with a 3-pointer and it was 18-11.

Braylon Rucker sank a free throw for the Pirates only to have Fairland’s Steven Jones get a putback and it was 22-18.

A runout layup by Jack Doerr cut the deficit to 2 points. Ford Rickard’s layup off a pass from Maddox Gue gave Fairland a 24-20 lead and Fransen’s foul shot with 57 seconds on the clock pushed the Dragons lead to 25-20 at the half.

Wheelersburg came out strong on the boards in the third quarter and used their domination of the glass to help flip the lead.

Doerr and Fairland’s Trevor Lochow traded 3-pointers to start the half and it was 28-23. Graer Woodward then  got a putback and hit a 3-pointer as Wheelersburg took a 34-33 lead.

Rickard hit a triple as Fairland tied the game at 37-all but Landon McGraw followed up a missed shot and the Pirates led 39-37 to close out the quarter.

“We were a little upset at halftime we’d given up too many offensive rebounds the first half, so we really challenged the kids. And give them credit. They responded well. We had a lot of guys contribute to that,” said Prater.

“I thought the glass was really important. We got the lead and limited them to one shot, get stops and limit them to one shot and then be able to control it down the stretch.”

The game was tied three times to begin the fourth quarter until Woodward’s jumper gave the Pirates the lead for good at 45-43 with 3:26 to play.

Lochow hit a 3-pointer with 2:37 to go that cut the deficit to 49-46. Bivens came up with a steal that he turned into a layup to cap the 10-3 run and it was 53-46 with 2:03 left.

“It was our stops. We got in the passing lanes. We got two steals and runouts and it allowed us to get some easy ones,” said Prater about the run.

Prater also praised the bench for its contributions, especially the inside play of McGraw and Graer Woodward.

“Graer is so talented. He is such a lift for us when he comes in the game. Everybody knows he’s a great defender. I was so happy for him tonight to see some of those shots go in for him and showcase his offensive abilities,” said Prater.

Fairland (11-9) was led by Fransen with a game-high 27 points to go with 8 rebounds, 5 steals and 2 blocks. Lochow added 11 points.

Wheelersburg was led by Bivens with 16 points and Rucker with 15. Woodward had 11 points, 8 rebounds and 2 blocks.  Miller hauled down 12 rebounds and McGraw had 10.

Fairland 15 10 12 15  =  52

Wheelersburg 11 9 19 21  =  60

FAIRLAND (11-9): Ford Rickard 2 0 1-2 5, Trevor Lochow 1 3 0-0 11, Kinyon Smith 0 0 2-2 2, Kiyan Page 1 0 0-2 2, Cliff Frasen 7 3 1-3 27, Stephen Jones 1 0 0-0 2, Gerald Love 0 2 0-0 6, Maddox Gue 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 12 8 4-9 . Rebounds: (O-6, D-21) 27 (Frasen 8, Lochow 5, Rickard 4). Assists: 5 (Gue 4, Lochow). Steals: 11 (Fransen 5, Rickard 2). Blocks: 2 (Fransen, Jones). Turnovers: 11. Fouls: 16. Fouled out: Lochow (4th, 2:33).

WHEELERSBURG (15-6): Braylon Rucker 2 0 11-15 15, Hunter Bivens 4 2 2-2 16, Xavier Miller 1 0 1-2 3, Jack Doerr 1 2 0-0 8, Cameron Chamberlin 0 0 0-0 0, Brew Hanzel 0 0 0-0 0, Landon McGraw 2 0 3-6 7, Graer Woodward 4 1 0-1 11. Totals: 14 5 17-26 . Rebounds: (12-O, 30-D) 42 (Miller 12, McGraw 10, Woodward 8). Assists: 8 (Rucker 3, Bivens 2, McGraw 2). Steals: 10 (McGraw 4, Bivens 2). Blocks: 3 (Woodward 2, McGraw). Turnovers: 12. Fouls: 8. Fouled out: None.