Little Muskies claim District Championship over New Philadelphia

COSHOCTON, Ohio — The John Glenn Little Muskies are moving onto Regionals after defeating New Philadelphia 65-50 in Saturday’s District Championship game at Coshocton.

As they have done all year, the Little Muskies played great defense, rebounded the ball, and used a balanced scoring attack to defeat the Quakers. While John Glenn struggled with their free throw shooting all afternoon, especially missing six first-quarter free throws, they still held a 10-9 lead after the first eight minutes.

John Glenn started to find their rhythm in the second-quarter when Justin Heacock hit back-to-back three-pointers to open up a 10-point lead. They would end up carrying a 28-16 lead into the locker rooms at halftime.

But New Philadelphia didn’t go away without a fight. The Quakers used a 13-0 run in the third quarter to cut the Little Muskies lead from 39-23, to 39-36. John Glenn got a three-pointer from Sam Kumler with just seconds to play in the third to stop the bleeding.

And then Kumler took over.

After John Glenn responded with a 7-0 run of their own, Kumler then made baskets on back-to-back possessions, going behind-the-back in style on both; the second of which resulted in a three-point play and helped the Little Muskies re-build a double-digit lead they would not surrender.

Kumler lead John Glenn with 17 points on the night. Josh Raley added 16, Justin Heacock chipped in 12, and Shane Bonner scored 10 to round out four Muskies scoring in double-figures.

John Glenn will now play Unioto at The Convo at Ohio University in Athens next Thursday at 6:15 p.m.