Panthers outlast Electrics in a night of close calls — Fink’s Full Court Press for January 19th
SOUTH ZANESVILLE, Ohio – It was a night of close finishes around the area, and no finish was closer than that between Philo and Maysville.
The Panthers are coming off of their best week of the season thus far, going 2-1 with wins over Morgan and River View. The Electrics, still winless on the year, are coming off of a last-second overtime loss to Caldwell over the weekend.
The play of the Electrics has been improving as of late, as has Maysville’s. Anything can happen when two rivals meet, so would this be the night that Philo could score it’s first Muskingum Valley League win in nearly two years?
The teams traded leads early on in the first quarter, with Maysville ending the first with a 16-14 lead. The Electrics sped off to a 10-0 run in the second, taking a 24-16 lead. Back-to-back threes from Maysville big man Logan Smith helped the Panthers pull back within four at the half.
The teams traded leads back and forth again throughout the third quarter, Philo leading 37-35 at the end.
The fourth quarter, however, belonged to Quintin Stottsberry.
The 6’5″ senior scored the first seven points of the quarter to put Maysville in front 42-37. In the final seconds of regulation, Stottsberry nailed a three to tie the game at 47 with just a single second to go, sending it into overtime.
The pacing and scoring of the overtime was unusually quick. A lot of times, teams seem to slow down and drain time off the clock before attempting shots, but the two teams went back and forth, fast break after fast break.
Tied at 57 with under five seconds remaining and Philo inbounding from under the opponents basket, it seemed that we were almost guaranteed either a full-court miracle, or a second overtime.
Alex Bobb said otherwise.
The 6’1″ freshman stole the inbound pass and immediately banked in the go-ahead shot with 3.1 seconds left on the scoreboard. A half court prayer from Philo’s AJ Clayton went unanswered, and the Panthers survived their closest game of the season.
FINAL (OT): PHILO 57 – MAYSVILLE 59
Other area scores:
Boys basketball:
MEADOWBROOK 45 – CAMBRIDGE 44
RIDGEWOOD 56 – JOHN GLENN 49
MORGAN 57 – FORT FRYE 64 (F/OT)
LOGAN 35 – SHERIDAN 50
ZANESVILLE 34 – JOHNSTOWN 60
Girls basketball:
MAYSVILLE 40 – PHILO 30
ROSECRANS 54 – FAIRFIELD CHRISTIAN 45
