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Fort Frye boys blank Union Local in 4th, win 50-35

BEVERLY — Fort Frye hung a goose egg on Belmont Union Local in the fourth quarter.

Trailing by four, the fifth-seeded Cadets outpointed the visiting and ninth-seeded Jets 19-0 in the final eight minutes of play to earn a 50-35 come-from-behind win Tuesday night in an Ohio Division III sectional boys’ basketball opener.

“It was crazy,” said Fort sophomore point Nic Hart. “We did not want to lose this game at all, and everybody was pumped up. We played good and it was defense that won us the game.”

FFHS head coach Eric Henniger agreed and added, “Our guys played outstanding defense in the second half. They really came together as a team and did it on their own there. I couldn’t be more proud of them.”

With the victory, Fort Frye (15-7) is scheduled to host eighth-seeded Coshocton in a sectional final at 7 p.m. Friday. The Redskins advanced to the showdown game with a 51-44 win against third-seeded Martins Ferry Tuesday evening.

The 6-foot Hart had an all-around effort with a game-high 16 points, 10 in the first half. Plus, he grabbed five rebounds and had two assists. Sophomore Kelton Fogle added 12 points, while Junior Brady Schilling netted nine, all in the final period.

Union Local (10-13) — which never trailed during the first three quarters — was paced by non-starter Dakota Hess’ nine points on three triples. Elijah Baker chipped in with eight markers, Cal Kildow and Hunter McCort had seven and six, respectively. The Jets attempt no free-throws and shot 32 percent (14-44) from the field in the contest. In the fourth quarter, they were 0-10 from the floor.

“We forced them into some tough shots,” Henniger said.

Union Local had the hot hand early, and staked itself to an 18-8 first-quarter advantage. Baker (6), Kildow (5), and McCort (4) combined for 15 points to lead the charge. Fort was just 3 of 11 from the floor in the opening period.

“I don’t know if it was nerves or what is was,” Henniger said. “You never know how a team is going to respond in that first tournament game. I think we started out too conservative instead of playing aggressive.”

UL closed out the first half with a 3 by Hess and a putback by Stuart White, and led 27-18.

Sparked by Fogle’s five points, Fort opened up the second half with a 9-0 run, and tied the score at 27-all. But Union Local answered with an 8-0 run of its own, thanks to back-to-back 3s by Hess, and led 35-27.

Closing out the third quarter, Fogle had a trey and Devin Layton a freebie to cut it to four.

Early in the fourth period, Schilling made a layup and Fogle buried a 3 to give the Cadets their first lead of the contest, 36-35. Meanwhile, the Jets couldn’t buy a bucket, and as a result, Fort was able to pad its lead. Schilling finished with nine points and Hart five in the stanza.

St. Marys 79,

Paden City 40

ST. MARYS– St. Marys had four players score in double figures, running away from Paden City with a 79-40 Tuesday night win in a sectional semifinal.

William Steele finished as the game’s leading scorer with 19 points, and Peyton Auxier was close behind with 17 points. Richard Dornon scored 12, and Grant Barnhart was one rebound away from a double-double finishing with 11 points and nine boards.

The leading scorers for Paden City were Matt Saxon (12) and Shane Anderson (10).

Tyler Consolidated 61, Ritchie County 51

KIDWELL — Tyler West had a 27-point, 12-rebound double-double to lead Tyler Consolidated past Ritchie County, 61-51, in a Class A, Region I, Section 2 semifinal Tuesday.

Griffin Phillips chipped in 11 points, seven assists and four steals. Gage Huffman added 10 points and four steals. Mark Rucker tacked on nine points in the winning effort.

The Rebels (8-15) were paced by Graden McKinney’s 14 points. Adam Davis tallied 11 points, and Joey James added 10 points. Billy Butcher contributed eight markers and six boards.

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