Marietta gets past Unioto in sectional semifinal clash
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MARIETTA -- After a first half that couldn't have gone much worse, the Marietta Tigers responded.
Down 10, 27-17 at halftime, Marietta came out a different team in the second half and rallied for a 59-51 victory over visiting Unioto in a Division II sectional semifinal Wednesday at Sutton Gymasium.
"I was asked pregame what's my favorite thing about this team," said Marietta head coach Austin Gardner. "I said 'Our response.' After a terrible game at Perry, this was our best week of practice of the year. We were excited. Being without our leader, AJ (Graham), it could not have went any worse in the first half. Then we played a terrific second half. We played with a lot of energy and finally got some clean rebounds. I'm just really proud of our guys and I'm excited for Saturday."
Saturday in a sectional final, the seventh-seeded Tigers will look to knock off second-seeded Fairfield Union, which defeated Logan Elm 45-33 Wednesday. Gardner, in his first season at Marietta, led the Tigers to their first tournament win since 2019, but things didn't look great after 16 minutes of basketball.
"We shot a poor percent in the first half, but we didn't get good looks. Unioto did a great job defending us. We turned it over. The moment at the beginning was a little too big for us."
The Tigers were 7 for 24 from the floor in the first half, including just 1 for 14 from the 3-point line. The Shermans won the second quarter 13-4 to take a 10-point lead.
"We weren't hitting shots, our attitude wasn't in the game, we weren't playing tough," said Marietta junior Alex Kendall. "(Gardner) kind of chewed us up a little bit (at halftime), but that got us moving in the second half. We hit more shots and played smarter."
With Marietta not hitting shots in the first half, Unioto was able to push the ball and speed up the game, which prevented Kendall from getting going. He had just one point at halftime, but finished with 17 after a big second half.
"We've shot great at home all year, it just took us minute to get in there," Kendall said. "Once we started hitting shots it really got us moving."
Isaac Koast led the Tigers with 18 points.
He had Marietta's only 3-pointer of the first half and knocked down three more in the second half, including a big one with 4:41 remaining the fourth quarter to tie the score at 47-all.
"It was a rough first half," Koast said. "It was just effort. In the first half, we weren't boxing out. We weren't playing patient. We came out second half, we had the energy going. The crowd was getting into it and we always thrive off that. We started boxing out and we got it done."
The Tigers were without Graham, their senior point guard, who injured his wrist toward the end of the regular season. Guys had to step up in his absence, and the Tigers got a big lift from senior Andrew Hawkins.
Hawkins had eight points and hit back-to-back threes in the third quarter to help Marietta keep pace.
Zeke Schobelock led all scorers with 21 points and hit five 3-pointers for the Shermans, whose season ended with a 14-9 record. K.b. Perkins double-doubled with 11 points and 12 rebounds while Blake Hoops added 10 points.
Perkins' three-point play late in the third put Unioto up 40-35, but Aidan Harris hit a free-throw and Kendall, who led Marietta with 12 boards and five blocks, had a basket to cut it to 40-38 going into the fourth.
Schobelock opened the fourth with a 3-pointer, but Izak Knighten, who had six points, responded with a bucket.
With 4:11 left in contest, Kendall made a pair of foul shots to give the Tigers their first lead since the opening period. Perkins tied it back up with a putback basket, but Koast answered with a three on the other end.
Marietta's defense made life difficult for the Shermans in the final two minutes, and the Tigers used free-throws to extend their lead to 56-49.
Hoops' steal and layup gave Unioto one last hope, but Elyjah Lieras-Kelley knocked down a pair at the line to make it a seven point game with 33 seconds left.