Tigers top Jeeps, complete sweep
Jan. 27—SOUTH WEBSTER — There really wasn't much Brenton Cole could say, or even did say, following the host Jeeps' Southern Ohio Conference Division II tilt on Tuesday night.
You can just theorize, though, that he's glad that Waverly's Trey Robertson — and his fellow senior Tiger teammates — are officially finished playing the coach's Division IV Jeeps.
That's because Robertson, in a contest in which the showcase was Trey versus Trae, burst out for five three-point goals and a hefty 34 points —as league-leader Waverly won 67-46 to complete the season sweep.
That's correct — as the Jeeps certainly celebrated senior scoring machine Trae Zimmerman's milestone of 1,000 career points —but Robertson, renown for dialing up daggers against the Jeeps, did just that for one final time.
He finished with all five of Waverly's three-point goals in fact, and split his 34 points in halves of 15 in the opener and 19 in the closer.
He scored 10 first-period points on two treys and two deuces, and when the Jeeps got to within 10 points (37-27 and 41-31) twice in the third quarter — Robertson responded promptly with buckets, including his fourth trifecta for a 46-31 advantage at the one-minute mark.
After Zimmerman made a free throw 29 seconds into the final canto for his 10th point of the game and 1,000th of his career, and Eli Roberts registered a basket for a 48-35 deficit only 10 tics later, Robertson recorded an old-fashioned three-point play —and the Jeeps never got closer for the remainder.
Waverly, which trailed for just 33 first-quarter seconds at 5-4 and which Robertson erased with his first of five triples, ultimately expanded its lead to 61-37 —before finally winning 67-46.
"Not much to talk about unfortunately," said Cole, the fifth-year SWHS head coach. "Trae scored his 1,000th point and Eli did alright offensively and rebounding, but Waverly shot a high percentage on us again."
Again, you ask?
Well, Robertson at least did against the Jeeps' man-to-man defense—as his 34-point Tuesday night outburst followed the Tigers' 62-34 rout of South Webster six weeks ago, in which the reigning Southeast District Division II Player of the Year dropped 24 in on that December night.
He fired away for a half-dozen three-balls in that meeting, as Waverly put the Ohio High School Athletic Association's running-clock rule on the Jeeps.
This time, he tossed in seven twos along with 5-of-6 free throws —including a perfect 4-of-4 in the pullaway fourth quarter.
With the win, Waverly raised its record to 13-3 —and remains atop the SOC II at 11-1, still two games clear in the loss column from nearest challengers Valley (8-3 SOC II) and Minford (8-3 in SOC II).
Veteran Waverly head coach, and Trey's father, Travis Robertson said the underdog Jeeps would be ready for the rematch —and that his club, as individuals, didn't play especially energized.
However, the Tigers withstood a self-described not tip-top performance.
"We knew they (Jeeps) were going to be hungry and be excited. We knew that was going to happen. Our kids did battle through that and weathered that, and although I don't think we played a great game, we did what we had to do and got the win," said the coach. "We have a long ways to go still, and we can improve in a lot of different ways. It just starts with us having that mentality that we're going to put people away and we're going to come out and do it early."
Early on, the Jeeps took their only and short-lived 5-4 lead —with four minutes and 21 seconds left in the opening period —on a Zimmerman basket combined with a Roberts three-point play.
Robertson immediately answered with his go-ahead three-pointer, then a Cam Carpenter reverse layup for SW tied it at 7-7 at the 3:11 mark.
From there, though, the Tigers outscored the Jeeps 11-4 for the remainder of the quarter —then doubled up South Webster 16-8 in the second stanza, with Robertson scoring five and Hudson Kelly seven of his 11.
The 34-19 halftime cushion was Waverly's largest to that point, as the Jeeps did get to within 10 points twice in the third —but buckets by Robertson and Kelly quickly killed off both comeback bids.
The only other double-digit scorer for the Tigers was Mark Stulley, who tallied 10 points on three field goals and 4-of-4 free throws.
Speaking of 10, Zimmerman finally got his 10th point 29 seconds into the fourth —a split of two freebies for career point 1,000.
The officials stopped the game, the SWHS student section and crowd celebrated and applauded, and Zimmerman took the game ball and presented it to his mother Brandi.
Zimmerman finished with 15 points for now 1,005 —on five twos, a second-quarter old-fashioned three-point play, and finally his only three-pointer with four minutes remaining.
"Trae has always been a great scorer, but he is also a willing passer," said Cole. "It has been great to see him develop into a leader of the team and a great young man."
Roberts —on three threes and three twos including his first-quarter three-point play —paced South Webster with 16 points, as Will Collins (one first-quarter field goal and 3-of-5 free throws) followed Zimmerman with five.
Carpenter didn't score again until the fourth period — as Connor Bender, Dylan Shupert and Zander Rawlins each scored two points.
South Webster, which knocked off Valley (52-50) on Friday night but which fell to 8-5 with the loss to Waverly, is now an even 5-5 in the SOC II.
The Jeeps returned home, and returned to SOC II action on Wednesday night, in a makeup matchup with West.
But, at least, they won't worry about ever having to face Robertson again.
* * *
Waverly 18 16 12 21 —67
South Webster 11 8 13 14 — 46
WAVERLY 67 (13-3, 11-1 SOC II)
Peyton Harris 0 0-0 0, Mark Stulley 3 4-4 10, Hudson Kelly 5 1-3 11, Drake Teeters 1 0-0 2, Trey Robertson 12 5-6 34, Wade Futhey 0 0-0 0, Caden Nibert 0 0-0 0, Braylon Robertson 0 0-0 0, Penn Morrison 2 0-0 4, Jamison Morton 0 0-0 0, Will Futhey 2 2-2 6, Tanner Nichols 0 0-0 0; TOTALS 25 12-25 67; Three-point field goals: 5 (Trey Robertson 5)
SOUTH WEBSTER 46 (8-5, 5-5 SOC II)
Connor Bender 0 2-4 2, Trae Zimmerman 6 2-3 15, Dylan Shupert 1 0-0 2, Cam Carpenter 2 0-0 4, Brady Blizzard 0 0-0 0, Zander Rawlins 0 2-2 2, Eli Roberts 6 1-1 16, Will Collins 1 3-5 5, Brody Perkins 0 0-0 0, Aiden McGraw 0 0-0 0; TOTALS 16 10-15 46; Three-point field goals: 4 (Eli Roberts 3, Trae Zimmerman 1)
Reach Paul Boggs at (740) 353-3101 ext. 1926, by email at pboggs@aimmediamidwest.com, or on Twitter @paulboggssports © 2022 Portsmouth Daily Times, all rights reserved
