ATHENS — South Point fell behind by double-digits to the No. 1 seed Wheelersburg Pirates, but couldn't quite chip away enough at the deficit and fell 58-55 in the Division 3 Boys District Semifinals at the Ohio University Convocation Center.
The Pirates advance to the district finals on Saturday, March 9, where they will play the Northwest Mohawks in the Convocation Center at 4:00 PM.
Wheelersburg was led by point guard Devon Lattimore, who led all-scorers with 25 points. Landon McGraw chipped in 11 points and Braylon Rucker had 8.
Wheelersburg got three 3-pointers — two from Lattimore and one from McGraw, and Lattimore added two layups in the paint to help give the Pirates an 19-13 lead after one.
Xathan Haney led the Pointers with 5 points and four rebounds in the opening period.
The Pirates stretched their lead back out with an 11-4 run to begin the second quarter. Lattimore scored 6 of Wheelersburg's points during that stretch, including his third trifecta of the game.
Mowery added to the Pirates lead with a free throw and followed his miss on the final attempt for a basket and made it 33-19.
Carter Smith followed up with a three-point play to make it 35-23 with 2:08 remaining before halftime. Smith shined in the second quarter, with 8 of South Points 12 points.
Smith led the Pointers in scoring with 19. Haney finished the night with 11 points, 12 rebounds and 2 assists.
South Point shot a frigid 36% from the field in the first half, while the Pirates were 53.8%, taking a 37-25 lead into the locker room.
Wheelersburg continued to maintain their double-digit lead after the break, as Rucker gave the Pirates their biggest lead of the second half on a floater from the baseline for a 13-point advantage.
Ethan Layne registered the Pointers' first 3-pointer of the game with 21 seconds remaining in the third and Smith followed with a free throw to make it 44-37 — the closest the Pointers had been since early in the second quarter.
But Adkins buried a three from the corner as time expired to give the Pirates a 10-point cushion after three quarters.
Smith led the Pointers with 5 pointers in the third frame.
Lattimore hit his fourth 3-pointer of the game to balloon Wheelersburg's lead back out to 10, but the Pointers went on a 10-0 run to chip away at the Pirate lead.
During the run, Smith scored twice from close range and Haney sank three foul shots. The last two from Haney made it 52-50 with 2:56 remaining.
Rucker stopped the bleeding with a lay up off a follow-up rebound to make it a four-point lead with 1:45 left.
Lattimore later scored on a run-out layup to increase the Pirates lead to 58-50. Lovely answered with a shot from beyond the arc to make it 58-53 with 23 seconds remaining.
Smith's put-back with three seconds cut it to 3, but the Pirates were able to inbound the ball and run the remaining clock out for the win.
South Point 13 12 12 0 = 55
Wheelersburg 19 18 10 0 = 58
SOUTH POINT (14-10): Caleb Lovely 2 1 4-6 9, Carter Smith 8 0 3-5 19, Elijah Wilburn 1 0 1-2 3, Xathan Haney 2 0 7-9 11, Josh Childers 1 0 2-2 4, Ethan Layne 1 1 2-2 7, Brayden Hanshaw 1 0 0-0 2. Totals: 17-50 19-26 55. 3-pt goals: 2-14. Rebounds: (O-19, D-17) 36 (Haney 10, Wilburn 9, Lovely 4). Assists: 4 (Haney 3, Wilburn). Steals: 6 (Smith 2, Hanshaw 2). Turnovers: 10. Fouls: 12. Fouled out: None.
WHEELERSBURG (20-4): Braylon Rucker 3 0 2-4 8, Devon Lattimore 6 4 3-7 25, Xander Mowery 1 3 1-5 6, Luke Swords 1 0 0-0 2, Landon McGraw 4 1 0-2 11, Hunter Bivens 1 0 1-2 3, Logan Adkins 1 1 0-0 3, Kenyon Evans 0 0 0-2 0. Totals: 22 5 7-22 58. Fouls: 19. Rebounds: (O-9, D-21) 30. Turnovers: 14. Fouled out: Name.
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