Unioto overcomes slow start, beats Westfall

• Unioto won its 40th consecutive SVC contest Friday night in a 60-57 victory over Westfall.
• Erique Hosley led the Shermans with 15 points, followed by Logan Swackhammer with 12.
• For Westfall, Corey Wyman was the high scorer with 14, followed by Mason Peart with 9.

WILLIAMSPORT - The challenges keep coming and the Unioto boys basketball team is meeting them.

The Shermans (19-0, 13-0 Scioto Valley Conference) extended their Scioto Valley Conference win streak to 40 and regular season win streak to 54 Friday, handing Westfall a 60-57 loss Friday night in Williamsport.

But it didn't' come easy.

"Tonight was Westfall's Senior Night and with all of the emotions going on, (the Mustangs) came to play," Unioto Matt Hoops said. "They shot the ball well early and (Mustangs' point guard Corey) Wyman distributed the ball well. He didn't score as much as he usually does but I felt like he made his teammates so much better just with his floor game. We had a hard time keeping him out of the paint. Nobody ever said it was going to easy but the work was definitely worth it tonight."

With the win, Unioto needs just one more conference win to seize its second consecutive gold ball and three more overall victories to finished its second straight regular season at 22-0.

"This is by far the toughest game that we've played inside our conference this year," Hoops said. "Westfall did an outstanding job. If you look back to the first time we played them, they did a good job late in the game to cut into the lead. It was a six or seven point game late and we ended up winning by nine (75-66). They carried that game plan into tonight and we knew they would. But there are no excuses. Those guys came out and really took it to us early. I felt like our guys weathered the storm and fought back as hard as we could."

Westfall (12-7, 9-4 SVC) had a hot hand early as it started the contest on an 11-2 run. After the first quarter, the Mustangs held a 21-10 lead after shooting 71 percent from the floor in the opening eight minutes.

With 6:34 remaining in the second, Westfall seized the largest advantage of the night at 25-11. But that's when the sleeping giant was awoken.

The No. 2 ranked team in Division II ripped off a 14-0 run led by seniors Erique Hosley and Isaac Wheeler. With 2:30 remaining in the first half, Wheeler completed the run to tie the game 25-25 via the old-fashioned three-point play.

Just before halftime, Wyman hit one of two at the foul line, giving his Mustangs a 33-30 lead at the break. However, momentum had already begun to shift.

With his team trailing 39-36 at the 2:47 mark in the third, Unioto's Brandon Kennedy decided to show his marksman abilities. The sophomore guard hit back-to-back long jumpers to give the Shermans their first lead of the night at 42-41 with 1:38 to go in the third.

"That kid has ice water in his veins," Hoops said. "Brandon is a great scorer, not a just a shooter, he finds different ways to score. He's got a knack for the ball. It's his birthday today so tonight's a huge birthday present. But he's just a good kid and good things happen to good people. Brandon Kennedy is a good person."

The Mustangs, however, answered late as Austin Nunemaker turned a steal into a layup, giving his team a 44-43 edge heading into the fourth.

Down the stretch, both teams traded leads multiple times.

Unioto held leads of 52-51 and 58-56 while Westfall enjoyed advantages of 51-50 and 53-52. But when Wheeler found Hosely with a touch pass under the basket, Hosley gave the Shermans' the lead for good at 56-53 with 1:41 to go.

Westfall's Hayden Mink connected with nylon with 8.7 seconds left to make it 58-57 before Unioto's Logan Swackhammer sunk two free throws on the other end, rounding out the scoring.

"The atmosphere was awesome tonight," Hoops said. "That's what makes our conference so great. We're in a league where every time you go on the road, it's going to be electric. That says a lot about our schools, our conference and the people that represent them."

Hosley led all scorers with 15 points alongside seven rebounds. Swackhammer finished with 12 points and six assists while Kennedy scored 11 (3-of-5 from deep) and grabbed a team-leading eight boards. Wheeler was also in double-digit scoring with 10, while logging six rebounds.

For Westfall, Wyman led the way with 14 points and four assists, followed by Mason Peart's 12 points and seven rebounds. Mink and Chase Anderson both chipped in with nine points.

Unioto will try and move to 20-0 Saturday night at home against Miami Trace. The Mustangs will return to action Thursday, hosting Trimble.

dwebb@chillicothegazette.com

Twitter: @dw1509

Stat Book

Unioto: 10-20-13-17 — 60

Westfall: 21-12-11-13 — 57

Unioto: 23-43 FG, 9-14 FT, 5-11 3pt. (Kennedy 3), 30 rebounds (Kennedy 8), 14 turnovers, 15 Assists (Swackhammer 6). Scoring: Hosley 6 3-6 15, Swackammer 4 4-4 12, Kennedy 4 0-0 11, Wheeler 4 2-3 10, Hill 3 0-0 7, White 1 0-0 3, Fisher 1 0-0 2.

Westfall: 24-60 FG, 6-9 FT, 3-16 3pt. (Wyman, Nunemaker, Anderson 1), 30 rebounds (Peart 7), 9 turnovers, 12 Assists (Wyman 4). Scoring: Wyman 6 1-2 14, Peart 6 0-0 12, Adams 3 3-5 9, Anderson 4 0-0 9, Mink 2 2-2 6, Nunemaker 2 0-0 5, Truman 1 0-0 2.