John Glenn advances with win over Morgan

ZANESVILLE – In many cases, beating a team three times in one season is a trying task.

John Glenn threw that logic aside Friday night.

The Muskies, who dominated Morgan twice during the Muskingum Valley League season, showed no letdown in their Division II district matchup, rolling up 37 first-half points in a 70-35 win at Winland Memorial Gymnasium.

John Glenn (22-0) advanced to its second straight district final, where a meeting with either No. 7 Cambridge or No. 13 Millersburg West Holmes awaits at 7 p.m. Wednesday.

The Bobcats and Knights, both of whom upset higher seeds in the first round, play at 1 p.m. Saturday at Winland.

John Glenn went on a 13-0 run to start the game. Matt Weir, who led all scorers with 18, scored eight of those first 13 — including two of his three 3-pointers during that stretch.

Sophomore Jordan Work scored the first points for Morgan but, by the end of the first, the Muskies led 22-8.

John Glenn coach Greg Woodard was pleased with the way his team started, but sees room for improvement heading into their next game.

"I thought we got off to a good start, but from there I thought our focus became really poor. I thought mentally we didn't do a lot of things well. I thought at times our effort in loose ball situations wasn't very good and I am going to take responsibility for that," Woodard said. "But that's not going to happen again. I can guarantee you that."

The Muskies' win was highlighted by junior Drew Rackley earning the 1,000th point of his career. Earlier this week, Rackley earned D-II East District player of the year honors.

He only had six points coming out of the half, at which time John Glenn was up 37-14. He finished with 17 and led the team with 10 rebounds, which was a key part of the Muskies getting 18 second-chance points.

Rackley said going into the game that the Muskies knew Morgan would play hard and, during the course of the other two games, they had gotten familiar with the Raiders' personnel.

"We want to be consistent every night no matter who we play," Rackley said. "We set high standards at the very beginning of the season."

Woodard also gave credit to Morgan for the way it played.

"Their kids came out and battled and fought hard, made it a physical game," he said.

Morgan finished the season 10-14 under second-year coach Adam Copeland. The Raiders will lose five seniors — Logan Meadows, Josh Davis, Brady Weaver, Clifford Holmes and Tanner Roe — but return several starters in Jordan Work, Marcus Mayle and Mason Edgell.

Mayle led Morgan in scoring with 11.

Morgan was down 51-19 going into the fourth before pouring in 16 points to notch the final score.

tshipley@zanesvilletimesrecorder.com

Twitter:@TRShipley