Unioto grits out victory, wins sectional title

CHILLICOTHE – It didn’t take long for Unioto to figure out it was in for a dogfight in a Division II sectional final match-up Saturday with Washington Court House at Southeastern High School.

However in the end, it was the top seeded Shermans (24-0) who marked their territory and gained top dog status with a gritty 50-34 victory — one that secured the school’s second sectional championship in the last three years.

“Washington Court House stays true to who they are so well,” Unioto coach Matt Hoops said. “They don’t do things that they’re uncomfortable doing. They basically play five guards who take care of the basketball extremely well. They tried to slow the tempo down on us and we knew that if we could stay fundamental defensively, we could probably be able to cause them some problems eventually. I think things kind of opened up for us later in the game.”

Although the final score showed a double digit win, the contest was much closer than that 16 point margin showed.

The Blue Lions, a No. 5 seed, relied on their athleticism and speed to stick with Unioto in the first quarter and hit a shot at the buzzer to tie the game at 10 heading into the second.

Unioto went on a quick 9-0 run in the second — with two deep threes sprinkled in from senior Nick Overly and junior Cole Cottrill — to take a 19-10 lead with 4:04 left in the first half.

The Blue Lions, however, weren’t quite ready to bow out.

Washington Court House pieced together a scoring run of its own — a 9-1 margin — to claw back into the ballgame before heading into halftime trailing 20-19.

In the third quarter, both teams’ offenses went ice cold from the field. On the defensive side, Unioto’s Erique Hosley was a catalyst in holding the Blue Lions scoreless until the 1:41 mark — a moment in which the Shermans held a 26-21 advantage — while ending multiple Blue Lions’ possessions with a swatted shot or forcing turnovers.

“Court House doesn’t really have a true big under the basket,” Hosley said. “They started out the third quarter by holding the ball for like two minutes. I just knew we had to get some stops and get something going. I just try to be a post presence on offense and on defense.”

After Unioto won the third quarter battle, 8-4, it owned a 28-23 lead heading into the final eight minutes of play.

At that moment, the Shermans’ offense started to rumble.

Led in transition by Overly and Cottrill, Unioto outscored Washington Court House, 22-11, to seal the sectional title while ending the Blue Lions’ season.

“(Washington Court House) slowed us down but we found a way to get it done,” Overly said. “As a senior, this sectional championship is huge. We’ve only made it to (Ohio University’s) Convocation Center one other time during my time here. It was a great feeling and it’s even better now because I’m a senior.”

In that trip to the Convo, the Shermans will play second-seeded Athens; who were 68-46 winner over Sheridan in theat sectional final.

The Bulldogs will come into the game with an overall record of 19-2.

“We’re going to have to get the job done,” Hosley said. “We played them a couple of times over the summer and I feel like it’s something we can accomplish. But we have to play well and we have to take care of the ball.”

Hosley led the Shermans with 13 points and six rebounds. Overly followed with 11 points while senior Nick Corcoran finished with nine. Cottrill eight points, three rebounds and two assists.

The Unioto/Athens match-up will take place at 7 p.m., March 7.

Derrick Webb is a Gazette sportswriter and can be reached at dwebb@chillicothegazette.com. Follow him on Twitter at @dw1509.