Bodie Eberhart of Marysville shoots a jumper against Hilliard Davidson on Friday. Eberhart tallied 12 points during the Monarchs’ 41-38 loss.
(Journal-Tribune photo by Sam Dillon)
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Hilliard Davidson could have been renamed “Heartbreak City” for the Marysville High School varsity boys basketball team on Friday.
After numerous lead changes during a tight ball game, the Monarchs had an opportunity to tie the contest with scant seconds to play.
A turnover, however, allowed the Wildcats to preserve a 41-38 victory.
“In a game that has low possessions, every possession is that much more important,” said MHS coach Ryan Grose.
“We had a bad turnover off a set play and didn’t execute our game plan down the stretch.”
The Wildcats are a team that likes to use up a lot of time with each possession. That often leads to low-scoring games and this contest played to that script.
The opening quarter reached its midway point as Davidson held just a 6-2 lead.
Marshall Francisco knocked down a three-pointer and then scored on a traditional three-point play.
Bodie Eberhart swished a pair of free throws, helping the Monarchs (who will travel to Olentangy on Tuesday) to a 10-9 lead by the end of the first period.
Marysville (8-13) took a 13-9 margin when Jack Christian hit a charity toss and Gabe Schaeffer scored on the low block.
Davidson’s guards got the ball into the post on several possessions, but the Cats came up empty.
“Davidson is a big, physical team that goes 6-3 or bigger at most positions,” said Grose. “They were able to exploit some of our (smaller) lineups.”
Fortunately for MHS, the Wildcats missed lay-ups or turned the ball over on a number of those possessions.
One of the few times Davidson capitalized down low came on a baseline bucket from Christian Gilliland.
That pulled the Wildcats to within 15-13 with 2:35 left until the half.
Eberhart’s basket gave MHS a 17-13 margin.
Jarret Karnes later buried a three-pointer that pushed Marysville a 20-16 lead at the turn.
A jumper from Eberhart and another three-point play by Francisco put the Monarchs up by a 25-21 count two minutes into the third quarter.
The Wildcats, though, regained the upper hand at 28-25 on a three-ball from M.J. Rasoul and baskets by Jacob Drees and Caleb Stimmel.
Eberhart launched a high-arching trifecta that tied the game at 28 with a little more than two minutes left in the period.
Drees got past a defender for a lay-up and a 30-28 edge.
The teams swapped possessions and MHS lost the ball with 6.3 ticks on the timer.
Francisco prevented the Wildcats from padding their lead by blocking a shot right before the buzzer.
Eberhart was deadly from beyond the arc as he gave Marysville a 31-30 lead on an assist by Karnes.
The teams exchanged the lead a couple more times before a field goal and free throw from Drees gave Hilliard a 35-33 lead.
Drees then took an alley-oop entry pass for a dunk that increased MHS’ deficit to 37-33.
Francisco’s free throws made it a 37-35 game.
The Monarchs were sent to the free throw line after a scrum for the ball.
MHS missed the front end of the one-and-one and the Wildcats began to work the clock even more.
A basket by Gilliland gave Davidson a 39-35 margin and prompted a Monarch timeout.
Karnes buried a three-pointer when play resumed, cutting MHS’ gap to 39-38 with 2:43 to play.
The Wildcats coughed up possession, but Marysville couldn’t get the bounce on a pair of free throws that would have given it the lead.
With time ticking to less than a minute, the Monarchs were forced to foul.
The Cats couldn’t cash in at the stripe and MHS regained possession.
The Monarchs dribbled away the timer until it reached 17.8 seconds.
Grose called timeout and diagrammed a play.
Marysville lost possession on the turnover at the 8.6 mark.
Francisco’s fifth foul of the game on the ensuing inbounds pass sent Gage Keyes to the free throw line.
Keyes sank both free throws for a 41-38 lead.
The Monarchs needed a three-pointer to send the game into overtime.
Their offering right before the buzzer, however, missed the mark to end the game.
“I thought our guys played hard,” said Grose. “It’s always a physical game when you play Davidson and I thought we handled that well. I thought we did a good job of making Davidson shoot over top of us.”
Hilliard Davidson
Drees 6-1-13, Keyes 2-6-10, Gilliland 3-0-6, Rasoul 2-0-5, Stimmel 2-0-4, Preece 1-0-3, Felicity 0-0-0, Royer 0-0-0, Maynard 0-0-0. Totals 16-7-41.
Three-point goals: Rasoul 1, Preece 1.
Marysville
Eberhart 4-2-12, Francisco 3-4-11, Karnes 3-0-8, Colopy 1-0-2, Ranker 1-0-2, Schaeffer 1-0-2, Christian 0-1-1, Hughes 0-0-0. Totals 13-7-38.
Three-point goals: Eberhart 2, Karnes 2, Francisco 1.
The Monarchs won the junior varsity and freshman games against the Wildcats.
The JVs improved to 13-8 with a 43-40 victory.
Chase Rivers and Joey Duke each tallied 12 points.
The freshmen are now 11-8 with their 41-37 triumph.
Evan Brown scored 11 points and Nick Kessler added 10.