UHRICHSVILLE — Lessons can always be learned, even for battle-hardened teams like Maysville.
Lost in the hoopla of another game-winning shot from Gator Nichols in a 70-68 win against West Muskingum on Feb. 13 was the fact that the veteran Tornadoes, relishing in an underdog role, often had their way on offense for large stretches. Even in victory, it was the wake-up call coach Dave Brown felt his team needed.
“No discredit to West because they’ve got a chance to make an even deeper run into the tournament, but I think it woke our guys up giving up 68 points,” Brown said. “They way they scored on us, I think the guys knew like, ‘hey, if we don’t buckle down here, it could end quick.'”
Consider the message received.
The Panthers responded with arguably their best defensive effort of the season against Division III top-ranked Columbus Hartley, then followed with three more lock-down efforts in routs during the Division IV East District tournament.
The most recent, a 72-44 finals win against Carrollton on March 6 at Claymont High School, before another revved up Panther contingent, merely stuck to the script.
Another Maysville block party
Gator Nichols’ chase to Bailee Smith’s all-time Maysville scoring record was a key storyline against the Warriors, and the All-Ohio senior guard got 37 of the 44 points needed to eclipse her mark of 1,866. He hit three 3-pointers and was 14-of-16 at the line.
But another was 6-5 Kane Roehrig and 6-4 Kade Rock setting the tone around the basket. Specifically, they altered shots at seemingly every turn.
Rock had four blocks in the first half alone and Roehrig matched him in the second, as the Warriors struggled to convert from close range or hold up on the glass. Maysville finished with a 36-20 rebounding advantage and helped limit the Warriors to 9-of-28 shooting in the first half, firmly backing Nichols’ 23 points in building a 44-25 lead at the intermission.
Known for his versatile guarding prowess during the team’s state championship run in 2024-25, Rock feels an important step was taken after West exposed their defense.
The improvement started with some modest changes.
“We got out of the full-court trap,” Rock said. “We’re going to straight full-court pressure and just sitting down in the half court and getting stops. I think that we’ve been able to stay in front of the ball really, really well. When you don’t have to help, you don’t give up open looks.”
Coupled with the rebounding prowess, it has led to substantial transition chances.
That was particularly evident in a 27-1 third-quarter run against East Liverpool in the semifinals that was essentially a practice in run-and-gun offense. Against a far superior Carrollton squad, with a first-team All-East District point guard in Tavion Johnson, it was a practice in interior defense.
Like the East Liverpool game, Maysville’s shot blockers took advantage of Warrior players trying to score off one foot on drives into the lane. It gave the Panthers an advantage in timing their jumps to alter shots.
When they didn’t block them, there were routinely hands in the faces of shooters.
“And a lot of them try and fade,” Rock said. “If you fade and I jump straight up, I can get the ball pretty easy. (Johnson) only goes to his left hand. Play on his left hand, make him go over his left shoulder and he can’t score.”
That he said, was a message from the scouting report from veteran assistant Jared Cox.
“I think Cox is one of the best scouters around,” Rock said. “I mean, our scouting reports are to the ‘T’, as far as what guys are going to do. That helps us a lot.”
Heeding the call
It’s human nature for teams that score like the Panthers, who average 77 points per game, to take their foot off of the defensive accelerator. But Brown hasn’t let his team forget what got them to where they are — by forcing turnovers and missed shots into offense.
Have they finally locked in for good?
“That’s the key to winning,” Brown said. “Run-and-jump works against unskilled teams, but as you get going on in the tournament you’ve got to be really good in the half court. We’re not always going to shoot at 50 percent from three and they know this is our last ride. To give yourself the best chance possible, you’ve got to sit down and play half-court defense.”
Chalk Rock up to those that have bought stock in that philosophy.
“DB has really drilled that into our heads,” Rock said. “If we really want to be elite, we have to be elite on defense. And if you play good defense, your shots fall. Our guards have finally figured that out.”
Nichols was backed by 11 points with a 5-of-5 effort at the line from Landon Iden and nine points from Roehrig, as No. 2 scorer Jordyn Watson was limited to two points after battling sickness throughout the week.
MVL to take center stage at regional
In past years, the forthcoming rematch between the Panthers and fellow Muskingum Valley League heavyweight John Glenn, set for 7 p.m. on March 11, would have been held in the 13,000-season Convocation Center in Athens. Not this time. The two will play their much-awaited rematch at the newly renovated ECO Center at OU-Eastern, which seats just more than 3,000.
Given the teams are a combined 48-2 and have 47 straight wins between them, it goes without saying that tickets figure to be hot commodities. Maysville athletic director Pat Miller said following the district final that all tickets must be purchased online.
Rock said the team will be ready.
“We’re in attack mode,” Rock said. “(Watson) didn’t have a good game tonight and he is due to bounce back. I think when we have four or five guys firing on all cylinders, we’re really, really dangerous.”
sblackbu@usatodayco.com; X: @SamBlackburnTR
This article originally appeared on Zanesville Times Recorder: Defense locked in again as Maysville rolls into 4th straight regional
Reporting by Sam Blackburn, Zanesville Times Recorder / Zanesville Times Recorder
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
