Maysville Ends the Tigers’ Tourney Run, 72-52
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The 2025-26 basketball season came to a close for Circleville Saturday at The Convo in Athens.
Maysville’s 72-52 victory was its 26th consecutive win. It was just the third loss for the Tigers in what’s been a remarkable season for Evan Callihan’s team.
On the heels of the Lady Tiger’s first state semifinal appearance, the Boys were tasked with trying to unseat the defending state champion Panthers, while reaching the Regional Final for the first time since 1976.
The Maysville had averaged 76.7 points per game and the Tigers used a 2-3 zone to protect the paint. The strategy worked early on as the Tigers raced out to a 6-0 lead on a pair of baskets by Riley Jenkins and a bucket by Blain Fowler before the Panthers made a basket. Circleville had an 11-7 lead before Maysville hit back-to-back three’s to take the lead with 1:30 left in the 1st period. The champs had four field goals in the first quarter, each were triples. On the day, they dropped in eleven of them.
About the photo: Kole Nungester lunges for a pass from Riley Jenkins that was just out of reach.
At the time, the Tigers weren’t phased. Kole Nungester hit a couple from beyond the arc, too. The latter gave Circleville a 5-point lead at 21-16. Fowler attacked the basket from the right and got a bonus free throw and the Tigers were back up by six. What followed was something each team on the Panthers’ schedule feared… Maysville’s ability to score quickly, and in bunches, much of it set up by their full court pressure.
While guard Gator Nichols (24.2 ppg) commands attention because of his offense production, Jordyn Watson proved he couldn’t be ignored. Watson knocked down back-to-back three’s to tie the game at 24-24, then Landen Iden hit a pair of field goals capped by a bucket from Kane Roehrig and Maysville completed a 12-0 run to go up 30-14. Jenkins stopped the scoring drought for Circleville and Jack Kline hit a 50-foot shot at the horn to cut the margin to 32-29 at the half.
The pressure forced Circleville into 10 first half turnovers. Maysville scored 15 of their points from Tieger turnovers.
Coming out of the break, Fowler had a basket and added a free throw to bring the Tigers within 34-32. It was the closest Circleville could get before Maysville pulled away. The Panthers held a 54-42 lead after three and expanded the lead during the fourth to earn a return trip to the Final Four.
Nichols led all scorers with 28-points. Maysville’s other double figure scorers were Watson with 15 and Iden added 13.
Riley Jenkins paced Circleville with 17-points while Jack Kline had 10, Kole Nungester 9, while Ed Kirk and Blain Fowler had 8 each.
The Tigers (23-3) finished the year with the most wins for a single season in program history, their first Mid State League Buckeye title and a third trip to the Elite 8. Maysville will play Cincinnati Wyoming in the D-IV Final Four at Wright State University at 2pm Thursday. The winner faces the Sandusky Perkins-Glenville winner for the state title Friday at 4:15pm.
Circleville’s Riley Jenkins drops in an 8-footer. CLICK ON THE PHOTO to see the Litter Media Facebook Photo Gallery
