Unioto Boys & Girls Advance with Wins Thursday
Article presented by the Outdoor Drama, Tecumseh! …
It was a two for one feature for Unioto fans Thursday as the Shermans basketball teams picked up wins.
Girls: Unioto 56, Toledo Central Catholic 42
Jeff Miller’s Lady Shermans punched their ticket for the D-III Regional Championship game after taking Toledo Central Catholic 56-42 at Ohio Dominican. A couple of hours later, Unioto’s Blake Fitch was hoisting the program’s first District Championship hardware since 2021 in a 60-46 victory over Washington.
The Girls arrived at The Convo in time to catch the Boys game. At halftime, Dayton-bound Milee Smith told Litter Media RADIO she and her teammates are on a mission. “We want to go out on a good run” said Smith. “We’re just playing pretty well and we just have to keep it up. Our energy was there, honestly. Everybody played their role tonight and I fell like that helped us to a win.” Smith scored 22-points in the win.
Unioto will face Hartley (19-6) Saturday afternoon at ODU. The Hawks needed overtime to beat Granville 36-35 Thursday night. The Tanks dropped a 60-42 decision to Hartley in early December, just four games into their 24-2 season. Their rematch tips off at 1:30pm Saturday.
Boys: Unioto 60, Washington 46
Matt Combs’ Shermans will head back to The Convo this Wednesday to face top-seeded Circleville in the Regional Semifinals.
About the Photo: Jack Welch and Brayden Harsha react as the Shermans took a 12-7 lead.
The U closed the first period on a 7-0 run for a 16-7 advantage capped by an Isaac Coy three-point at the horn. Washington closed with 20-17 in the second, but the Shermans stretched the led to nine at the half, 26-17.
The SVC Champs opened the second half on a basket by Blake Fitch, a pair by Coy and capped by a Jack Welch three-pointer and the Tanks were up 37-21.
The victory was the 400th for Combs. During the post-game ceremony he deflected the attention on the milestone. “Yeah, but this one’s about these guys, theses seniors. It’s important for them to get this District Championship. I appreciate all that (acknowledging the career coaching mark) but it’s about the players tonight, like it always is. We’ve had a lot of kids play in some big games – basketball, baseball last year, football… Our kids react well in these situations.”
Unioto (20-3) had to close the first half without two-time SVC Player of the Year. Fitch picked up his third foul with 4:17 remaining in the second period. “I thought the last three minutes of the first half were huge” said Combs. “Because with him out, we somehow hung in there. I was just tryin’ to hold on with him out. Give the credit to our guys off the bench for doin’ that.”
“A shout out to them (the bench)” said Fitch. “They (Washington) could’ve gone on a run easily the other way, but they played tough. I’m real proud of them.” Fitch had 14-points and 5 assists in the game. Coy led the Shermans with 15-points and 8-rebounds, Welch had 11, Harsha 8, Dawson Mitchell 6-points and 8-rebounds, Jaxon Zickafoose 4 and Dave Long 2.
Washington’s (13-10) Bryson Heath and Noah Haithcock had 10-points each, Jackson Everhart 8, Javin Baker 7, Aden Osborne 6, Jeston Everhart 3 and Jaxson Hughes 2.
Wednesday’s Regional Semifinal with Circleville will be a second meeting of the season for the clubs. The Tigers beat the Shermans 62-39 during the Christmas break. Jaxon Zickafoose is looking forward to getting a second chance. “They’re a great team and they’re not gonna make it easy for us, but I don’t think we’re gonna make it easy for them either.” The Regional match up tips off at 6pm March 11th.
