Persistent Patriots catch up to Newark boys with late surge
NEWARK — Winning streaks inevitably involve winning tight games, but visiting Olentangy Liberty hit Newark with a dose of its own medicine on Saturday night in Jimmy Allen Gymnasium.
Six-point, fourth-quarter leads are normally golden for the Wildcats, who put together nine consecutive victories coming into the weekend. The hot-shooting Patriots, however, are on a run of their own. They stung Newark with a late 11-2 blitz and rallied for a 53-50 win, their seventh in a row, behind a sizzling 62-percent performance from the field that included 9-of-18 on 3-pointers.
"This time of year, you figure out a way to win close games, and that's what they've been doing," coach Jeff Quackenbush said of Liberty, now 9-6 after an 0-5 start and coming off a huge 52-50 win against Dublin Coffman on Friday. "When you play them, you can't relax for a moment, or they're going to take advantage. I thought we relaxed a little. Their defensive pressure sped us up, we turned it over late and didn't get blockouts."
Newark (12-4), coming off a streak-busting loss to powerful Pickerington Central on Friday, appeared ready to ride a dominant performance by sophomore southpaw Steele Meister to victory. With the Wildcats down 25-19 early in the third quarter, Meister went on an 11-point tear that included a pair of 3-point plays and a 3-pointer. Classmate Ethan Stare also hit a 3 and had a steal, as Meister drove for a 3-point play and stuck in a rebound shot, sending Newark into the fourth quarter with a 39-35 edge.
When Grant Somers sank two foul shots and Grant Burkholder scored on a driving floater with five minutes left, the Wildcats were up 45-39 and appeared in control. But Liberty has skill, discipline and balance.
Trey Majidzadeh, a senior point guard and second-leading scorer, sprang to life down the stretch after being held in check. He and Nick Boysko drilled back-to-back 3s, Majidzadeh tipped in a missed shot, then got free for a layup that suddenly pushed the Patriots ahead 50-47 with 2:25 to play.
Meister canned a pair of free throws to make it 50-49. But Cooper Davis, Liberty's Toledo-bound leading scorer, hit both ends of a one-and-one. He later missed one with his team still up 52-50. However, with a chance to tie or win, the Wildcats were hit with a crucial charging call. The Patriots split a pair of foul shots, giving Newark a chance to tie down 53-50. But they prevented a return pass to Burkholder off a sideout, and the Wildcats had to throw up an attempt that was well off at the buzzer.
On a night Newark held Davis, a deadly 3-point shooter, to just eight points with no 3s, junior Alex Okuley stepped into the void. He rifled home 13 first-half points with a trio of 3s, including one just ahead of the halftime buzzer to push Liberty up 23-19. Burkholder kept the Wildcats close with eight points and Meister had seven.
"Ethan Schell did a good job on Davis," Quackenbush said. "But they're really skilled and have a lot of guys that can score. They've had eight or nine guys score in double digits in the past." Okuley finished with 16 points and three assists, and Majidzadeh had 13 points and four assists.
"You can't give up 62 percent shooting and expect to win," Quackenbush said. "We're lucky we only lost by three."
Meister turned in a 22-point, 12-rebound, 3-assist effort for Newark, which lost despite holding a 19-12 margin on the backboards, shooting 51 percent from the field and a stellar 12-of-14 at the line for 85 percent. Burkholder added 14 points, while Somers led the defense with four steals and Stare had three.
The game was befitting of a district final, but that was of no small consolation to Quackenbush.
"It was humbling weekend," he said. "With our upcoming schedule, most every game is going to be like this. The question is, how do we respond?"
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This article originally appeared on Newark Advocate: Persistent Patriots catch up to Newark boys with late surge
