Survival mode: Maysville boys win 'fist fight' to stay unbeaten

MALVERN — It wasn't quite Tommy Hearns and Marvin Haglar, but Maysville's road showdown with unbeaten Malvern sure looked — and felt — like a boxing match.

For starters, Panther guard Wesley Armstead lost half of a tooth and bit through his bottom lip — sending a stream of blood down his face — after taking a forearm to the face late in the fourth quarter.

Soon after, star guard Hayden Jarrett was raked across the eyes after securing a rebound. Oddly enough, Maysville was called for 13 fouls to Malvern's two before the Hornets were forced to foul in the final minute.

When the carnage stopped, the veteran Panthers were the ones left standing.

Alex Bobb hit four of the team's 10 3-pointers, and the Panthers overcame foul trouble and a string of miscues in the fourth quarter to pull away for a 58-50 nonleague win in a clash of East District unbeatens.

Malvern (9-1) cut a 12-point deficit with 1:50 left to 53-50 in a frantic fourth quarter that saw the quick and lanky Hornets, trapping in full force, force seven turnovers that led directly to 11 points.

But the battle-hardened Panthers, against intense pressure, ate up 1:17 off the clock before calling their second timeout in that span. This one paid off with the game's biggest points, as Hayden Jarrett beat a trap along the baseline and found Connor Larimer for a low post score to push the lead to 55-50 with 40 seconds left.

Malvern never got closer.

"We just said anytime your guy leaves to go to trap, go to the middle of the floor," Maysville coach Dave Brown said of the message during the timeout. "We were finally able to get a good look."

It was another in a string of close finishes in recent weeks. The Panthers take a 10-0 record into Friday's game against Muskingum Valley League-Small School Division leader West Muskingum, a game that figures to be another stern test.

It likely won't be as physical as this one, however.

"I talked to Coach (Jimmy) Herman at Coshocton and a couple of others who said this game would be up and down, in the 80s," Brown said. "I said, 'no, this is going to be fist fight.' And that's exactly what it was.

"We lost teeth, got punched in a head," Brown said. "It was 13-1 (in second-half fouls) at one point. We just kept fighting, which is what we do. We face adversity and keep fighting."

It was ending of retribution for Jarrett. He shook off a scoreless first quarter to reach the 1,000-point mark with a putback in the second, only to be forced to the bench with his fourth foul to end the third. He returned just in time to hit a big 3 to push his team's lead back to double digits at 53-43 with 3:09 left.

He called it the team's biggest win to date and most intense game in which he has played in four years as a varsity player.

"It's a small gym (that seats 850) and it's a great atmosphere," Jarrett said. "We knew it was going to be a dog fight. At first we struggled (against their press), but once we got comfortable we realized that we could still be aggressive and look to score and be better under pressure."

The long ball was again kind to Maysville, which outscored the top team in the rugged IVC, 30-0, on 3-pointers. The Panthers were 5-of-8 on 3s in the first half and 8-of-11 through three quarters after Ky Ryan hit his second 3 off the bench.

In the second quarter, little man Cole Roberts connected from deep on back-to-back possessions during an 11-2 run that turned a 14-10 deficit into a 21-16 lead.

Maysville never faced another deficit, but the path to the finish line was anything by a joyride.

J'Allen Barrino, a 6-3 slashing guard pestered Maysville on both ends, kept Malvern in it with a game-high 23 points and multiple deflections on defense. His brother, Ja'son, added his own sticky backcourt defense on Bobb and Armstead.

J'Allen scored seven points on three consecutive possessions to start the game and had 11 of the team's first 14 as the Hornets scored all 20 of their first half points in the paint.

But they were 0-for-3 from behind the arc and committed 12 first-half turnovers that led to 10 Panther points. Bobb's third 3 of the first half, just before the halftime horn, sent Maysville ahead, 26-22.

Malvern finished 21-of-41 from the field, but its turnovers and 0-of-9 effort on 3s were futile to its efforts. Maysville held 6-6 senior Mitch Minor, a concern coming in, to nine points due largely to Larimer's defense in the paint.

Conversely, the Panthers got 20 points from Bobb, 16 from Jarrett, eight from Larimer and Roberts and six from Ryan. Four players hit 3s, a testament to their wealth of shooters.

"Alex shot it well tonight and got out of his little cold spell he has had these last couple of games," Brown said. "He's too good of a shooter to stay down for too long. He put a little extra time in these last couple of days and you could tell."

The heavily reliance on 3s is no accident. Bobb led the state in 3-point percentage last season.

"We do shoot a lot of 3s, but that's what we work on a lot in practice," Jarrett said. "Bobb is the best shooter in the district. If he gets open he's going to let it fly."

It was another white-knuckle thrill ride for Panther fans, who brought a large, vocal contingent some two hours from Southtown to support the team. Many sported signs to tribute Jarrett's career milestone.

Tuesday was the team's fifth game decided by single digits. For Brown, who starred in the old East Central Ohio League for Coshocton and later at Muskingum, it brought back flashbacks to his days in uniform.

"I felt like we were going to go play Dover or (New) Philly," Brown said. "You just knew it wasn't going to be dainty or cute. It was going to be a fist fight."

Surviving late continues to be the team's hallmark, although Brown would love a little less stress. It earned a 54-49 win against Parkersburg (West Virginia) last Friday in Marietta after building a double-digit lead.

The guile late has been a welcomed sight, however.

"Being a veteran team, that's what you need," Larimer said. "Guys have to step up and survive. We didn't play our best, but being gritty and leaning on our core values — tough, gritty, passionate, thankful — we were all four of those tonight."

Gator Nichols tallied 13 points as Maysville took the reserve game, 35-30. Eric Swain had nine points for Malvern.

sblackbu@gannett.com; Twitter: @SamBlackburnTR

This article originally appeared on Zanesville Times Recorder: Survival mode: Maysville boys win 'fist fight' to stay unbeaten