John Glenn pulls away late for 70-48 win over Cambridge in Catfish Challenge tilt
NEW CONCORD — Host John Glenn broke away from Cambridge High with a late-game surge to earn a 70-48 win in the annual Catfish Challenge between the neighboring rival schools in the John Glenn High School tank.
With just 4:49 left in the third quarter, the game was stuck at 40-40 as the two schools battled back and forth all night.
At this point in the action, the Muskies made a move and reeled off 10 straight points to end the third quarter with a 50-40 lead.
“The game went back and forth all night,” explained Eric Sheck, John Glenn’s head coach. “Then we were able to continue the 10-0 run to end the third quarter and that was the crucial point in the game. Then we transferred this momentum into the fourth third and were able to pull away from them.”
John Glenn then scored the opening bucket in the fourth quarter to extend the lead to 52-40 and the run to 12 straight points. Cambridge senior Davion Bahr eventually scored to stop the JG momentum at 52-42. Sophomore Jesiah Barnett followed with a short jump to draw the Bobcats within 52-44 with 6:33 in the game.
But the Muskies quickly restarted the “Mo,” reeling off the next 18 straight points to put the game out of reach at 70-44 on senior Nathan Walker’s bucket with just 2-11 left to play.
Cambridge head coach Kyle Peruset was at a loss for words after a disappointing end to a night in which his Bobcats put on a strong performance for two and a half quarters.
“I really don’t have much to say,” offered a visibly frustrated Pertuset after the game. “They continued that run to finish the third quarter but we were still in the game. But then we didn’t execute at all in the fourth quarter.”
John Glenn ended the second half with a commanding 38-16 point lead, with Walker taking the lead with 10 of his game-high 20-point performance. Junior Noah Winland provided the spark off the bench in the second half with eight points, including two threes.
“That’s what we expect from Nathan, he’s one of our three seniors and we expect him to make us work at key moments,” added Sheck. “And he did that tonight in the second half, playing like that really gives our team energy.”
“I think in the second half our guys did a much better job of finishing shots,” explained Sheck. “That first half we struggled with that and Cambridge have had some breakaways from that and took advantage like good teams do. So I think we really cleaned that up in the last two quarters.”
To open the game, John Glenn started from beyond the 3-point line with a total of six 3-pointers to forge a 24-12 lead after the first eight minutes. Seniors Kaiden Walls and Bexlee Woodard each flipped over a pair of Treys for six points.
Cambridge responded with a vengeance in the second stanza, led by Bahr’s nine-point breakout, along with freshman Garrett Carpenter’s immediate attack from the bench with seven points. CHS finished the quarter with a 20-8 lead to equal 32-32 at half-time.
Early in the third quarter, the Bobcats took the quick 36-32 lead at the 6:11 mark with back-to-back buckets from Bahr and Barnett. But then things started to change in favor of the host Muskies, who took control of the action.
John Glenn put four players in double figures, with Woodard finishing with 14 points, Walls checking in with 12 and junior Caleb Larrick adding 10 to compliment Walker’s big night.
Bahr led Cambridge with 16 points while Barnett added 13 points and Carpenter contributed seven points from the bench. Junior Devin Ogle, who started the night as the Bobcats’ leading scorer at 14.5 points per game, struggled all night to finish the tournament with four points.
John Glenn clinched a 38-34 win in the JV matchup, with Brayden Davis leading by 16 points and CJ Nolan adding 10 points. Cambridge was led by Coen Stoner and Dionte Jones with eight points each.
John Glenn improves to 5-3 over the year while Cambridge slips to 2-7 in the season.
NEXT − John Glenn travels to Crooksville on Friday while Cambridge travels to Meadowbrook on Tuesday. JV tips will be given on both sides at 18.00.
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