Newark basketball washes away sins in fourth quarter against Groveport
NEWARK — The Newark boys basketball team was not conceding anything when it went to a matchup zone defense on Friday.
Newark regrouped against upset-minded Groveport and delivered quite a finishing blow. The Wildcats held the visiting Cruisers to one fourth-quarter basket, putting away a 55-40 victory in Ohio Capital Conference-Buckeye Division play at Jimmy Allen Gymnasium.
“You beat a zone by attacking the zone. That’s how we beat a zone, and you have to expect the same for other teams,” said senior Drew Oberholtzer, who helped spearhead the defensive charge as the Wildcats increased their physicality with the Groveport guards at the point of attack.
“Each guy just got better in their own area,” Oberholtzer added. “We started off well and then struggled. We had to overcome some adversity. The fourth quarter is where we really did that.”
Newark (8-3, 3-1) trailed as much as 27-20 late in the second quarter before sophomore Braylon Morris scored five points during a 6-0 run to close the half. A Oberholtzer putback and a Morris 3 helped Newark build a 39-35 lead, but a 3 for Joshua Moore allowed Groveport (3-9, 1-3) to close the gap after three quarters.
The Wildcats, however, kept their thumb on the Cruisers. Junior Steele Meister made three free throws, and senior Grant Burkholder followed with five consecutive points while the Cruisers went scoreless for more than six minutes to start the fourth quarter.
“The fourth quarter was huge for us,” Newark coach Jeff Quackenbush said. “The last two losses we’ve struggled defensively in the fourth quarter. To hold them to two points was a big step. … We knew we were going to have to guard the dribbler, and we worked on that all week.”
Morris hit five 3-pointers and totaled 17 points during the first three quarters to keep Newark afloat. The Wildcats’ veterans took over in the fourth.
Meister finished off a 16-rebound performance, and Stare recorded team highs of six steals and five assists. Oberholtzer scored in transition after creating a turnover.
“Guarding the ball, guarding the best player, not turning it over, being in the right spot, that’s been seniors at Newark forever,” Quackenbush said of Oberholtzer.
Newark held Groveport to 32% shooting and forced 20 turnovers. Burkholder’s 12 points supported Morris’ 17, and Meister and Stare added 10 points apiece.
“As the game gets tighter, you have to stick to what you do,” Oberholtzer added. “When the stuff hit the fan, people buckled down.”
Moore led Groveport with 16 points and nine rebounds. Malcolm Mason added 10 points.
The Cruisers took a swing at grabbing their biggest win of the season, but the Wildcats countered. No rest for the weary as the Wildcats visit Mount Vernon at 6 p.m. Saturday.
“There are no easy wins in January. There are no pretty wins in January,” Quackenbush said. “Our kids competed. It didn’t go real well for a while, but they fought back.”
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