DAYTON, Ohio — Gator Nichols led all scorers with 36 points helping Zanesville Maysville overcome a halftime deficit 74-67 over Cleveland Glenville in the OHSAA Division IV boys’ basketball state championship game at UD Arena on Friday.
Zanesville Maysville (27-3) trailed 37-32 at halftime and 65-58 with 5:21 remaining in the fourth quarter after Tarblooders senior Xavier Vickerstaff hit back-to-back 3-pointers.
Jordyn Watson knocked down a 3-pointer with 3:00 left to bring the Panthers within two, then Nichols made a game-tying jump shot while being fouled.
Nichols, who made the game-winning 3 at the buzzer of double overtime against Wyoming in the final four, made the go-ahead free throw with 2:20 to go.
Cleveland Glenville’s Theodore Castro laid in a basket to narrow the score 68-67 with 1:34 left to play, but it would be as close as the Tarblooders would get as Zanesville Maysville went 6-for-6 at the free throw line in the final 45 seconds to seal the win.
“Our kids are tough as nails,” Zanesville Maysville head coach Dave Brown said. “They’re never going to back down to anybody. I don’t care if we’re playing the Cleveland Cavaliers or the Ohio State Buckeyes. They’re going to fight for 32 minutes or 40 minutes, however long that is. That’s just how they were raised.”
Nichols finished with 11-for-21 shooting and went 4-for-7 from distance. Watson totaled 19 points. Zanesville Maysville returned to UD Arena after losing to Kettering Archbishop Alter in the Division II state championship a year ago. This season, the Panthers broke their school record in wins for a third-consecutive year.
“We all remember that, everybody in the locker room,” Nichols said. “So we came here to Dayton today, and obviously, we didn’t want to feel that same type of feeling we felt last year, and we left it all out on the court.”
Vickerstaff recorded 21 points on 8-of-17 shooting with 13 rebounds and five triples. Castro finished with 18 points and Gary Pritchett scored 10. Cleveland Glenville (19-9) advanced all the way to the state title game in head coach Bryon Ottrix’s first season.
The Tarblooders won the Senate League championship for a third time in four years and second straight.
“I felt like down the stretch we had a couple big opportunities to stretch that lead out,” Ottrix said. “We wasn’t able to make the plays, and they made some really big shots and some tough shots, and you know it was just going to come down to who made the plays at the end. And they made some. Some big ones.”
