Career night by Tabler helps Zanesville fend off Johnstown
ZANESVILLE — Third quarters have been a struggle this season for Zanesville.
But Drake Tabler's hot hand delivered at the right time on Wednesday night.
After watching Johnstown trim a 16-point halftime deficit to four, Tabler drilled a 3 in the closing seconds of the third quarter.
It pushed the Blue Devils' advantage back to seven, and Zanesville held on for a 53-45 win in a Licking County League crossover at Winland Memorial Gymnasium.
Tabler finished with a career-high 18 points, including five 3s, while also holding Johnstown standout Kyle Siegfried to 8 points in the first half.
"I challenged Drake before the game, feeling tonight could be his coming out party," ZHS coach Cedric Harris said. "He did a great job defensively (on Siegfried) in the first half. His minutes were huge."
Blue Devils show grit
The first half went as planned for Zanesville (3-5, 1-2). Tabler hit a pair of 3s, Maddox Hayes scored 6 points and Drew Doyle had back-to-back hoops to close out a 16-4 first quarter.
The momentum carried into the second. Tabler opened the scoring with a 3, Avery Mohler had a pair of hoops and Doyle's 3 at the horn put the Blue Devils up 28-12 at the half.
Doyle finished with 12 points and Hayes added 10 in a balanced effort for the Blue Devils.
"We were grinding possessions and not being complacent on offense. We weren't giving them the runouts that happen when we take bad shots and rush possessions," Harris said. "We got away from that in the third, but I felt we grinded out some of those possessions late in the quarter to get us back on track. We battled hard, and this is a big win."
Slow start haunts Johnnies
Coach Kyle Higgins saw his Johnnies (5-4) go through a similar stretch in a loss to Columbus DeSales.
A slow start put them in a hole they couldn't quite dig out of, despite Brady Bard scoring 7 of his 12 points in the third. His 3 brought Johnstown within 33-29 with 1:25 left in the third.
They never got closer than six in the fourth, as Siegfried collected 12 of his 20 points in the second half to keep the Johnnies within a couple possessions.
"We responded in the second half, but we had to exert a lot of energy to get back into the game," Higgins said. "Zanesville did a good job defensively, and we let them get too comfortable on offense. We didn't play defense like we needed to.
"It's tough to make a road trip on a Wednesday, but we talked about being mentally tough," he added. "We fought back, but we missed a rotation on (Tabler's 3). Credit to Zanesville for making a few more plays than us."
bhannahs@gannett.com; X: @brandonhannahs
This article originally appeared on Zanesville Times Recorder: Zanesville leans on Tabler to help fend off Johnstown
