Shelby shows championship pedigree in come-from-behind victory at Pleasant in boys hoops

MARION — Shelby showed its championship mettle for a third time this season during a road game to Marion County.

The Whippets found themselves down 18 points in the second quarter, but methodically came back to knock off Pleasant 57-50 in a Mid Ohio Athletic Conference boys basketball game Friday night.

"They always do a great job of being prepared. That's a credit to Coach (Ben) Snively and his program, getting those guys ready to go. We knew it was going to be a battle," Shelby coach Greg Gallaway said of the Spartans.

Early in the season, the Whippets struggled to score points in the first half at Marion Harding, but cobbled together enough defensive stops and scores at the other end to pull out a 41-29 victory. At River Valley, All-Ohio guard and future Wright State player Alex Bruskotter drew two fouls in the final eight-tenths of a second to eek out a 61-60 win.

Shelby vs. River Valley: Shelby's Alex Bruskotter atones for missed free throw in big MOAC boys hoops battle at RV

Shelby vs. Marion Harding: Shelby's defense the difference to open MOAC boys basketball play at Marion Harding

Now this.

"I thought in the first half they really shot it well," Gallaway said of Pleasant making 7 of 14 from the arc. "I thought we did a decent job contesting shooters, and they just made some shots. We knew they had the capability of doing that with their players and guard-play, but I thought in the second half we really settled in on the defensive end.

"When we’ve gone down this year and then made comebacks and runs, it’s from when we can just settle in on the defensive end and get stops. That translates to us on the offensive end."

Tale of two halves

The Spartans (6-7, 2-5) played with energy and excitement from the jump, taking an 8-2 lead in the first two minutes and a 19-12 edge with 2:45 to go in the first quarter.

In the second quarter, it grew to 27-14 off a Trey Booker 3-pointer before J.T. Snively knocked down a three from the top of the key from a Booker pass to make it 34-18. Fifteen seconds later Carson King finished a fastbreak from Lathan McCants to double up the Whippets at 36-18 with 2:55 left in the half.

Pleasant mustered just 14 points and one more 3-pointer the rest of the night.

"My message to the kids after the game is we know we can. We’ve been in these situations. We know we can get it done. We know we can do it. We show it in the first half," Snively said. "The bottom line is we tighten up a little in those situations. We make uncharacteristic plays that we haven’t played all night and we’ve got to get that corrected."

The four-time defending MOAC champ Whippets (9-2, 7-0) cut the lead to 38-24 by halftime and kept hacking away at it in the third period, getting it to 43-38 by the end of the third quarter.

Pleasant still led 48-44 with under four minutes left, but Issaiah Ramsey tied it at 48 with a steal and a slam with 2:45 to go. Bruskotter followed with two foul shots with 2:18 left to give Shelby its first lead of the game at 50-48. They pulled away from there at the stripe.

"Our group is special in that we find a way to bounce back and keep advancing," Gallaway said. "Being relentless is something we preach a lot with our guys. It’s a word that we use a lot and is one of our values. Despite the score and going down 18 and then 14 at the half, we just kept advancing and got it to five and then finished the game in the fourth. That’s a credit to our guys."

With eight seniors who have enjoyed four straight league championships, the Whippets been in these types of battles over the years, not just in their last three trips to Marion County.

"They just know how to win," Snively said of Shelby. "They never panic. They have a leader who has been playing since his freshman year who is going Division I for a reason. They just periodically came back and chipped away at it."

Game balls

The Whippets were 22 of 27 from the foul line, making 15 in the fourth period. Bruskotter led Shelby with 23 points while going 15 of 18 on free throws. Ramsey fouled out, but still finished with 14 points as Shelby managed just one 3-pointer.

For Pleasant, Booker was 9 of 13 from the stripe and ended with 21 points, while Wiley Smith backed him with 15 and King with eight. The Spartans were 14-for-22 on free throws, going just 5 of 10 in the fourth period.

"The thing about this loss is that every one person can go back and say if I would have just did this and that different," Snively said. "You win together and you lose together, and tonight we lost together. You can look at 10 or 12 plays where if we just make a play, it changes the course of the game. Right now we’re not making that play. We know we can, but we’ve got to go do that. That’s where we’re at."

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This article originally appeared on Marion Star: Shelby basketball rallies with in MOAC game at Pleasant