SoutheasternOhioPreps.com

Circleville 53
Logan Elm 47 a final

Scoring by Quarter:

Circleville ....... 14 .... 09.... 16....14 .... 53
Logan Elm .. 17.......10.... 14 .....06... 47


Pfloyd's official "UN-official" Napkin Stats - Logan Elm

Scoring ... Brady Neff 23, Owen Russell 7, Kelton Bennington 6, Doren Patton 4, Austin Holbrook 3, Zane Seimer 2, Ethon Manson 2
3 Pointers ... 7/16 ... Brady Neff 3, Kelton Bennington 2, Austin Holbrook 1, Owen Russell 1
FTs ... 2/4
TOs ... 12
PnP ... 7 fgs/ 14 points in the paint
PnT ... 0 fgs/ 0 points in transition
Pbk ... 0 fgs/ 0 points on putback buckets

Pfloyd's official "UN-official" Napkin Stats - Circleville

Scoring ... Kole Nungester 18, Blain Fowler 13, Jack Kline 8, Riley Jenkins 7, Ed Kirk 5, Glavine Bigam 2
3 Pointers ... 3/12 ... Kole Nungester 1, Blain Fowler 1, Jack Kline 1
FTs ... 10/17
TOs ... 8
PnP ... 17 fgs/ 34 points in the paint
PnT ... 5 fgs/10 points in transition
Pbk ... 0 fgs/ 0 points on putback buckets

... a good basketball game in Round Town today ... the Braves of Logan Elm visited Circleville to take on the 12-2 Tigers who had not lost to a team in the SE district this season ... if you made the trip to Round Town you watched a very physical defensive battle by both teams ... Logan Elm jumped out to an early lead while Circleville were the chasers all quarter ... LE had all of their first 6 players score in the opening quarter ... 5-10 jr Owen Russell drained back to back midrange jumpers 4pts/ 6-1 sr Zane Seimer scored in the paint 2pts/ 6-3 sr Brady Neff got on the board with a three pointer 3pts/ 5-11 sr. Doren Patton put the ball on the floor for a dribble drive & score 2pts/ Kelton Bennington 6-2 sr. hit the Braves 2nd trey of the quarter 3pts & 6-1 jr Austin Holbrook followed suit with a triple from behind the arc 3pts ... Circleville got on the board with 6-5 jr Blain Fowler scoring on a drive , finish 2pts & 1 for 3pts/ 6-2 sr PG Kole Nungester picked up 2 pts with a drive & finish at the rim 2pts / Fowler scored in the paint 2pts/ 6-3 sr Jack Kline hit the Tigers' first triple of the game 3pts/ off the CHS bench 6-5 sr Ed Kirk scored on the block 2pts before Fowler scored in transition 2pts ... a good opening quarter for both teams ... Logan Elm 17 Circleville 14 after one ... both teams matched buckets in the 2nd quarter as Circleville was hurt by 5 turnovers in the period , Logan Elm struggled vs the Tigers inside so they stepped back and attacked from behind the 3 point line hitting on 3 of 7 trey attempts with Bennington hitting his 2nd triple of the game 3pts/ Brady Neff hit number 2 on his stat line as well 3pts and Owen Russell hit a three to give him 7 pts in the opening half of action ... Nungester for the Tigers hit on a three ball 3pts and scored low in the lane 2pts/ 7 in the half ... Kline and Jenkins each found the basket from in the lane 2pts each ... Logan Elm 27 Circleville 23 at the half ... when I hear Logan Elm my mind goes straight to- physical defensive play, motion offense, 3 point shooters - so far thru 2 quarters LE had lived up to all of those descriptors ... in the third, LE's Brady Neff took over on the offensive end ... the 6-3 sr. reeled off 12 points from all levels - hitting on a pair of fall away 12 footers 4pts/used his body to get into the paint for a couple of buckets including an & 1 for 5pts/ his ability to score from the foul line in opened up space behind the arc where he drained a deep triple 3pts ... the only other bucket for LE was a Doren Patton drive and finish 2pts ... at a little over 1:45 to play in the 3rd qtr. the Braves looked to have taken control of the game by opening up an 11 pt lead 41-30 ... to this point the Tigers were staying in the game with Nungester scoring in transition 2pts/Bigam with a 2pt bucket in the paint /Jenkins on a miss make from the FT line/ Kline on a drive & score 2pts ... 41-30 Logan Elm ... the Tigers could have very easily folded ... the game was at THAT point, that tipping point where players can say "it's just not our day" ... in the next 1:45 & change on the clock the Tigers turned up the tempo of the game ... forced a turnover by LE ... forced some quick/off balanced shots by the Braves ... by the time the buzzer sounded Circleville had erased the 11 point lead ... Nungester had forced his way into the paint for 2 pts/ got a steal & score in transition 2pts ... Fowler took a misguided LE pass to the house for an uncontested 2 pts in transition ... this got the Tigers within 5 pts ... an LE miss ... outlet pass to Fowler who pulled up for a deep transition 3 pointer at the buzzer - nothing but net - 3pts ... Logan Elm was no longer in control, momentum was now on the home standing Tiger side of the court ... Logan Elm 41 Circleville 39 after 3 ... Circleville completed the comeback when Kole Nungester scored in the paint 2pts with 7:27 on the clock 41-41 ... the points in the paint also were Kole Nungester's 1000th points in his high school career ... at the 5:04 point of the 4th Circleville took their first lead of the game at 42-41 ... defense wins 'ships ... defense wins the individual games that lead to those championships ... the Tigers held LE to 3 fgs in the final 8 minutes - Neff with a pair of 2 pointers/4pts/23 pts in the game and Ethon Manson, 6-1 jr, added 2 pts off the LE bench ... the Tigers matched the 3 fgs/ Nungester's 2pts in the paint and 6-4 sr Riley Jenkins' a couple of one handed kisses off the glass for 4pts ... the rest of the CHS damage was from the free throw line as the Tigers closed it out with 6 FTs down the stretch ... 8/14 from the line in the 4th period ... Circleville 53 Logan Elm 47 a final ...

Pfloyd.........FU and Circleville haven't played each other yet. What would be your thoughts going into that game? I'm sure that Circleville would be the favorite, but can the young Falcons play with the roundtown boys?

Smeltzy wrote: Sun Jan 25, 2026 4:03 pm Pfloyd.........FU and Circleville haven't played each other yet. What would be your thoughts going into that game? I'm sure that Circleville would be the favorite, but can the young Falcons play with the roundtown boys?

... Fairfield Union vs Circleville on the 2/7 @ FU and then again on 2/17 @ Round Town ... you nailed it with the Falcons of Coach Helber being youngin's only 1 senior getting significant minutes in starter 5-10 Drake DeFazio the rest of the rotation is all juniors and a soph in 6-6 Asa Kline ... 8 man rotation for FU ... they have good size across the board really & length to go with it Utzinger 6-2 with length/ Mason Ailes 6-3/ Keaton Webb 6-4 strong & an outstanding defender ... FU likes a halfcourt game with DeFazio/Utzinger/Ailes able to get out and push the ball but they appear most comfortable in the halfcourt game ... not a big time 3 point shooting team 10-15 per game ... working the ball/ getting the looks at the rim on penetration, excellent interior passing by Webb/Kline/Ailes ... one of the few teams that is comfortable shooting/hitting the midrange jumper ... Kline is one of the best post players in all of the SE District , a solid/strong 6-6 frame ... not afraid to take the ball up through the defender but can hit the midrange shot on the baseline, and when left open will hit the 3 ball ... Utzinger/DeFazio handle the ball well and score off the dribble as well as anyone ... Utzinger is a streaky 3 point shooter - when he is on you don't want to give him looks as 1 will turn into 4 treys ... Circleville is led by Kole Nungester the 6-2 sr. sets the tone for the Tigers ... when things aren't going well Nungester seems to be able to right the ship as he has 3 level range ... strong penetrator of the ball, not afraid to go inside with the ball and finish, not as reliant on quickness as he is on his strength - outstanding player at both ends of the floor ... excellent size in 6-5 Blain Fowler/6-3 Jack Kline/ 6-4 Riley Jenkins/ 6-5 Ed Kirk ... the Tigers can play in the half court or get out and run the floor with Kirk/Fowler/Bigam/Nungester/Jenkins all able finish in the open floor ... the last couple games have been physical matchups for Circleville vs Sheridan & Logan Elm probably 2 of the most physical teams in the SE District ... both games had the Tigers down but senior leadership/"been there done that" with Nungester/Kline/ Jenkins/ Kirk as difference makers ... Smeltzy, I think the home & home between these 2 will come down to perimeter shooting by FU - the Falcons have to be able to hit from the perimeter to give them space in the paint to allow Kline to do Kline things as well as will Webb be able to use his strength in the paint to be a force offensively ... it will be interesting to see who Webb guards - part of me says make Nungester work for everything for 32 minutes ... but the CHS size almost forces FU to matchup with the Tiger size ... one of the keys for Circleville will be - "can Riley Jenkins find the range from behind the arc" he has been struggling from the floor the last 2 games that I saw - Sheridan (2pts)/LE (7pts) - he did not hit a three pointer in either game ... you're correct though I'm going with Circleville's overall size/physicality/senior leadership & experience along with the" Nungester factor" he is just so "old school" good ... if FU gets a split THAT would be a great result for the youngsters from FU imo ...

Pfloyd.......thanks for the detailed breakdown of the 2 teams. That's why you are the Master of SE bball. You hit it on the head. FU has to get more production from their outside shooters and be able to hit some key threes. Plus, Kline will have to play tougher and stronger.
I hope to see you at one of the two games. Thanks.

Smeltzy wrote: Tue Jan 27, 2026 4:52 pm Pfloyd.......thanks for the detailed breakdown of the 2 teams. That's why you are the Master of SE bball. You hit it on the head. FU has to get more production from their outside shooters and be able to hit some key threes. Plus, Kline will have to play tougher and stronger.
I hope to see you at one of the two games. Thanks.

... it will have to be the game on 2/17 @ Circleville as I will be in Jackson for the all day SOSA event on 2/7 - you know me Smeltzy!, hard to pass up 6 games at the same venue ...