Waverly 46 Heath 45 OT D2 Regional Final ...

[pfloyd]

Waverly 46
Heath 45 a final

Sometimes Coaches have a feeling about "things" - outcomes of games to come, how players are going to play in key games - it's in their DNA - while the rest of us may have feelings in our gut that turnout to be just indigestion ... Coach Robertson texted me last night that "he had a feeling" - that Coach's intuition thing again ... Coach Robertson had "A" good feeling about THIS Tiger Team waay before this season started as he put together a schedule that was meant to prep his Waverly basketball team for the post season - if you look at ALL 71 teams in the SE District - Waverly was the only team to truly schedule UP Big time - taking on Newark (D1), the University of Upper Arlington (D1), Hurricane WVa (Big School division in that foreign country) and Colonel Crawford ( a team that hadn't lost a league game in over 65 tries) ... throw in an SOC schedule which this year was the best league in all of the SE district having to play the likes of Valley, Minford, South Webster, Wheelersburg twice each ... the teams on the Waverly schedule in league and non-conference (all but the Upper Arlington game) were away were assembled to provide games that would have the Tigers have to play a different brand of hoops night in and night out ... physical teams (Newark), teams with Above the Lancaster-Dixon Line quickness and size teams that played a deliberate style ... you name it - the Waverly Tigers have seen it ! ... each game pushed the Tigers one step closer to the season's goal - a trip to The Show , the Final Four ...

Heath , senior laden,with size, size and more size ... 6-5, 6-5, 6-8, 6-3 and 5-9/6-1 off the bench ... with the size advantage one would think that Waverly would need to be able to score on the perimeter ... in the opening period the Tigers were the aggressor attacking the paint - led by 6-3 junior Hudson Kelly's 6 points around the rim ... sr PG Mark Stulley with a drive into the paint for 2 pts and Trey Robertson picking up an inside drive at the rim for 2 more ... the Tigers were 0'fer from downtown (0/5) in the qtr. ... the bigs for the Bulldogs of Heath HS all put points on the board - Josh Guy with 4 points down low, Keylan Williams with 2 pts on the blocks, 6-8 Branson McLaughlin 1/2 from the line, the lone perimeter score in the period came from Reece Huber with a triple (3 pts) ... turnovers weren't a factor as both teams handled the pressure of the game and the perimeter D (HHS 2 TO/WHS with 1 TOs) ... Heath 12 Waverly 10 after 1 ... with the lid taken off the rim in the opening quarter of play, the teams both went yard from behind the 3 point line in the 2nd as both teams found the range from downtown with 3 triples each in the period ... Waverly was led by the coach on the floor Trey Robertson's 6 points with 1 triple included/ 6-5 Will Futhey stepped out for a three ball that found the bottom of the net for 3pts/ freshman Braylon Robertson came in to knockdown a trey from deep 3pts and Penn Morrison off the bench for a 2pointer to round out the scoring in the half for WHS ... Heath was able to keep their lead with 3 balls from Grayson Shumate - a pair of triples (6pts) ... the only other player for the Bulldogs to score in the second was 6-8 McLaughlin with 2 pointers on the blocks and a putback bucket ... Waverly at the halfway point was 3/13 from downtown while the Bulldogs 4/11 from three ... Heath 25 Waverly 24 at the half ... as expected both teams came out after intermission with defense on their minds - each team only scored 3 fgs apiece in the period ... 7 points each ... Waverly got 5 points from Trey Robertson on drives to the rim - money for WHS and another in the paint bucket from Hudson Kelly (2pts/ 8 for the game) ... for Heath, Reece Huber down low on the blocks for 2pts/ 3 ball from 6-5 Josh Guy and a 2 pointer by the big boy McLaughlin ... Heath 32 Waverly 31 after 3 ... 8 minutes to get to The Show ... 8 minutes to find a way to get separation between 2 teams that did nothing but mirror each other on the napkin stat sheet for 3 quarters ... the Tigers worked to stay close down the stretch/defensively battling the size and length advantage of the Bulldogs on the boards while battling themselves - as the outside shot wasn't falling in the 2nd straight outing ... at 4:02 on the clock Heath led 35-33 ... Waverly could muster but 2 fgs in the period but as has been the case all season - you lean on the best player in SEOhio - Trey Robertson ... put the ball in his hands, he can get a shot in the paint or go to the line - he did both with a drive for 2 points in the period to go with 5/6 from the FT line ... by 1:37 showing on the game clock Waverly had taken the lead 37-35 ... Heath kept contact with 2 pointers from Huber (3pts) and off the bench a big time drive across the lane for a lefthanded 2pter at the rim by Payton Lees ... at 56.2 Waverly led 39-37 ... Trey Robertson at the line with 45.2 on the clock 1/2 from the charity stripe ... 40-37 Waverly ... :28 seconds on the clock a big time 3 ball from 6-5 Josh Guy from the top of the key for the tie at 40-40 ... Tigers ran the clock down for a final shot ... Robertson taking a tough double pump shot from deep on the right in front of the Tiger bench ... 40-40 end of regulation ... Lou Horvath turned and asked me if THIS met the pfloyd approval for the return of Basketball :30? - a double OT in the opening game of the Return of Basketball :30 on Tuesday and now at least an OT game to wrap up the Week at the Convo/ the Return of Basketball :30/ hard to make up for 2 years without it but this was a good start ... 2 excellent teams going at it for 4 quarters of regulation, now having to go another 4 minutes to get the gold ticket to The Show, The Final Four ... as we got into the OT period Heath doesn't go deep into the bench ... in the OT the Bulldogs lost 2 bigs as both picked up their 5th personal ... 6-5 Williams and 6-8 McLaughlin both taking a seat on the bench ... Will Futhey got a bucket in the paint to give the Tigers a 42-40 lead ... Futhey to the line for 1/2 ... 43-40 WHS ... Braylon Robertson 1/2 from the free throw line ... 44-40 Tigers ... a nice shot from HHS's Reece Huber 44-42 Waverly ... Trey Robertson with the ball ... to the line for 2 FTs ... good & good 46-42 Waverly ... Huber takes the ball the top of the key for an uncontested triple for the final ... Waverly 46 Heath 45 a final in OT ... the Tigers ARE going to the Final Four !!!

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

Scoring ... Reece Huber 13, Branson McLaughlin 10, Grayson Shumate 8, Josh Guy 7, Keylan Williams 5, Payton Lees 2
3 Pointers ... 7/21 ... Reece Huber 2, Grayson Shumate 2, Keylan Williams 1, Branson McLaughlin 1, Josh Guy 1
FTs ... 4/9
TOs ... 11
PnP ... 10 fgs/ 20 points in the paint
PnT ... 2 fgs/ 4 points in transition
Pbk ... 1 fg/ 2 points off of offensive boards

... Heath was going to be a difficult matchup no matter how you sliced up the phases of the game - on offense with the BIGS - 6-5 Williams/McLaughlin 6-8/ Guy 6-5/ Huber 6-3 ... being able to get into the paint was to be a challenge...for WHS defensively the bigs were able to get to the rim for ONLY 20 points, only 1 putback off offensive boards ... with the size advantage that HHS had it usually means they would get it inside and if they can get it inside they would get to the FT line where the Tiger quickness defensively would not be a factor - Heath only got to the line for 9 FT attempts (4/9) ... a great job by Waverly in negating size and not allowing the Bulldogs to beat them from the foul line ...

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

Scoring ... Trey Robertson 22, Hudson Kelly 8, Will Futhey 6, Braylon Robertson 4, Mark Stulley 4, Penn Morrison 2
3 Pointers ... 3/21 ... Trey Robertson 1, Will Futhey 1, Braylon Robertson 1
FTs ... 11/17 (Robertson 9/13 on his ball from the FT line ... 7/8 in the 4th & OT)
TOs ... 8
PnP ... 13 fgs/ 26 points in the paint
PnT ... 1 fg/ 2 points in transition
Pbk ... 1 fg/ 2 points off of offensive boards

... 2 straight games where the Tigers were unable to get separation from behind the arc YET they are talented enough, have played vs quality opponents (Newark/Upper Arlington etc) that HAVE taken the perimeter game away and/ or have forced a Plan B - Plan B "ain't" bad - put the ball in Trey Robertson's hands to get to the rim, to get to the FT line ... Plan B worked 2 straight games ... style points don't count in the post season ... great games from Stulley handling the rock and running the offense while getting 4 points a BIG 4 POINTS ... Hudson Kelly 8 points - no hesitation in the paint in the land of the giants - outstanding ... Will Futhey again the unsung BIG game battling the size coming at him from all directions at both ends of the floor ... WF played BIGGER than the Heath Bigs down the stretch along with Penn Morrison off the bench - both limited the opportunities in the paint for Heath putbacks ... Waverly's entire season was geared to prepare the Tigers for THIS moment , to be able to handle the atmosphere, the pressure down the stretch , to "find another way" when Plan A is taken away by the opponent ... Coach Robertson had "a good feeling" ... Coach knows his team, Coach is taking the Tigers to the Dayton Arena on the Campus of Dayton University ... the Tigers are going to the Big Dance ... Congratulations !!!

[OHHS old timer]

Another great write up, pfloyd...

You are the " Lord of the Napkin Stats"....lol. Thanks again.

[smurray]

Great write up.
Yes, Travis told me the same thing Friday. “We are going to the Final 4, these guys will find a way”.
Man did they ever.

[danicalifornia]

Just want to laugh at the threads insulting Heath for shooting 3’s when they shot much better on the same amount of attempts




However, they still needed to get the ball inside. It is a lost art for sure.

Congratulations to the Tigers on executing their defensive game plan to darn near perfection against the much larger Bulldogs

[danicalifornia]

Also, I love Waverly’s ability to score on their lob plays. Their first and last buckets of the game were on lobs. Both were perfectly called and executed plays.

[smurray]

Also, I love Waverly’s ability to score on their lob plays. Their first and last buckets of the game were on lobs. Both were perfectly called and executed plays.

Yes

[BigGuy10]

Will we have a pfloyd appearance in Dayton this Friday night?

[mattash]

O what a feeling

[Picket Fence]

Congrats to Waverly! As far as lob plays are concerned, I’m not sure why more teams don’t use designed/half-court set lob plays (assuming they have the personnel to do so). Waverly runs it to perfection. Both regional games they executed at least two per game. Btw there is an art to throwing a lob….throw it to the opposite lower edge of the backboard.

Waverly totally earned their way to the Final Four. They scheduled up. Got beat some, won some….and learned to keep their composure during hotly contested games. Their final four run is a testament to their AD, coaches, players, opponents, and fans. The run isn’t over! Keep Competing. Happy for the community.

[pfloyd]

Congrats to Waverly! As far as lob plays are concerned, I’m not sure why more teams don’t use designed/half-court set lob plays (assuming they have the personnel to do so). Waverly runs it to perfection. Both regional games they executed at least two per game. Btw there is an art to throwing a lob….throw it to the opposite lower edge of the backboard.

Waverly totally earned their way to the Final Four. They scheduled up. Got beat some, won some….and learned to keep their composure during hotly contested games. Their final four run is a testament to their AD, coaches, players, opponents, and fans. The run isn’t over! Keep Competing. Happy for the community.

Where Waverly IS right NOW is not through "luck" ! this was a laid out, prior to the school starting in 2021-22, get with the AD let's put together a schedule that will prepare US for getting to the Final Four - plan ... you KNOW you have a "good" TEAM in SEOhio when you can actually WANT to schedule Newark, the University of Upper Arlington, & Colonel Crawford and THEY (the opposition) say YES TO SCHEDULING YOU!!! - they TOO are schools, teams who have the goal EVERY year to get to The Show , THEY aren't going to "just schedule a non-conference team- from SEOhio no less - that ISN'T going to be of benefit to THEM reaching their own goals" ... the puzzle pieces are falling into place ... THIS WAS A PLAN - worked to perfection ... with personnel both coaching wise and player wise to implement/execute the plan ... THE PLAN was on one side of the piece of paper - as Coach Robertson is old school/ALL about paper (ie. on legal pad scouting reports)/ALL about leaving no stone/play by the opposition go unturned/unplanned for) ... NOW? turn that legal pad over ... 2 games ... 1 team (taking it a game at a time) to prepare for Friday (more film on the other 2 on the "shelf" I'm sure) ... gotta like the Tigers odds to "do whatever it takes" ... Go Tigers

[noreply66]

Congrats to Waverly

[Hoopie74]

Good work Pfloyd. Go get em Waverly. It's in your hands. Wise decisions and hard work. You've done well. Good luck at UD.

[E High]

Good luck Waverly. This was about an evenly matched D-2 regional tournament in Athens in a long time.

[VetteMan]

Great work Pfloyd. Good luck Waverly.

[pfloyd]

Will we have a pfloyd appearance in Dayton this Friday night?

Trying to figure out if there are sales of tickets for only the Friday D2 sessions - if I go to the OHSAA website they are only selling ALL SESSION packages ... any ideas?

[BigBlueNation]

Congrats Tiger's .

[mikepike]

Heath lost this game by not taking advantage of the height they had. #35 hoisting 30 footers when he had 7/8 inches on Robertson? And with each miss, he moved further away!

[mlittle]

Heath didn’t lose the game in my opinion. Waverly won it

[danicalifornia]

Will we have a pfloyd appearance in Dayton this Friday night?

Trying to figure out if there are sales of tickets for only the Friday D2 sessions - if I go to the OHSAA website they are only selling ALL SESSION packages ... any ideas?

I believe single game tickets go on sale tomorrow afternoon

[pfloyd]

Will we have a pfloyd appearance in Dayton this Friday night?

Trying to figure out if there are sales of tickets for only the Friday D2 sessions - if I go to the OHSAA website they are only selling ALL SESSION packages ... any ideas?

I believe single game tickets go on sale tomorrow afternoon

... you're right daniC - looks like 2pm release time ... thank you...