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OVAC CHAMPS

Madonna makes plays down stretch to defeat Wellsville for 1A title

Mike Mathison FLYING HIGH — Weirton Madonna senior Tavon Jeter flies toward the basket against Meadowbrook’s Michael Shope during the second half of Saturday’s Wheeling Hospital OVAC Boys Basketball Championships. The Blue Dons won the Class 1A title with a 65-62 victory.

ST. CLAIRSVILLE — Chris Blair watched his team and their transformation Saturday at Ohio University-Eastern.

In a game that the second-year Madonna coach said “earlier in the season, we would have found a way to lose this game,” the Blue Dons held on down the stretch to beat Wellsville 65-62 to capture the Class 1A trophy at the Wheeling Hospital OVAC Boys Basketball Tournament.

“We know how to win now. We know how to win these games and we showed it today on a very big stage,” said Blair, who watched Madonna lose the last two 1A title games at OUE. “These kids played their hearts out on defense and gave it everything they had.

“We deserved the championship through two quarters, but they don’t give a trophy for that. Defense and rebounding was going to win this game and that’s what we showed. We had some mistakes and didn’t handle the ball very well late, but we found a way to get it done.”

Madonna held a 36-26 lead at halftime.

“At halftime we talked about keep pushing the ball and getting back on defense in transition,” Madonna senior Joey Ewusiak said. “They like to get the ball out and get it down the court, so we knew we had to get back.”

Blue Dons senior Tavon Jeter paced the Blue Dons with 14 points in the first half. Justin Canei came off the bench to add eight.

“Coach Blair said we had a great first half, but we had to keep playing,” Jeter said.

And, watch Wellsville’s Justin Miller.

“We knew he was going to try to get his team back in the game,” Ewusiak said. “We had to get in his face whenever possible, switch every screen. That’s what we talked about all week. We knew he was their main guy. But, he had a great second half.”

Miller hit a pair of treys and scored nine points as Wellsville cut Madonna’s lead to 52-49 entering the final eight minutes.

“We have a lot of experience in close games,” Ewusiak said. “We’ve had a lot of them this year and we’ve played in this game the past two years. We’ve been in this situation tons of times. With our tough schedule and everything we’ve been through, we were ready for it.”

Jeter had the task of guarding Miller, who finished with 20 points and missed a tough three to tie the game as time was winding down.

“He’s tough, but I held my own,” Jeter said. “I always guard good players.”

The teams were tied at 58 with 4:30 unplayed.

Wellsville’s Michael Shope buried a three to cut Madonna’s lead to 63-60 with 1:33 left.

After the teams traded turnovers, Jeter had a nice follow-putback for a 65-60 Dons advantage.

A Tigers bucket made it 65-62 and, after a timeout, Madonna turned it over, giving Wellsville a chance to tie it up.

“After losing two years in a row, this is a great feeling,” Jeter said.

Said Ewusiak, who was named the John Howell Player of the Game, “We lost the close game to Bishop Donahue two years ago — that was a heartbreaker — and last year we weren’t mentally prepared coming into this (a loss to Trinity). Our experience today got the job done.”

Miller led the Tigers with 20 points. Shope added 17 and Jake Green 16, including four threes.

“We knew coming in Madonna had two scorers and we knew they were athletic. I know Chris is a good coach and I knew they’d be ready to play tonight,” Tigers veteran head coach David Thompson said. “We had to stop their two scorers and we couldn’t do it.

“We thought we were athletic.

“We learned a lesson tonight about executing early in a game. We got off to too slow of a start and got into a hole. We dug ourselves out, but we couldn’t finish.”

Jeter finished with 22 points and Ewusiak 21. Chase DiBartolomeo chipped in with nine points and Canei eight.

“We had to come out (in the fourth quarter) and answer the bell,” Blair said. “They are a championship-calibur team, too. That’s why they’re here. We expected their best shot and we got it.

“We just had to make plays.

“These kids buckled down, dug down deep and showed a lot of character.”

Madonna 65, Wellsville 62

Madonna 15 21 16 13 — 65

Wellsville 10 16 23 13 — 62

MADONNA (14-7): Jeter 8 5-7 22, Ewusiak 9 3-5 21, DiBartolomeo 3 1-2 9, Canei 3 2-2 8, Brown 1 0-0 2, Moore 0 2-2 2, Mazzone 0 1-2 1, Payne 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 24 14-20 65. 3-pointers: DiBartolomeo 2, Jeter.

WELLSVILLE (18-3): Miller 6 5-7 20, Shope 6 4-6 17, Green 6 0-0 16, Scott 2 0-0 5, Grodhaus 2 0-0 4, Patterson 0 0-1 0. TOTALS: 22 9-14 62. 3-pointers: Green 4, Miller 3, Shope, Scott.

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