×

Waterford pulls away from Belpre in 69-48 win

MIKE MORRISON The Marietta Times Belpre’s Bailey Sprague (42) makes a move with the ball as Waterford’s Peyten Stephens defends during a high school boys basketball game Friday night in Belpre.

BEVERLY — It’s no secret by now that Waterford head basketball coach Tom Simms is not a huge fan of the 3-point shot.

After his team shot the long-ball at a 60 percent clip (9-15) in Friday night’s 69-48 win on the road over the Belpre Golden Eagles, the veteran coach of the green and white may be forced to change his opinion.

“I’m not a big fan of the 3 but we will definitely take it,” said Simms of the outside barrage. “More importantly our kids played together and they played some solid defense in a place that is very tough place to play.”

Wildcat seniors Bryce Hilverding and Travis Pottmeyer accounted for seven of the nine triples with four and three respectively as Waterford won for the sixth time in nine tries.

With the inclimate weather limiting time on the court for both squads it certainly showed as the two Tri Valley Conference rivals managed a grand total of six points in the first five minutes of the game before both teams started to come to life.

Waterford’s Bryce Hilverding, right, guards Belpre’s Logan Adams during a high school boys basketball game Friday in Belpre. MIKE MORRISON The Marietta Times

The Wildcats pulled out to a 10-4 lead but a pair of 3-balls from Belpre sophomore Brandon Simionette closed the lead to two at 12-10 with a minute to go in the quarter.

Pottmeyer knocked down the first triple of the game late in the quarter but a pair of freebies by Simionette cut the lead to three at 15-12 at the end of the first quarter.

Belpre tied the game up early in the second on an old fashioned three-point play by Jerimiah Stitt before Waterford scored the next seven points to quickly reestablish a seven-point lead.

An inside bucket by Stitt trimmed the lead to five but Waterford went on a 9-4 run capped by a 3-ball by Hilverding to take their first double-digit lead of the game at 31-19.

Logan Adams scored on a drive to the basket to briefly slow the Wildcats down but the green and white finished the half in grand fashion when Pottmeyer and Hilverding splashed in 3-pointers to increase the lead to a game-high 16 points (37-21) at the intermission.

While Waterford was deadly all game long from the outside, when it did miss it was equally as impressive on the boards as it out-rebounded Belpre 36-22 led by 12 caroms from junior Peyten Stephens.

“I was really pleased with our rebounding. It’s so important for us to work hard on the boards and on defense,” said Simms, whose team also forced Belpre into 12 first half turnovers. “It’s important that we continue to work hard on defense and get those turnovers that lead to points on the other end.”

The Wildcats did nothing but add to their lead in the third period as they topped the 20-point mark for the second quarter in a row as they out-pointed the Eagles 21-13 to take a comfortable 58-34 lead into the final period.

The large lead allowed Simms to get plenty of playing time for his entire squad as it did for Belpre’e first-year head coach Tyler Leasure.

Pottmeyer led all scorers in the game with 20 points while Hilverding chipped in with 18 of his own.

Austin Pyatt added nine points while Stephens came one field goal shy of a double-double as he scored eight points matching junior Russell Young.

Belpre was led by Simionette with 17 points while Adams and Stitt added 13 and nine points respectively.

Though obviously not pleased with the result, Leasure was quite pleased with his team’s effort against a team he considers a good one and after being off for nine consecutive days.

“We had a nine-day layoff and we just didn’t seem to be focused early on,” said Leasure of the loss. “We knew Waterford was coming and how good they are and needed to be ready and we weren’t that’s what it boils down to.”

Leasure sees better days ahead for his team which slipped to 4-7 on the year and 4-3 in the TVC Hocking Division.

“The biggest thing is that the season is not over and we realize that we have a whole lot of it (season) left,” said Leasure, whose team will host Fort Frye tonight. “We are just trying to get better and better and improve every game.”

Waterford returns home Tuesday night to host Miller, the team that handed them them their lone conference loss earlier in the season.

NEWSLETTER

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *

Starting at $4.15/week.

Subscribe Today