Marietta’s Owen Riley celebrates after the Tigers’ district final win over New Philadelphia Wednesday in Athens. Photo by Mike Morrison)

ATHENS — The last time the Marietta Tigers won a District Championship, head coach Austin Gardner was 17 years away from being born.

Wednesday evening at The Convocation Center, the Tigers claimed their first district title since 1977 with a convincing 53-36 win over the New Philadelphia Quakers.

The Tigers limited the Quakers to single-digit scoring in three of the four quarters and pretty much out-played New Philly in every facet of the game to advance to the “Sweet Sixteen”.

“Our number one key to the game was discipline and toughness because New Philly runs a lot of actions on offense and gets you chasing and moving,” said Gardner. “I’m just really proud of all of the guys for fighting and remaining disciplined.”

Marietta out-shot the Quakers, including a blistering 63% (7-of-11) from behind the arc, out-rebounded them by a healthy 24-14 measure and turned the ball over just seven times compared to 14 for New Philadelphia to pick up their 21st win of the season compared to just four losses.

Marietta head coach Austin Gardner cuts down the net at the Convocation Center following the Tigers' district final win over New Philadelphia Wednesday in Athens. Photo by Mike Morrison)

One of those losses came at New Philadelphia earlier in the season and early on the Quakers looked like they had the Tigers’ number once again as they scored the first five points of the game.

A bucket by Tiger senior Zaiden Wittekind got them on the board and fellow senior Owen Riley followed with a triple to kind of settle the Tigers’ nerves and knot the score at 5-5.

After a New Philly bucket, Wittekind scored again to tie the game and senior Trey Hawkins made the first of two free throws to give MHS their first lead of the game.

Hawkins missed the second but Wittekind grabbed one of what would turn out to be several key offensive rebounds for the Tigers and dished the ball back to Hawkins for a reverse old-fashioned three point play.

Hawkins scored again on the Tigers’ next possession, and after a two-pointer by the Quakers’ Quinn Miller, Tiger senior Logan Grosklos closed out the first quarter by making a pair of freebies to give Marietta a 15-9 lead.

Marietta’s Trey Hawkins (3) attacks the basket during the Tigers’ district final win over New Philadelphia Wednesday in Athens. Photo by Mike Morrison)

Reid Wells made a pair of free throws to start the second quarter for the Quakers before Riley connected from long range to push the Tiger lead to seven.

Later in the quarter the Tigers increased their lead to double digits started by another offensive rebound by Wittekind that he put back up and in for two.

Riley made one-of-two free throws and Hawkins scored another basket assisted by freshman Graesyn Moat, who had pulled down yet another Marietta offensive rebound.

Wells knocked down a triple before the end of the half to close the Tiger lead to 27-20 at the break.

Marietta held serve throughout the third quarter as they got 3-pointers from Grosklos and Wittekind and actually increased their lead by a point heading to the final quarter (38-30).

Marietta’s Zaiden Wittekind (20) attacks the basket during the Tigers’ district final win over New Philadelphia Wednesday in Athens. Photo by Mike Morrison)

Hawkins opened the final quarter with a drive to the basket for two, and after Miller answered with a field goal for the Quakers, the Tigers went on a 7-0 run that blew things wide open.

Tiger senior Lucas Miller knocked down a 3 to begin the run and Hawkins and Wittekind followed with two-pointers to increase the Tigers lead to 47-32 with just over five minutes to play.

From there, Marietta simply let the air out of the ball as they cruised to the 17-point win.

Gardner felt like the key to the win was the Tigers’ stifling defense, led by Miller who helped to limit the Quakers’ leading scorer Jackson Martini to just seven points.

“I think an unsung hero in this game for sure was Lucas Miller guarding No. 12 Martini and chasing him around the entire night,” said Gardner of Miller, who generally gets to guard the opponent’s best scorer. “That’s not a fun job but he takes pride in it and understands what it takes to win.”

The Marietta boys basketball team takes a picture with the district championship plaque following the Tigers’ district final win over New Philadelphia Wednesday in Athens. Photo by Mike Morrison)

Miller, referred to as “Lockdown Lucas” by Tiger assistant coach Ron Warner, said the all of the Tigers take pride in their performance on the defensive end every single game and the district title game was a prime example.

“He’s (Martini) a great player and at the beginning of the game he came out and knocked a 3 down on me and woke me up,” said Miller. “Gardner got into me a little bit and the second half I stayed on him. He was a tough matchup but all five of us found a way to get it done.”

Wittekind led all scorers with 17 points and also grabbed eight boards to lead the Tigers while Hawkins finished with 15 points, five rebounds and five assists.

Riley and Grosklos added eight points apiece as the heralded Tiger senior class accounted for all 53 of their points.

“We’ve wanted to get back here to The Convo ever since the last time we lost here a few years ago,” said Grosklos. “We’ve come to the realization that not only can we make it here but we can compete here too and now we just want to keep it going.”

Reaching the Sweet Sixteen was one of the Tigers’ goals before the season started but that doesn’t mean they are content just to make it this far according to Riley.

“This means a lot to us. At the start of the season we anonymously wrote down what our goals were and goal one was to get back to The Convo and goal two was to win a district championship,” said Riley. “We met those goals and we will celebrate tonight but we’ve got to go right back to work tomorrow and get ready to make some new goals.”

The Tigers went through a rough stretch midway through the season with injuries to Hawkins and Moat but have gotten healthy and seem to be jelling at the perfect time.

“It’s been a game changer to have our whole team healthy because we can sub more and get more breaks,” said Hawkins. “We are a deep team and this has always been our goal to win a district championship and tonight we stuck together and got it done.”

Making the night even sweeter for Gardner was the district title happened to come on the same night as his 32nd birthday and the Tiger head coach was serenaded while taking his turn cutting down the net after the game by the large crowd of orange-and-black-dressed Tiger fans who showed up big-time at The Convo both Wednesday and last week as well.

“You are only 32 once and this is a pretty good 32nd birthday present,” said Gardner. “The fans singing was special although they might want to work on their vocals a bit — but we do appreciate them showing up and the love and support they have given me and this team.”

The Tiger head coach was adamant about the fact that neither himself, his staff or his team is satisfied by any stretch of the imagination with the district title as they feel there is even more to be accomplished.

“I told our guys right after the game that this is enjoyable but we are not done,” said Gardner. “We’ve got a big one on Tuesday and we will continue to compete and lock into our scouting reports and keep our team-first approach. When you have that approach, it doesn’t guarantee success but it gives you a better chance.”

The Tigers will begin regional play at 6 p.m. Tuesday back at The Convo against the winner of the Bishop Watterson-Walnut Ridge game scheduled for Friday.