Jim Walker
jim.walker@irontontribune.com

JACKSON — Even Thetis’ plan to make Achilles immortal didn’t work completely.
In fact, Rock Hill’s plan to slow the Wheelersburg Pirates didn’t work the way coach Sam Gue had planned and even Achilles had a role in the outcome.
Gue wanted his Redmen to keep the Pirates from dominating the boards and in the process slow their running game. It worked occasionally but not enough as Wheelersburg posted a 61-44 win in the Division III sectional tournament semifinals on Wednesday.
“It’s been our Achilles heel all year. Just rebound the basketball and having five guys go to the glass. Too many times we got caught standing around looking and not going to the ball. It kills us in the end,” said Gue.
“That’s what makes them go. The (Tanner) Holden kid pushes them very, very well in transition and the (Kaden) Coleman kid inside is a beast.
Rock Hill struggled in the first half before getting within nine points in the second half.
Mason Darby scored a game-high 28 points to go with 13 rebounds and three blocked shots to lead the Redmen.
Holden scored 27 points and had 10 rebounds for the Pirates (18-4). Coleman finished with 13 points and Cole Lowery added 12.

Coleman and Holden scored six points each as the Pirates took a  19-5 lead. Darby converted a three-point play and it was 19-8 at the end of the first quarter.
“We talked about the two things we had to do. We had to defend in transition and we had to control the glass. We just did not come out ready to do that and we paid for it,” said Gue.
Two foul shots by Lowery and a put-back by Holden made it 23-8.
A triple by Tim Adkins got Rock Hill with 25-13 but Lowery made a layup and Coleman scored fiv e points and it was 32-13.
Darby got a tip-in only to have Holden make a layup. Darby converted another three-point play to end the half and it was 34-18.
A 3-pointer by Darby and a layup by Adkins got Rock Hill within 36-27 with 2:16 left in the third quarter. Back-to-back layups by Holden to end the quarter extended the Pirates’ lead to 42-28.
Darby hit another 3-pointer and converted two free throws as Rock Hill cut the deficit to 46-35 with 6:08 to go.
Wheelersburg then went on an 8-4 run to seal the outcome.
After a winless season the year before, the Redmen finished this season 3-20 with several close losses.
“That’s one thing I can say about these kids. There’s never been a time when I questioned their effort or their heart. It isn’t a matter of that. A lot of times skill-wise we’re not developed as well as we need to be as a program. We’ve got kids working toward that. We have 14 guys in there who contributed to a lot of great times this year,” said Gue.
“But at the same time we were 3-19 and just some tough losses in there — tough, tough, brutal losses. I just wish for our kids’ sake we could have come out on top in a few more of those. I was proud of our effort tonight.”
Rock Hill    8    10    10    16    =    44
Wheelersburg    19    15    8    19    =    61
ROCK HILL (3-20): Tyler Damron 2 0 1-1 5, Tim Adkins 1 1 0-0 5, Isaac Floyd 0 0 0-0 0, Mason Darby 8 2 6-8 28, Jaret Bacorn 0 0 0-0 0, Nate Malone 1 0 2-2 4, Jake Blagg 0 0 0-0 0, Kadin France 0 0 0-0 0, Brady Knipp 1 0 0-0 2, Logan Hankins 0 0 0-0 0, Logan Reed 0 0 0-0 0, Cameron Barnette 0 0 0-2 0. Totals: 16-46 9-13 44. 3-point goals: 3-14. Rebounds: 😯 25-D = 33 (Darby 13, France 6). Team/deadball rebounds: 3. Assists: 4. Steals: 7 (Darby 2). Turnovers: 12. Fouls: 15. Fouled out: Knipp (4th 3:32).
WHEELERSBURG (18-4): Tanner Bivens 0 0 0-0 0, Cole Lowery 5 0 2-2 12, Keaton Newsome 0 0 0-0 0, Kaden Coleman 5 0 3-3 13, Tanner Holden 13 0 1-6 27, Mark Dyer 0 0 0-0 0, Trent Salyers 1 2 0-0 6, Bryson Keeney 0 0 0-0 0, Clayton Meadows 0 0 1-2 1, J.J. Stamper 0 0 0-0 0, Lyden Collins 0 0 0-0 0, Clint Hatfield 0 0 0-0 0, Dustin Darnell 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 26-55 7-13 61. 3-point goals: 2-13. Rebounds: 13-O, 22-D = 35 (Holden 10, Coleman 5). Team/deadball rebounds: 6. Assists: 7 (Newsome 2, Lowery 2, Holden 2). Steals: 8 (Lowery 2, Coleman 2, Holden 2). Turnovers: 7. Fouls: 15. Fouled out: None.