by Canton-The Glenville Tarblooders (19-8) defeat the Hawken Hawks (20-8) 62-42, to advance to the Division IV State Championship game next week.
The tension, the atmosphere, you could hear all the echoes inside Memorial Field House at Canton-McKinley High School. Senior Arvell Nelson of Glenville led off the game with two three-pointers and the Tarblooders took off and never looked back. Going into halftime Glenville had a comfortable nine-point lead over Hawken.
In the 3rd quarter Hawken tried to crawl their way back into the game and gain momentum. Hawken Junior Daron Hill took charge for the Hawks with 15 points on the afternoon and eight in the quarter. Freshman Ice Taylor of Hawken accounted for 10 points on the day for the Hawks as well, fighting for a comeback in the 2nd half. However, it wasn’t enough as Glenville got the victory over Hawken 62-42. I had a chance to speak with Head Coach of the Glenville Tarblooders Bryon Ottrix about the huge state semi-final win. “I’m just so happy for our kids, school, and community. We worked super hard for this. People don’t understand how hard we work and what it takes to achieve something like this. It’s a great day for everybody.” Ottrix said
Topping the scoreboard for Glenville was 6’5 Senior Xavier Vickerstaff with 17 points. I then asked Coach Ottrix on his performance today. Ottrix continued by saying “We knew we had a good size advantage. He has been a leader for us all season, that’s what he does. Today he got physical, played inside, and gave us exactly what we needed. We didn’t expect nothing less.” Freshman Gary Pritchett showed off his speed and agility today with 16 points for the Tarblooders. I proceeded to ask Coach Ottrix what he saw from the underclassmen. “He’s special and has the heart of a champion. For a freshman to come out here on this stage to perform and fight the way he did, that’s a special kid.” Ottrix said
The Glenville Tarblooders will take on the Maysville Panthers (26-3) out of Zanesville for the Division IV State Final Championship game next Friday March 21st at the University of Dayton Arena at 4:15 PM. I concluded my conservation with Coach Ottrix to ask about the upcoming matchup. “I’m so excited, we saw them play last night. They have a very good team, and we have a lot of work to do. We are going to enjoy this today, watch as much film as we can, and be as prepared as we can when we get to Dayton.” Ottrix said
Tickets can be purchased for the championship game online on the OHSAA website. Students is $10 and Adults is $16, this includes parking. If you can’t attend, you can also watch it live on Spectrum TV or listen in on the OHSAA Radio Network.
1 2 3 4 F
Glenville 18 12 15 17 62
Hawken 9 11 10 11 42
