What a whirlwind season it has been for the Maysville Panthers! Winning the State Championship Title for 2025 against Glennville after trailing by five points at halftime and coming back to tie up the game in the third, falling behind 65 – 58 with just over five minutes left in the game.
The road to the Title started for the Panthers back in their 2023 season, where with the help of Alex Bob, they made it to the Division II Region 7 Semifinal game but lost to Bishop Ready 61 – 38. In the game, Bob made 20 of the 38 points for the Panthers and ended the season ranked #7 in the State of Ohio with a season total of 497 points, 122 rebounds, 79 assists, and 58 steals. The following season, Maysville made it all the way to the State Championship game, falling just short of the title with a heartbreaking 68 – 54 loss to Archbishop Alter, a team that had 11 appearances in the State final game, and the Panthers held their own.
Vs. Glennville State Championship Game (3/21)
As the game started, the Panthers were up against a team that was just as explosive and precise as they were battling down every minute on the court to lean the board in their favor. The Panthers were prepared for the game in Dayton after being on that stage last season with all of the dreams and expectations weighing heavily on their shoulders. Although Maysville was hot on their tails, Glenville grabbed and held a five-point advantage going into halftime, leading the game 37 – 32.
“We are never going to hang our heads we always believe in our guys, and they just came in and said we’ve got 16 more minutes and it took us so much hard work to get their so we weren’t going to go out their in the second half and play with any regrets so we left it all out there and this is the outcome that came with it. “ stated Division IV Player of the Year and AP East District Player of the Year Gator Nichols when asked what the coaches said at halftime.
With the two teams back on the court after the break, the Panthers threw it into gear as they clawed their way back to a 44 – 40 lead, but Glenville answered back to leave the Panthers trailing by just two at the end of the third with the Tarblooders leading 56 – 54.
“Our kids are tough as nails, they are never going to back down to anybody, I don’t care if we are playing the Cleveland Caveliers, or the Ohio State Buckeyes, they are going to fight for 32 minutes or 40 minutes however long that is, that is just how they were raised that’s how they came to us in this program, that’s how we teach them, our practices are difficult and I have got a great staff around me. I love that our little guys like my son get to grow up around the Alex Bobs, Gator Nichols, Wesley Armsteads, his favorite player Jordyn Watson, he wears number 24 and could he have a better role model than these guys, I am just grateful to get to coach here, these great young men, we have a great school district I couldn’t thank them enough!” stated head coach Dave Brown.
Glenville kept rolling with their lead, building it to 65 – 58 over Maysville with just 5:21 left in the game when the Panthers called a time out.
Assistant coach Jared Cox commented “We were down in the fourth quarter and called the timeout and we go into the huddle and all of our guys were saying, we are going to score here and we’re going to get a stop and we’re going to win the game and I think that is more than half of the battle, when kids have the belief that they have, I am not sure there is anything stopping kids when they think they can do it.”
And they did do it; they got the stop and made the points and took the lead without looking back as they held the Tarblooders to just two more points and blasted forward to take the victory with a score of 74 – 67.
“There is never a moment where I think we disconnect as a team. We’re about as close as you can get, and Brown just likes to preach love, and I am beyond grateful for the community that we have and the love that we play with. I love my community!” said guard Jordyn Watson who scored 19 points against Glenville, 12 of which were scored in the second half of the game.
After the game, coach Brown went on to say, “As a kid, you know you always dream of winning a state championship; you play in the backyard pretending you are in the state championship. I can only imagine what that felt like, but being able to do that in person with 20 people that you care about and love is indescribable. Again, we are grateful to be able to do this. I think we’ve been faith-based this year, and I think God had destiny for us to win a State Championship this year.
It takes an entire community to be able to win a State Championship, and I am so proud to say that our team is the 2025 State Champions.
Our community is great; they’re blue-collar, a lot of them are construction workers, factory workers, and they would give their last dime to see us be in the best of everything, they donate to our program, they come out in large numbers, when we were leaving today there were thousands of people lining the pike, they are definitely our sixth man. If we played in Los Angeles in another game, all 3000 people would be there, so how can you not get excited to play for a crowd like that It really energizes our guys when they get behind them. They get behind kids that work hard and do the right things, so they have been behind us since I’ve been here for eight years. South Town Forever!
We have a great league, John Glenn just won the state championship in 2016, Tri-Valley is as athletic as you get, so playing them twice a year prepares us to play against really good athletes, you’ve got to check out, you’ve got to have five guys on the glass, and you’ve got to be physical so playing in our league prepares us for this moment in the tournament, again I think the MVL is one of the best leagues in the state of ohio, a lot of really good coaches you’ve got to coach against that push you to be at your best, if you’re not ready to go your going to get beat great league”.
For the season Gator Nichols was named the AP East District Player of the Year, and the OHSAA Division IV Player of the year, Jordyn Watson was named Special Mention All Ohio, head coach Dave Brown was named the MVL Small School Coach of the Year, and the AP East District Coach of the Year. Assistant coach Jared Cox was named the District 12 Assistant Coach of the Year.
