Page 10 - The Buzz 03/06/2026

B2 | SPORTS
Panthers take aim at 2nd State Title as they knock down
East Liverpool BY MATTHEW DOTSON | DRESDEN BUZZ
SPORTS
West Holmes joins Maysville in a post-game prayer circle.
Maysville’s Kohen Lewellen maneuvers around West Holmes.
West Muskingum boys basketball take five of five as they
move on to Ridgewood BY MATTHEW DOTSON | DRESDEN BUZZ
West Muskingum senior Kyle Porter shoots over Fairless.
The MARCH 6 - 19, 2026
Matthew Dotson
Vs. East Liverpool (3/3) to have a fighting chance. In the first
On the road in Belmont on Tuesday, minutes of the game, the teamwork and
playing at the East Central Ohio Educa- overall understanding of what each play-
tional Service Center, the Panthers met er is to do on the court proved why the
up with the East Liverpool Potters again Panthers are the current State Champi-
this year. The Panthers jumped into the ons, as they climbed to a 21 – 4 lead over
game with both feet as they pulled past the Knights. Not giving West Holmes any
the Potters to take a 23 – 18 lead at the time to breathe and regroup, the Pan-
end of the first quarter. By the end of the thers continued their climb, amassing
first half, Maysville had all but halted a 44 – 9 advantage before the halftime
East Liverpool’s offense, leaving them break.
with a 38 – 23 deficit at the break. The Knights spent the break trying
As the game continued, so did the to build a strategy to get past the Pan-
shutdown of the Potters’ offense as the thers’ defenses, and at the start of the
Panthers controlled the ball and the third quarter, they worked some of those
court with a 50 – 26 lead before the end strategies to limited success, but all the
of the third period. East Liverpool played while, the Panthers were still building,
as if stunned by the speed and intensity and they led at the end of the period 64
put forth by Maysville, as they took a 78 – 21. The last minutes played out like
– 32 victory to continue on their playoff seconds for the Knights as they watched
journey. Maysville rise to a 73 – 32 point victo-
ry to start their postseason. At the end
Vs. West Holmes (2/27) of the game, players and coaches from
Maysville hosted the West Holmes both teams gathered in the center of the
Nights on Friday. The Knights knew who floor for a prayer circle to end the night.
Matthew Dotson they were up against and were hoping
vs. Harrison Central (3/5) second period, driving through the Tor-
On Thursday night in Dover, the Tor- nado defense to take a 17-point period,
nadoes took on the Huskies in a playoff but it was not enough as the Tornadoes
showdown. West Muskingum was up for stormed through to a 36 – 23 lead at
the challenge, as they pummeled Harri- halftime.
son Central, taking a 22 – 5 lead at the Back in action, the Falcons didn’t give
end of the first period. Things didn’te get up in the second half, throwing up anoth-
any better for the Huskies as the West M er 20 points, but West just kept trucking,
boys kept the pace, building a 39 – 11 leading 52 – 43 with a minute left in the
lead at halftime. third. The score waivered back and forth
The third quarter was almost a clone in the last minutes of the game, but the
of the second, with the Tornadoes Tornadoes kept the Cardinals at a dis-
pounding out 17 points in a short period tance, winning 73 – 53.
of time to increase their standing to 56
– 16 after three. With the second string
in play during the final minutes, the Hus- Vs. Tri-Valley (2/20)
kies had a little bit of a breather, but The Scotties stopped by West Musking-
they still couldn’t make a dent, and the um High School on Friday to face their
Tornadoes won the game 63 – 24. MVL rival, the Tornadoes. Tri-Valley took
For the game, senior Kyle Porter led control of the game in the first minutes
the scoring with 19 points, sophomore as they positioned themselves for a 19 –
Noah Morrison had 13 points for the Tor- 15 lead heading into the second period.
nadoes, and junior Carter Smith had 12. The Tornadoes fought back in the sec-
ond period, closing the gap quickly and
Vs. Sandy Valley (2/28) then jumping ahead to hold a one-point,
West Muskingum boys basketball 30 – 29 lead heading into the locker
team hosted the Cardinals on Saturday. room.
Sandy Valley put up a good fight in the Tri-Valley came out of the locker room
first few minutes of the game, but the determined to take a win from the Tor-
Tornadoes took a 13 – 11 edge at the nadoes, but West couldn’t be slowed
end of the first quarter. As the first half down, pumping out shots left and right
continued, West M drove past the Cardi- and pulling ahead 40 – 36 before the
nals again and again to build a 36 – 22 third quarter ended. The Scotties tried to
wall of points by halftime. rally in the last minutes of the game, but
The intermission only slowed the inev- were unsuccessful, and West Musking-
itable for the Cardinals, with West com- um finished out the game strong with a
ing out of the locker room to take over 58 – 48 win to end their regular season
the court again, stacking points to 55 with a 17 – 5 record overall.
– 30 as the last quarter rolled in. Sandy
Valley spent the entire second half just
trying to mitigate the damage, unsuc-
cessfully, as the Tornadoes blew through
to take a 72 – 38 win.
Sophomore Noah Morrison led scoring
for the Tornadoes with 19 points, while
senior teammate Kyle Porter had 15
points.
Vs. Fairless (2/24) BUZZ FACTS
The Falcons stepped into Gary Ank-
rum Gymnasium to face the Tornadoes The Buzz is locally owned
on Tuesday. Blurring by after the first and operated.
whistle, West took immediate control of
the ball and went right for the glass as
Matthew Dotson they pushed out a quick 16 – 6 lead at
the end of the first period. Fairless dug in
as they stepped back on the court in the