CLAYTON — The Rams’ outside game left the Tigers on the outs.
West Liberty-Salem lost 68-45 to Greeneview in a Division V sectional boys basketball contest Tuesday at Northmont High School.
The main weapon for the Rams was 3-point shooting, as they connected on 13, with at least one in every quarter.
Greeneview junior Will Climie had eight himself, and led all scorers with 32 points, nearly half his team’s total. Alex Horney had 11 points.
West Liberty-Salem’s season closes out with a final record of 12-11. Caleb Hershberger had 12 points and Troy Christison scored 10.
“I felt like all night long, we were a step behind,” said Tigers coach Darrin Leichty. “And give Greeneview a lot of credit, they stepped up and made shots every time we made a little bit of run. They took it away every single time.”
He added that “it has to come to an end at some point. It’s kind of a tough loss to go out on.”
Christison and Sam Strapp scored in the early going for West Liberty-Salem. Horney and a three by Climie answered the first, then Climie hit again after Strapp’s bucket.
After a free throw by the Tigers, the Rams got treys by Sam Grooms and a third by Climie to go up 14-5. The Tigers called timeout with just over three minutes to go.
Strapp got a layup with just over a minute left, but Climie continued his hot start. Reames hit with 20 seconds to play, making it 17-10 Greeneview after one.
The Rams kept to the outside game in the second quarter, with two more by Climie and one by Horney over a five-minute stretch.
West Liberty-Salem did its best to stay in range. Sutton Wilcoxon made a pair of foul shots. Hershberger hit a three from the corner and Strapp got a putback and Garrett Wallen also scored.
A layup by Horney ended eight straight scores from beyond the arc and made it 28-19.
Christison’s score and a three by Hershberger brought the Tigers within four points by the time halftime rolled around.
Hershberger opened the second half with a 3-pointer to get it down to one, but Greeneview pushed back with two scores and a free throw.
West Liberty-Salem then gained another bit of steam, with Christison putting three in the hoop, including back-to-back drives through the lane and the Rams defense. That cut the gap down to two, 36-34.
Greeneview would not give up the lead, however. Four scores, three from 3-point land and a jumper on the baseline saw them push the lead back to double digits.
The teams traded scores to start the fourth quarter, with Strapp assisting Wilcoxon for the Tigers.
Greeneview then took over with an 11-0 run, including their final 3-ball, which came from Joey Giannobile with 4:15 to go..
Hershberger broke the Tigers’ drought with a three with two minutes left, but by then it was out of reach. The Rams tacked on a few more points before both sides sent in the reserves.
“Our three seniors mean the world to me, and I wish those guys luck,” said Leichty. Wrapping up their basketball careers are Isaiah Reames, Caleb Hershberger and Taran Logwood.
Greeneview is now 11-12 on the season. They advance to face Waynesville in a sectional final on Friday.
COVINGTON — The West-Liberty Salem girls lost 40-31 to Fort Recovery in the Division VI tournament Tuesday night.
The Lady Tigers finish the year with a record of 16-8.
Addi Wallen had 13 points for West Liberty-Salem. Also scoring for the Tigers were Maddie McGill with six, Ava Astorino and Ava Johnson with five each, and Ava Poppe with two.
Karlie Niekamp had 16 points and Bridget Homan 14 for Fort Recovery (12-12).
Each team scored four points in the first quarter. The Indians then had 16 to the Tigers’ 12 to take a 20-16 halftime lead.
Fort Recovery had a small edge in the third, 14-11. Defense took over in the fourth with five for the Indians and four by WL-S.
Johnson and McGill played their final game for the Tigers.
Fort Recovery plays the winner of Arcanum and Houston on Saturday.