Feb 15, 2025
Williamstown’s Parker Schramm blocks the shot of Logan’s Ivan Miller as teammate Tyler Keiser (40) holds his ground during the Yellowjackets’ 70-69 overtime win on Friday night. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)
WILLIAMSTOWN — In a Valentine’s Day showdown here Fright night featuring top-ranked Class AA Williamstown and No. 3 Logan it took overtime to finally decide a winner.
The heavyweight battle was squared at 29 apiece at intermission, 46-all after three and 61-61 heading to bonus basketball before the ‘Jackets emerged with a 70-69 triumph.
Williamstown, winners of 11 straight, received a game-high 21 points from Jayden Bryant. Parker Schramm, who hit a floater with 21 seconds left in regulation that forced OT, had 18 points and was joined in double figures by Cruz Isaly (14) and Tyler Keiser (11).
“It means a lot especially since we lost to them earlier in the year,” said Schramm, who scored the final seven points in regulation to help erase a 58-50 Wildcat lead with 3:18 remaining. “Credit to them. Well coached and just a well played team. They play together, and man, they are tough to beat. I think we could possibly see them again at the state tournament.
“It’s kind of like against Central. We got down a little bit and I think everyone just comes together at the right time and we really play as a team. We’ve been stressing that a lot in practice. I think just us coming together as a team and just playing team defense and team offense has really excelled us forward.”
Williamstown’s Wyatt Powell knocks down a jumper during first quarter action of the Yellowjackets’ 70-69 overtime win versus Logan on Friday night. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)
McCormick Ilderton, who scored 17 points along with teammate Matt Hatfield, gave Logan its biggest lead at eight when he followed Ivan Miller’s three-point play with a running floater for the eight-point cushion.
However, Carson Hill got a deuce via one of Isaly’s game-high seven assists, which was followed by a Schramm three-point play and his final two buckets.
Logan had a chance to win it in regulation, but Ilderton’s floater spun out of the rim.
The Yellowjackets, who improved to 15-3 and return to action next Saturday at the Waco Center to play for the Little Kanawha Conference championship, took the lead for good in overtime thanks to a Bryant putback to open the scoring.
“It was pretty nice. Those are the fun ones,” Bryant said of getting the win, which sealed the Yellowjackets’ perfect record on their home court. “That’s what we play for.
Williamstown’s Carson Hill challenges the shot of Logan’s Zayden Sherod during the Yellowjackets’ 70-69 overtime win on Friday night. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)
“We knew coming in it was going to be a physical game. It’s a one-three game. It’s a big one and we’re really happy to win it. We were excited. They were excited and you saw the product.”
Aside from his 14 points, Miller pulled down a game-high 14 rebounds as the Wildcats of head man Mark Hatcher held a 34-24 edge on the glass, but lost the turnover battle 10-6 as the visitors went just 3 of 6 from the charity stripe compared to the 19 of 24 effort from the ‘Jackets.
“We really know those kids well,” admitted coach Hatcher, whose 12-5 squad plays Tuesday at Tug Valley. “We really like to compete with them, but really have a lot of respect for their program and their kids and coaches. We’re playing all the tough teams and we’ve done it all year, but to do it on the road and play games like this, I mean that’s Logan basketball.
“That means we are doing what we are supposed to be doing. They are a great team. We would love to play them down in March. We’d love to get there. Hope they get there. I think it would be a he- of a game to play at the state tournament, but we got a lot of work to do to even get there.”
Logan, which also received 11 markers from Lucas Lambert, got a long 3 from Ilderton at the overtime buzzer to set the final score.
Williamstown’s Cruz Isaly takes it to the hole as Logan’s Ivan Miller (13) goes up for a block during the Yellowjackets’ 70-69 overtime win on Friday night. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)
“I could’ve called timeout and I thought about calling a timeout and setting something up, but we had just ran that play right before that and it got a great look that we wanted,” coach Hatcher said of his decision after the Schramm floater late in regulation. “You have our guy who is very hard to stop going to the basket and he got where he wanted to get to.
“Williamstown, a lot more fight, a lot more hustle I thought they showed. They are a different team now than they were back in January (a 64-57 home win on Jan. 11). I think we got them at a good point back in January. We’re not too far off. They are really good and their all-staters stepped up and we got some guys who want to be all-staters so hopefully we keep playing like this and maybe that can happen.”
The ‘Jackets of head coach Scott Sauro got six rebounds apiece from Bryant and Lynken Joy along with a game-high two steals from Cruz. Schramm had five caroms and had a game-high two blocks.
“I think if we played another 30 minutes we’d still be going,” quipped coach Sauro, whose team hit 7 of 18 from deep and shot 47.8% (22 of 46) compared to Logan’s 8 of 15 showing from downtown and 48.3% (29 of 60). We have the utmost respect for Logan.
“I mean they are a really great program led by a really great coach and they have really great players. To get a win against those guys, you know, they beat us up earlier this year and obviously to get a win at home against those guys, in what really was kind of our last home game, is pretty special.”
Williamstown’s Jayden Bryant, who had a game-high 21 points, passes to the wing as Logan’s Ivan Miller defends during the Yellowjackets’ 70-69 overtime win on Friday night. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)
Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com
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