By Nick Robbe

     After an abysmal regular season, the Nelsonville-York Buckeyes were playing their best basketball at the right time.  The Buckeyes did not do themselves any favors, losing 61-49.

     It was a close game at the end of the first quarter with Meigs leading by only four points.  A15-4 scoring outburst by Meigs put the Buckeyes behind by 15 heading into the break.

     The Marauders were able to establish a lead because their shots were falling with little rebuttal from the Buckeyes.

     "We shot horrendously in the first half which put us in the hole—we didn’t look real sharp,” coach Jay Kline said.

     Jared Dexter and Kyle Moore contributed in all areas of the stat sheet for the Buckeyes.  Both finished with double figures in points and collected key rebounds as well as steals.

     Dexter, one of the team’s two seniors was all over the court, doing everything he could to keep the Buckeyes in the game.  Kline highlighted his efforts after the loss.

     “We lost a senior today that put his heart on the line and has for Nelsonville-York for a long time in Jared Dexter,” Kline said. “ He is very important to us… he is going to be missed.”

     Dexter and his teammates’ effort fell short.  With just under three minutes left to play the Buckeyes cut the lead to five.  Close game situations have hurt the team all season long.

     Casey Cox and Daniel Kline were fouled on three-point attempts, both times only coming away with one point. The team finished 6-23 from the charity stripe.

     “Told our kids afterwards we had the heart to make the comeback but we didn’t have the free throws to complete it,” Kline said. “ There is no shame in anything we’ve done today, we dug ourselves a deep hole and battled like crazy in the second half to get out of it, and couldn’t quite do it.”