Photo Courtesy of Matthew Hatcher

Ceramics’ Caleb Jago defended by Piketon’s Isaac Brabson during the district championship.

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Cody Leist

PDT Sports Writer

ATHENS — The ride for Jeff Lisath isn’t over just yet.

The Piketon coach, who announced earlier this season that he would be stepping down at the end of the season, will be able to coach for at least one more weekend as the No. 2 Redstreaks came from behind to defeat No. 8 Crooksville 54-45 in Friday’s Division III Southeast District Final at Ohio University’s Convocation Center. Piketon will take on Oak Hill in Wednesday’s regional semifinal as the Oaks defeated Sardinia Eastern 57-35.

“I’d like to win four more,” Lisath said.

Of the five Redstreaks to figure into the scoring column, four were in double figures led by Craigen Moore. The senior connected on a 3-pointer in the fourth to make a 35-35 deadlock.

Despite the Ceramics answering with a triple of their own, Lisath believed it was the jump start his team needed as they finished the game on a 19-10 after Moore’s shot.

“I thought at that point in the game, we needed a big basket,” Lisath said. “I told him to spot up and as soon as he touched it, I told him to shoot it.”

Neither team could mount a serious run until the fourth quarter when Piketon went on a 12-0 run to go from being down one to being up by double-digits. At that point, the largest lead either team could have was at four.

Lisath chalked up his team’s composure in late situations to being a veteran team.

“We have seniors that have been through the wars,” Lisath said. “They’ve been here for the last three years and they know they’re not ready to quit yet. They’ve got a little fight left in them and I just have to get them to do it on the early end just as much as they do towards the end of the game.”

Mitchell Swingle, who led all scorers with 17 points on the night, was put on the bench during the Redstreaks’ run. Lisath was impressed with how his interior defense wore Swingle down.

“All week in practice, we’ve been talking about how physical they are and how we needed to contain him inside,” Lisath said. “I thought our kids did a good job of battling with him every play. We made him work hard and we got him in foul trouble towards the end which was huge for us.”

Isaac Brabson added 13 points while Jeremy Farmer finished with 11 points and 12 rebounds.

Cody Leist can be reached at 740-353-3101, ext. 294, or cleist@civitasmedia.com.

Piketon 10 12 8 24 — 54

Crooksville 10 14 9 12 — 45

Piketon — Brabson 6-0-13, Moore 6-1-14, Brewster 3-2-8, Z. Farmer 4-0-8, J. Farmer 3-5-11, Totals 22-8-54.

Crooksville — Jago 2-0-6, Jones 2-0-4, Ebert 2-0-5, Channel 5-1-13, Swingle 8-1-17, Totals 19-2-45.

3-Point Goals — Piketon 2 (Brabson, Moore); Crooksville 5 (Jago 2, Channel 2, Ebert).

Records — Piketon 22-3; Crooksville 12-13.