South Webster junior Eli Roberts scored 24 points, had eight rebounds and blocked five shots in the Jeeps’ 63-56 Southern Ohio Conference Division III boys basketball overtime victory at Wheelersburg on Friday night.

Ed Litteral | Daily Times

WHEELERSBURG — Eli Roberts rejected three shots, and scored four points in the overtime period, to lead South Webster to a 63-56 win over Wheelersburg — in a crucial Southern Ohio Conference Division III boys basketball matchup on Friday night.

Roberts, a 6-7 junior, finished the game with 24 points, five blocked shots and eight rebounds for the visiting Jeeps, which improved to 13-2 — and to 3-2 in the conference.

“We needed this to stay in the race in the conference,” South Webster coach Norm Persin said. “If you win the rest, then the worst you’re going to get is a tie. We have a shot so it’s one game a time. But this was an exciting game for everyone.”

The Pirates, which came back from a 15-point deficit, suffered their first conference loss to dip to 5-1 — and are now 12-4 overall.

“We had some opportunities, but didn’t finish,” Wheelersburg coach Alex Prater said. “We did not take care of the basketball and had some turnovers in overtime. They had high-efficiency possessions in overtime, and we did not.”

Roberts’ 12-foot shot gave the Jeeps a 35-20 lead to start the third quarter.

The Pirates then whipped off six straight points that featured a Landon McGraw layup, a bucket inside by Devon Lattimore, and a Braylon Rucker offensive rebound and putback.

South Webster called the first of its two timeouts in the quarter.

A floater for two points by South Webster’s Owen Mault was followed by another run by Wheelersburg.

South Webster’s Owen Mault (4) goes up for a shot as Wheelersburg’s Kenyon Evans (21) defends during Friday night’s Southern Ohio Conference Division III boys basketball game at Wheelersburg High School.

Ed Litteral | Daily Times

A three-pointer from McGraw, a runner by Rucker, and another three-pointer from Hunter Bivens forced Persin to call for another break in the action.

“We just kept calling timeout and said to them — listen, you’re going to make mistakes and they’re going to make a run,” he said. “Take the mistakes and erase them.”

Roberts responded — and ended the quarter with one of his two slam dunks on the night.

“We knew they were going to make a run, and just had to come back and do what we could to stop it,” Roberts said. “We had to maintain our composure and our heads and pulled through it.”

A Lattimore three-point play, followed by a Kenyon Evans layup, gave Wheelersburg a 51-50 lead with just under two minutes left in regulation.

But South Webster’s Hunter Barnard, who finished the game with 10 points, made good on a three-point play of his own — to put the Jeeps up 54-53.

South Webster’s Hunter Barnard (5) and Tyler Sommer (14) battle Wheelersburg’s Devon Lattimore during Friday night’s Southern Ohio Conference Division III boys basketball game at Wheelersburg High School.

Ed Litteral | Daily Times

Lattimore sent the game into overtime — when he connected on one of two free throws.

“There were so many different chances we had to put this game away,” Persin said. “There were some missed free throws we had that could have wrapped it up. Wheelersburg is not going to quit. You know they are going to keep coming back and coming back.”

In the fourth quarter, South Webster was 7-of-11 from the charity stripe — while Wheelersburg connected on 7-of-12.

We did not play a good first half and got off to a really poor start (to the game),” Prater said. “The kids responded and played the way we needed to get back in the game. We gave ourselves a chance and got back in the game, but just couldn’t execute in the end.”

The Jeeps jumped out to a 14-9 first-quarter lead, thanks in part to a 6-0 run to end the period — that featured a runner from Dylan Shupert and a layup from Mault, ignited by a steal and pass by Tyler Sommer.

Roberts opened the second quarter with a tomahawk dunk, and Shupert followed with a left-handed scoop shot for the 18-11 lead.

“We got off to a fast start, and that was vital in this gym,” Persin said. “But I knew (Wheelersburg) would eventually make a run.”

Sommer increased the Jeep lead to 29-18 with a steal and layup, and Brock Campbell sank two free throws to put the advantage at 33-20 at the half.

South Webster’s Dylan Shupert (3) goes against Wheelersburg’s Landon McGraw (24) during Friday night’s Southern Ohio Conference Division III boys basketball game.

Ed Litteral | Daily Times

Lattimore led the way for the Pirates, with a team-high 21 points while pulling down eight rebounds — as Rucker scored 14 points and also added eight boards.

Overall, South Webster outrebounded the Pirates 41-36.

South Webster senior Jack Timothy (13) goes up for a shot as Wheelersburg’s Landon McGraw defends during Friday night’s Southern Ohio Conference Division III boys basketball game at Wheelersburg High School.

Ed Litteral | Daily Times

But the most important numbers were 9-2, which is what South Webster outscored Wheelersburg in the extra session.

For Persin, he now has 791 career coaching victories —as he is in his first season at South Webster.

Both teams return home, and return to SOC III action, with key league games on Friday night.

South Webster (now 4-2 in SOC III with 45-40 win over West on Saturday night) will host Minford (4-1 SOC III), which also has only one league loss —a 60-58 decision at Wheelersburg only 10 days ago.

The Falcons defeated the Jeeps 58-55 at Minford three weeks back.

Wheelersburg, which won the first meeting with South Webster 71-61 on Jan. 5, will host Waverly for Friday night’s league bout.

* * *

South Webster 14 19 8 13 9 —63

Wheelersburg 9 11 16 18 2 —56

SOUTH WEBSTER 63 (13-2, 3-2 SOC III)

Eli Roberts 8 8-10 24, Dylan Shupert 3 0-0 6, Owen Mault 3 2-6 8, Hunter Barnard 3 4-5 10, Brock Campbell 1 2-2 5, Jack Timothy 2 0-0 4, Tyler Sommer 1 4-6 6; TOTALS 21 20-29 63; Three-point goals: 1 (Brock Campbell 1)

WHEELERSBURG 56 (12-4, 5-1 SOC III)

Braylon Rucker 5 3-4 14, Devon Lattimore 8 5-9 21, Xander Mowery 1 0-0 3, Hunter Bivens 1 2-2 5, Luke Swords 1 0-0 2, Kenyon Evans 1 2-3 4, Landon McGraw 3 0-0 7; TOTALS 20 12-19 56; Three-point goal: 4 (Braylon Rucker, Xander Mowery, Hunter Bivens and Landon McGraw 1 apiece)