DUBLIN, Ohio -- Dublin Coffman (19-1) has rolled through every team they have faced this season, only having two games decided by less than double digits on their undefeated start to the season. Unfortunately, they could not carry their streak into the postseason as they came up short against their rival Upper Arlington (15-5) tonight, falling 53-51.

The game started off favoring both teams stars, as Penn commit Max Martz came out on a mission for the Golden Bears. He took advantage of favorable matchups throughout the quarter and the senior scored an astonishing 13 of his teams 20 points in the first quarter.

Coffman’s junior guard Dom Penn began the game white hot from the three point line as well, knocking down three shots from behind the arc. However, the rest of Coffman’s lineup struggled to aide Penn’s scoring load and the Shamrocks found themselves in a 20-12 hole going into the second.

The second quarter started out with both teams trading buckets, as the Shamrocks could not cut into the lead. Upper Arlington’s senior duo of Sammy Sass and CJ Karsatos played a significant role in the quarter by scoring nine of the Golden Bears 13 points.

At the end of this quarter, you could begin to see a major development that would play a crucial factor in the second half. Coffman began to apply ball pressure on the Upper Arlington backcourt and they began to struggle to get Martz the ball in the halfcourt. The Shamrocks wanted to make it a point of emphasis to capitalize on their less than stellar ball handling.

This aggressive mentality that Dublin Coffman ended the half on carried over into the second half. Opening up the half on a 7-2 run and trimming their deficit to as low as seven points, the Shamrocks capitalized on frequent turnovers, turning them into easy transition opportunities. They also looked to push on misses and generate open looks for their outside shooters.

The Golden Bears really struggled offensively, as they scored six of their eight points in the quarter on free throws with Martz knocking down their sole field goal attempt in the quarter.

The momentum heading into the final frame was clearly on the Shamrocks side and their electric home crowd played a huge factor. However, the scoreboard still favored the underdog Golden Bears 41-36.

The final quarter started out pretty fitting with Martz draining a pull up jumper, but senior wing Derek Van Vlerah, who played limited minutes after returning from mono, knocked down a three, then junior guard Keaton Turner knocked down a pull up triple after another Upper Arlington turnover and Coffman found themselves down by just three with six and a half minutes left in the game.

On the next possession, the home crowd erupted after Martz was called for a charge. This was followed up by a Luke Bartemes score and Coffman found themselves down one. Martz came back down and buried a cold blooded three to silence the Shamrock faithful, and Coffman called a timeout with just under five and a half minutes left with the Golden Bears leading 48-44.

Keaton Turner ripped Sammy Sass in the backcourt and finished with an easy layup on the next possession, however, Coffman could not escape the 6-foot-6 nightmare known as Max Martz as he knocked down yet another three to put his team up four with under three minutes left in the game.

After a few possessions, Luke Bartemes knocked down a huge three to to put the Shamrocks down two with two minutes left in the game. Then, sophomore guard Jake Warinner converted on an and-one to bring his team back up to four points.

Coffman still did not give up as Dom Penn was fouled on a drive to the rim ruled intentional and knocked down both free throws.

Upper Arlington received the ball back after a Coffman miss with about 45 seconds left on the clock, unable to get a steal in the backcourt, Martz missed the front end of a one and one up by two with thirty seconds left in the thriller. Coffman did not spend a timeout as Upper Arlington made sure Penn would not get the ball to have an opportunity to tie or win the game.

Turner airballed a contested three to win the game, but the Shamrocks came up with the offensive rebound. Unfortunately, they could not convert on the second chance opportunity as Bartemes ending up throwing a prayer up from well beyond the three point line with one hand as the home crowd pleaded for a foul and one last chance.

That chance was never given, as the scoreboard read 53-51 and Upper Arlington ruined Dublin Coffman’s perfect season.

Max Martz (6’6 PF / Upper Arlington / 2019): The Penn commit has been putting up some pretty dominant scoring numbers since returning from his recent back injury. Tonight was no different, as Martz was easily the best player on the court, dominating with 29 points. At 6-foot-6, the senior has a very encouraging frame that should allow him to succeed in a stretch four role on the mid-major level. He showed off a strong shooting performance in all three facets by consistently knocking down spot up, pull up, and off movement jumpers. He also showed off enough handling coordination to develop some grab and go equity in the future. Without many assists to show for it, his passing ability was solid as well as he flashed a feel for the weak side of the floor attacking off spot ups.

Martz’s defensive performance was stellar as well. Consistently switching on frequent Coffman ball screens, he showed off some tremendous lateral quickness by being able to defend elite ball handlers like Penn and Turner in space on top of a lightning quick initial reaction on the ball when defending spot ups. He consistently made solid rotations as well especially from the weak side of the floor, but will need a lightning quick reaction time in that area as well since he does not possess elite speed to allow room for error when making rotations.

Martz put together one of the best, if not the best performance I have seen from an individual all season. He has a ton of low usage offensive equity as a four that can consistently space the floor with enough handling coordination to knock down one to two dribble pull ups. He is going to work exceptionally well out of the ball screen game in the future and his off movement shooting will allow him to translate seamlessly into an offense in the future, especially working off curls and flare screens. He can also punish switches with an up and under move and fadeaway in the mid/low post. His switchability and team defensive prowesses are key components to any successful defensive big on any level. Martz should have a fantastic college career at Penn and should be a college film room candidate over the next few seasons.

Dom Penn (6’0 G / Dublin Coffman / 2020): Starting out the game it appeared that Penn would have one his signature scoring performances as he opened up the first quarter with nine points. However, after that dominant quarter, he started to fade into the background. At 6-feet tall, Penn is one of the best ball handlers you will find in the area. He can change both speeds and directions exceptionally along with possessing great burst off the dribble on his first step and working out of hesitations. One of my favorite parts about Penn’s first half performance was how he scored his points as they all came within the flow of Coffman’s offense. This should translate well to the next level as he shoots it well off slight movement and spot ups from well beyond collegiate range along with being able to get into the lane courtesy of his quick first step on spot ups. He also did a nice job working off movement by setting up his off ball movement which is trait that you will rarely see out of high school players. The junior is capable of working off high usage actions as well with an effortlessly smooth pull up jump shot and a counter move to all of his dribble moves that should allow him to consistently get into the lane working off spread pick and rolls, DHO’s, and the occasional isolation possession. Once he gets into the lane, his game is still somewhat of a work in progress. He flashed some quality passing vision to the weak side corner, but he will need to develop a floater game along with really being able to read helpside defense at the next level in order to make both decisive and advanced reads as a passer since he does not excel finishing through contact.

Defensively, Penn had a dominant on ball game, as he had no problem guarding anyone in Upper Arlington's backourt and consistently disrupted them and was a major player in their second half turnover troubles. He had a few possessions on screens that resulted in some miscommunication that should be straightened out, but that is just a minor issue.

Overall, Penn is still a fantastic prospect that will play on the Division I level. He has tremendous value offensively both on and off the ball, and he should be poised for a major year next season even with Coffman losing two of their three best players.

CJ Karsatos (6’8 PF / Upper Arlington / 2019): The senior was relatively quiet on the offensive end of the floor, while still being his team’s second leading scorer with 10 points. There were not many offensive actions ran for him. At 6-foot-8, Karsatos does move well for his size with solid top speed that should translate well to up tempo offenses. He also flashed some handling coordination by attacking off a spot up and spinning into the lane for a foul call. There was not much shooting to highlight in the game, but he has been proven to be a capable spot up shooter in the past. He flashed some decisive improvised looks as well as a passer to cutters working out of the mid post.

Defensively, Karsatos was capable of making strong side rim rotations throughout the game. He frequently switched ball screens as well and had mixed success against Coffman’s lead ball handlers. The senior is still a work in progress but has potential if he can continue to get stronger and improve his explosiveness he should be a useful collegiate four man. Ideally, you’d like him to play a more simplified role than Martz will have as a floor spacer that can potentially add extended team value if you can develop his low usage passing throughout his career.