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How It Happened: In-depth analysis on Grove City's miracle upset at Logan

By Connor Harr, 02/24/19, 6:00PM EST

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Grove City shocked Logan 60-58 in the sectional semifinals Saturday

LOGAN, Ohio --Sometimes, it’s just a perfect storm and all your hardwork and determination pays off to defy all odds.

As somebody who loves to break down the X’s and O’s of each game and analyze every player, sometimes that is not sufficient as you cannot quantify or measure a teams effort. That was the case in Grove City’s 60-58 overtime upset over Logan.

The game started out with Grove City playing incredibly hard. They fought for every loose ball, created extra opportunities, and played with outstanding defensive exertion. This tone was set by junior Cole Crager and senior Bubs Morrison, and the Greyhounds found themselves up 9-4 halfway through the first quarter.

The favorite Chieftains stormed back thanks to quality first quarter performances from senior star Bo Myers along with wings Wes Brooks and Coby Bell as Grove City found themselves down 17-14 heading into the second.

The game stayed close in the second quarter with Logan slowly inching away, but sophomore Alex Coffey kept the Greyhounds in the game. However, we did begin to see a development where Grove City’s guards could break the Logan defenders down off the dribble. That combined with their off ball action forced frequent defensive lapses in the half court for the Chieftains, leading to plenty of open shots for Coffey and senior guard Sam Stoll.

This along with a strong defensive performance from Crager and weak side help from their guards kept Grove City within seven trailing 29-22 at halftime.

After a fast paced third quarter with both teams electing to go with man to man full court pressure, Logan continued to creep ahead with a commanding 47-37 lead as Myers excelled as a transition handler, breaking the press for both himself and his teammates. The upset special appeared to be over, as the Chieftains remained in control for 16 straight minutes.

Heading into the fourth quarter, the Greyhounds dug themselves into a deeper hole to start trailing 51-37. However, they never gave up hope.

They quickly stormed back with a 6-0 run making the contest 51-43 with three and a half minutes left. After another empty possession from Logan, Stoll knocked down a corner three to put Grove City down four with just under three minutes left.

On the following Grove City possession after a turnover, senior James Ford put back a Stoll airball to make it a one possession ball game. Then, sophomore Brock Waits made a beautiful weakside rotation at the rim to draw a charge on Myers and the Greyhounds had the opportunity to tie the game with about two minutes left.

On the following Logan possession with one minute left, Coffey was called for a touch foul, but Logan missed the front end of a one and one. The Greyhounds then called a timeout with 31 seconds left as both teams traded turnovers.

After not liking what they saw, another timeout was called and Crager made a layup off a simple sideline out of bounds set with five seconds left as the lack of helpside defense from Logan was atrocious much like all game.

With five seconds left, Myers sped down the floor coast to coast for the Chieftains, but his shot at the rim missed off the front end, and the contest was headed into overtime tied at 51.

The overtime period began with Myers splitting a pair of free throws. Then, Waits scored three straight points after a pair of free throws off a Myers over the back call and drive to the rim changing speeds exceptionally out of a half spin move. The sophomore willed his team up 3 points with two minutes left.

Grove City continued to hold onto the lead, but gave Logan multiple opportunities to get back into the game with a poor free throw shooting performance in the extra period.

With twenty six seconds left, Myers finished under the rim off a lob, and Logan was down 57-54. Logan then fouled Waits, who split a pair of free throws to make it a four point game.

Myers answered with a cold blooded pull up three, tallying the score at 58-57 with under ten seconds left.

After a pair of made free throws, Bell was fouled shooting a three with seven tenths of a second left on the clock. The senior made the first, missed the second, and intentionally missed the third as a putback attempt to himself missed off the back rim and the Greyhounds pulled off the cinderella upset.

Grove City played a tremendous team game and every single one of their rotation players played a pivotal role.

Their success offensively came from every single player on the floor constantly getting into the lane and putting pressure on the Logan defense. A great defensive second half from Crager and Coffey on Myers was astronomically important as well. This was coupled with tremendous weak side help on all his post possessions from guards like Waits, Stoll, and Morrison. Ultimately this game came down to grit, determination, and a will to win which the Greyhounds displayed throughout the entire game.

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