WILMINGTON — It was a record-setting night for Jarron Cumberland and the Wilmington High School boys basketball team, as the Hurricane defeated visting Washington, 83-39, at Fred Summers Court. Wilmington (20-1 overall) ran the table in league play, going undefeated at 14-0 in the South Central Ohio League. Washington is now 15-6, and has a 10-3 record in the SCOL.
Cumberland, one of four senior players recognized prior to tip-off, entered the game with 2,114 career points, just 22 away from topping the mark of 2,135 set by Port Williams’ Donnie Fields.
He scored 13 of Wilmington’s 28 first quarter points, as the ‘Cane rolled to a 28-4 first quarter lead. He surpassed Fields’ number at the 2:40 mark of the first half, on a trey from the right wing. Cumberland was the game’s high scorer with 52 points, putting him at 2,195 in his WHS career. Cumberland also pulled down nine rebounds and has seven assists for the Hurricane.
Also dressed in their final home game wearing the orange and black , and inserted in the starting line up were fellow seniors Alex Miller, Nick Morris, and Cameron Stewart. WHS head coach Mike Noszka spoke to the fans after the game via the public address microphone, talking about each of the seniors and their contributions to the Hurricane basketball program during their careers. While looking back, he says thathopefully there’s still plenty more games ahead of them this year (tournament).
“You get an opportunity to build a special relationship, and that is what we have done with each of them during their careers here at Wilmington. Nick (Morris) was a new addition to our program this year. It’s a lot like parenting —- working with them, hoping to help them progress not just in their basketball careers, but also in life. It’s been rewarding to see them grow as fine young men, and they are part of a very successful program here at Wilmington. They have won over 80 games (overall record of 82-13) and won championships in three diffferent conferences. It’s gonna be tough for any other group of seniors to achieve that level of success,” Noszka pointed out.
Stewart scored eight points, but dished out seven assists and had three steals. Miller pulled down six rebounds and scored four points. Morris also reached the scoring columm, adding four points on a pair of field goals. Mon-starter Chris Wolary came off the bench scoring nine points, pulled down seven rebounds and a pair of blocked shots.
For Washington, Griffin Shaw was the Blue Lions’ leading scorer with 14 points, while Max Knisley added seven points. Knisley also had five rebounds for the Blue Lions. Wilmington won the rebounding battle by a close margin, 33-29.
Blue Lions’ head coach Shannon Bartruff realized it would be a tough atmosphere for his team to compete against, and was hoping they could keep it relatively close, as the game was earlier in the year at Washington. However, his hopes quickly faded after Wilmington went on a 20-0 run to blow the game wide open, and stormed out to a 47-20 margin at halftime.
“They had a lot of things to play for tonight,” Bartruff said. “We played well against them here last year, and were in the game for a while up at our place. What I did not expect was how hard they came out and took it to us early. Jarron (Cumberland) is such a good ballplayer and going for that milestone tonight….there was no stopping him and he literally went crazy against us tonight. We did not stop them in the transition game, and we just could not penetrate against them.”
Washington was victimized by turnovers, 27 in all and 17 in the first half. Wilmington scored 44 points off the Blue Lions’ miscues. Wilmington accounted for 24 fast break points, and outscored the Blue lions in the paint by a wide margin, 54-16.
“Although we’ve had a decent season so far, we need to get some momentum started. Right after McClain we’ve got the winner of Hillsboro and Jackson in our tournament and a few more wins would make this a very good season for us.”
SCORE BY QUARTERS
WCH 4 16 6 13 — 39
Wil 28 19 16 20 — 83
WASHINGTON (fg-3fg-ft-tp) M. Knisley 2-0-3-7 Proby 2-0-1-5 Taylor 0-0-0-0 Shaw 6-2-0-14 Eckles 0-0-1-1 Patton 1-0-0-2 E. Upthegrove 0-0-0-0 Flora 0-0-0-0 K. Upthegrove 2-0-0-4 Steward 1-0-1-3 Wilson 1-1-0-3 J. Knisley 0-0-0-0. TOTALS 15-3-6-39
WILMINGTON (fg-3fg-ft-tp) Stewart 4-0-0-8 MOrris 2-0-0-4 Miller 2-0-0-4 Beaugard 1-0-0-2 Cumberland 19-5-9-52 Wright 0-0-0-0 Smith 0-0-0-0 Mansfield 2-0-0-4 Wolary 4-0-1-9. TOTALS 34-5-10-83
FIELD GOALS: Wa 15-43 (Shaw 6-10); Wi 34-63 (Cumberland 19-33 Wolary 4-6 Stewart 4-6 Mansfield 2-3)
3 PT FIELD GOALS: Wa 3-16 (Shaw 2-5); Wi-5-19 (Cumberland 5-13)
FREE THROWS: Wa 6-10 (M. Knisley 3-3); Wi 10-16 (Cumberland 9-9)
REBOUNDS: Wa-29 (M. Knisley 5 Patton 4 Proby 3 Shaw 3 Eckles 3); Wi-33 (Cumberland 9 Wolary 7 Stewart 6 Miller 6 Beaugard 3 Mansfield 2)
ASSISTS: Wa-8 (Eckles 3 Patton 2); Wi-17 (Stewart 7 Cumberland 6 Miller 2)
STEALS: Wa-8 (M. Knisley 2 Taylor 2 Eckles 2); Wi-17 (Cumberland 7 Miller 5 Stewart 3)
BLOCKED SHOTS: Wa-4 (Shaw 2); Wi-4 (Wolary 2)
TURNOVERS: Wa-27 Wi-10
