The Tigers won their 6th in a row and moved to 9-1 on the season with a 92-72 thumping of the Ashland Arrows. Massillon thrived on layups, taking it to the hole time after time as they pulled away to a comfortable victory.
1st Half
Ashland started the game off the game with a trademark three-pointer, one of many they would shoot during the contest. Xavier Williams quickly answered with a layup and was fouled; he hit the following free throw to tie the game up. Terrion Wells was the next to score for Massillon following a few misses on both ends. He added another layup off a Williams pass and Braylon Gamble crashed through for 2 to keep Massillon in front. Jadyce Thigpen swished a 3 and added a layup off of a Wells steal to make the score 20-15 in favor of the Tigers after 1. Wells opened the 2nd quarter with a steal-and-score. An Ashland offensive foul led to Thigpen weaving to the basket for a score. Soon after, Gamble hit a free throw to give Massillon their first double-digit lead at 25-15. Ashland continued to rain down 3s, but missed quite a few as the Tigers continued to make their way to the basket for layups. The Arrows cut Massillon’s lead down to 6, but a hail of shots on the Tigers’ end– including a pair of 3s from Isaac Maxheimer and a dunk from Gio Jackson Jr.– bumped their lead back up. Soon after, the Tigers put on the press in the backcourt and Williams stole the ball. Wells finished off the possession with a layup and Gamble finished off the quarter with a 3 to put Massillon on top 43-30 at the half.
2nd Half
Ashland hit a couple of 3s to open the second half and cut the lead down to single digits; the Tigers put together a run of their own capped off by a Jadyce Thigpen 3 to bolster their lead with a score of 48-36. Braylon Gamble threw it down for a dunk and scored again after Xavier Williams found him in the lane. Terrion Wells scored a basket of his own as the Tigers finished off a 7-0 run. Ashland broke the streak with a 3, but Williams pumped faked before drilling a 3 of his own. Thigpen scored in traffic soon after to put Massillon ahead by 20. Wells had a 3-point play, Williams stole a pass and found Gamble for a fastbreak layup, and the Tigers led 68-53 after 3 quarters. Gio Jackson Jr. opened the 4th quarter by bringing the house down on a thunderous slam. Massillon outscored the Arrows 15-5 in the first few minutes of the quarter as Thigpen, Wells, and Jackson all put layups off the glass and in. An and-1 from Jackson resulted in an Ashland timeout and the Tigers pulled most of their starters. Thigpen got one more layup towards the end of the ballgame to cap off a team-leading scoring night, and the Tigers won with a score of 92-72.
Box Score
Jadyce Thigpen, 24 points
Gio Jackson Jr., 23 points
Braylon Gamble, 16 points
Terrion Wells, 15 points
Xavier Williams, 7 points
Isaac Maxheimer, 6 points
Freshmen, Junior Varsity Victorious
The Tiger freshmen pulled away to defeat Ashland 47-41. The junior varsity rallied back to win 63-61 as Drew Williams buried a go-ahead 3 with 8.3 seconds remaining (see the video below).
