Game Winning Shot

For the 12th time in 14 seasons and the third year in a row, the Hartville Eagles are district champions after Payton Cogdill rebounded a missed 3-point attempt with .4 seconds left to beat rival Norwood, 50-48.
With 34.4 seconds left in the game, Norwood completed a rally from being down 15 points at one time in the second quarter to tying things up at 48-48 on Peyton McDaris’ pair of free throws.
After Hartville’s Mason Cogdill missed a shot, McDaris grabbed an off-balanced rebound and stepped on the base line when coming down with the ball. With 5.1 seconds left on the clock, Hartville head coach Brett Reed said the play drawn up was to have Boone Garrison drive towards the basket. Garrison instead had a wide-open look for a 3-point shot. His shot rimmed out, but was rebounded by Payton Cogdill, who hit the game-winning basket. Norwood’s late heave was off the mark and the Eagles’ players celebrated the big win.
“He missed it and I crashed like I always do and they paid for it,” Payton Cogdill said after the game. “…That’s just God helping me with what needed to be done.”
He went on to say this was his first ever game—winning shot.
“It was straight bliss, it’s all it was,” he said. “Straight from God, it was awesome. It was amazing.”
Coach Reed noted that his team’s past experience helped them pull it out in the end.
“There’s a lot to be said about these kids being in these types of positions before…There’s no doubt that helped us…However, I belief our poise and composure was not great down the stretch and Norwood had a lot to do with that too. I got to give them some credit, Coach (Shane) Chadwell some credit. They do a great job. They are a super defensive team.  We could have taken care of it a little better. In the end, the time ran out when it needed to…I was super proud of them. They worked hard all year and they deserved this.”
In the first quarter, Hartville had a 6-0 run as Mason Cogdill made a pair of 3-pointers.
Norwood’s Cooper Vaughan hit a late 3-pointer, but he found his team down 14-7.
The Pirates’ post player Gunner Bradshaw picked up his third foul early in the second quarter.
Meanwhile, Harmon Johns broke a scoreless first 2:47 with back-to-back 3-pointers.
An overall 9-1 run put Hartville up 23-8 as they led by 15 points with a little more than a minute left in the first half.
Hartville led 24-12 at halftime as they outrebounded Norwood, 16-3, in the first two quarters.
Cooper Vaughan’s pair of free throws at the 3:34 mark of the third quarter were the first points scored in the frame. His Pirates would put together a 6-0 run to get the lead back ti single digits.
Meanwhile, Hartville missed their first five shots from the field. They would go on to make just 5-of-10 free throws in the frame, but held a seven-point edge heading into the fourth.
Cooper Vaughan’s 3-pointer at the 5:16 mark cut the lead down to 34-33.
Mason Cogdill answered with a 3-pointer of his own to push the lead back to four points.
After Pierce Lawson made a pair of free throws to keep the lead at one, McDaris was unable to tie things on his trip to the free throw line.
Mason Cogdill then hit another 3-pointer as Hartville would eventually push the lead back to seven with 1:30 left in the game before the Pirates’ late charge.
Both Carder Kelly and Cooper Vaughan converted 3-point plays to keep Norwood close before the Eagles did just enough late to secure the win.
Mason Cogdill led the Eagles in scoring with 20 points, eight rebounds, and one assists; Payton Cogdill tallied 13 points, eight rebounds, three assists and three steals; Johns added eight points and three rebounds; Jackson Ward, who fouled out late, had five points, five rebounds, one steal and one assist; Boone Garrison tallied three points, three rebounds, three assists and one steal; and Gus Sinning had one point and one rebound.
Norwood was led by McDaris’ 15 points, four rebounds and one assists; Cooper Vaughan had 13 points, five rebounds, three steals and one assist; Kelly added seven points, one rebound, one assist and one steal; Drake had seven points, five rebounds and one block; Gunner Bradshaw had four points, two rebounds and one steal; while Pierce Lawson had two points, one rebound, one assist and one steal.
0In the district semifinals, Hartville scored only 19 points in the first half before putting things together in the final two quarters to pick up a 60-31 victory over Bakersfield.
In the first quarter, both Payton Cogdill and Ward scored four points as the Eagles were in control, 12-6. Both offenses struggled in the second quarter, combining to miss all seven shots from the field through the first 3:30.
Mason Cogdill hit a big 3-pointer and Johns had a steal and scored to push the lead to 11.
Bakersfield did not make a single field goal in the frame as Hartville led 19-9 at halftime.
A 23-point fourth quarter helped the Eagles pull away for good with the help of Ward’s five points. He also scored six of the team’s 18 points in the third.
Payton Cogdill scored a team-high 20 points; Ward added 15; Mason Cogdill scored 13 points; Johns had seven; Garrison added three points; and Gus Sinning scored two points.