Beaver Local’s Matt Anderson tries to get the ball off of Harrison Central’s Lance Smith on Friday at Beaver Local.

CALCUTTA — Off to one of its best starts in school history, Beaver Local’s boys basketball team completed a season sweep of Buckeye 8 foe Harrison Central Friday night, holding off the upset-minded Huskies 63-58.

With the win, Beaver Local is now 10-2 overall and kept its perfect Buckeye 8 record intact at 7-0.

With the setback, Harrison Central fell to 3-8 overall, but the Huskies who lost to the Beavers 64-43 in Cadiz in early December, actually held a one-point lead early in the fourth quarter before the hosts ramped up their defense and were 11-of-14 from the free-throw line in the final frame to secure the win.

“Their coach had them ready to play and they came out with a lot of energy,” said Beaver Local head coach Nick Miller. “But I think tonight was more about us: We didn’t convert early, and I think it kind of put us on our heels offensively, and a little foul trouble played a role there, but I’m very pleased how things turned around in the second half.”

“The guys came ready to play,” said Harrison Central head coach Nick Yourkovich, who was pleased with his team’s effort in the rematch. “We stressed before the game that we’ve always played hard, but needed to play harder together, and I think we did that tonight. That was really a good basketball game and I think we’re 11 games in and that’s the best team we’ve played so far.”

The fans were treated to a pair of great offensive performances by Beaver Local’s 6-foot-7 returning first-team All-Ohioan Owen Hill and Harrison Central’s 6-6 senior Bryson Kamarec. Both players tied for game-high honors with 26 points each.

“They (the Huskies) definitely came out more aggressive with me (in the rematch),” said Hill. “They put a different, smaller defender on me and he was super handsy and he was trying to get under my skin, but I tried not to let him.”

Beaver Local displayed excellent balance as behind Hill’s big night were Aiden Dray with nine points, Luke Rettos and Nicolas McKenzie with eight points apiece and Matt Anderson with seven points.

“I love being part of this (the great start to the season) because we have such a good bond,” said Hill.

Following Kamarec in the scoring column for the Huskies were Brady Hyre with 10 points and Colson Crothers with nine.

With Hill scoring 14 points and grabbing five rebounds, the Beavers strolled out to a 17-11 lead after the first quarter.

The Beavers took as much as a 10-point (26-16) advantage in the first half when Dray hit a fielder with 4:50 showing before halftime. But the Huskies answered with an impressive 10-3 run to pull within three points (29-26) of the hosts at intermission. Hill led Beaver Local in the first half with 19 points and seven rebounds.

There were three lead changes and two ties in the third quarter before Beaver Local forged a six-point lead at the third-quarter buzzer when Dray buried a three-ball, giving the hosts a 46-40 advantage.

“For our guys to come out and play that hard and execute what we were asking them to do, because we were asking them to do some different things in practice this week, so I couldn’t be prouder of the execution and how hard we played,” said Yourkovich. “But eventually we have to flip this script because we’ve been in a lot of one score-two score games in the fourth quarter and we can’t seem to get over the hump.”

Harrison Central rallied one last time to take a one-point (47-46) lead with 6:28 left. But Beaver Local impressively answered by outscoring the Huskies 17-11 in the remaining time, including an 11-of-14 effort from the free-throw stripe to top off the hard-earned win.

“They took the lead and I feel like we played our best basketball of the night from then on,” reflected Miller. “We just talked about containing the basketball (on defense) and try to turn it so we can get into our pressure and trap. We felt like we were a little too far off the basketball in the full court and letting them comfortably get the ball up the floor and into their sets. But we ramped up the pressure and our guys did a great job of rotating on the back side and getting those steals.”

Hill was asked what Miller’s instructions were which turned the game in favor of Beaver Local late.

“He was saying advance the ball and play our offense,” said Hill of the fourth-quarter timeouts. “Play our offense that we know how to play and we took care of it.”

Miller was proud of how his team performed at the free-throw line when the game was on the line late in the fourth quarter.

“I think we were 11-of-14 (at the free throw line) in the fourth,” said Miller. “So, it was kind of beautiful for us, because the last time in this building we kind of lost the game at the free throw line. Tonight, we executed there in the half court and got to the free throw line and put it away.”

Game notes

¯In a game that was close throughout, Harrison Central got a late cushion and held off the Beavers 52-47 in the junior varsity game.

The Beavers were led by Owen Moore with 15 points and Jett Johnson 10.

¯ Beaver Local won both varsity games against Harrison Central last season by scores of 50-48 and 65-58.

The Beavers return to action Wednesday night when they host arch-rival East Liverpool in a Buckeye 8 contest.

“There was a scheduling conflict and they (the Potters) couldn’t get their Tuesday game moved,” said Miller.

¯ Harrison Central will entertain the Indian Creek Redskins on Tuesday night.

HC: 11-15-14-18–58

BL: 17-12-17-17–63

BEAVER LOCAL SCORING: Owen Hill 8-6-26, Matt Anderson 2-2-7, Luke Rettos 3-2-8, Nicolas McKenzie 3-2-8, Aiden Dray 2-4-9, Tucker McElroy 2-1-5, Peyton Cowdery 0-0-0, Jett Johnson 0-0-0. TEAM TOTALS: 21, 17-21: 63

HARRISON CENTRAL SCORING: Lance Smith 0-1-1, Cooper Thompson 1-0-3, Chaz Culbertson 0-0-0, Bryson Kamarec 10-4-26, Jacob Quito 2-0-5, Brady Hyre 5-0-10, Colson Crothers 4-0-9, Austin Dulkoski 2-0-4. TEAM TOTALS: 24, 5-6: 58

Three-point goals: Harrison Central 5 (Bryson Kamarec 2, Jacob Quito 1, Colson Crothers 1), Beaver Local 4 (Matt Anderson 1, Owen Hill 2, Aiden Dray 1); Total fouls: Harrison Central 16, Beaver Local 12. Fouled out: none.

Oak Glen