Feb 15, 2022
Jordan Holland
Sports Editor
jholland@newsandsentinel.com
Marietta’s Elyjah Lieras-Kelley, right, handles the ball during a high school boys basketball game against Steubenville earlier this season. Lieras-Kelley had 10 points, six rebounds and five assists in Marietta’s 72-46 win over Frontier Tuesday. (Photo by Michael D. McElwain)
NEW MATAMORAS — The Marietta Tigers put the finishing touches on their regular season with a 72-46 victory over Frontier Monday at Hank Morus Gymnasium.
Marietta (6-15) now will focus its attention on Friday’s Division II sectional final against second-seeded McClain. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. in Greenfield. Frontier dropped to 8-13 and visits Bridgeport today.
Tyler Kytta led all scorers with 27 points. He was 9 for 16 from the floor for the Tigers, who also got 11 points from Alex Kendall, 10 from Elyjah Lieras-Kelley, nine from Isaac Koast, eight from Aidan Harris and seven from A.J. Graham.
The Tigers shot a red-hot 56.3% (27 for 48) from the floor. Lieras-Kelley, Kendall and Harris all grabbed six rebounds. Lieras-Kelley led the squad with five assists while Graham notched four steals.
Frontier was led by Tanner Bills’ 18 points and seven boards. Walker Hendershot added 10 points and five rebounds.
Lucas Cox tallied a game-high six assists to go along with three steals. Frontier shot just 36.5% (19 for 52) and turned it over 16 times to Marietta’s nine.
Marietta scored the first seven points of the game and led from start to finish. The Cougars got within four, 17-13, on Hendershot’s jumper midway through the first, but Kytta knocked down a 3 and Kendall made a jump shot to give the Tigers a 22-15 advantage going into the second.
Kytta’s floater at the 5:55 mark in the second gave Marietta its first double-digit lead at 25-15. Midway through the second, Kytta scored six straight points to extend the Tigers’ lead to 14, 32-18. Koast’s layup in the final seconds of the half made it 38-23 at the break.
Early in the third quarter, Kytta had back-to-back assists on a 3-pointer by Lieras-Kelley and a layup by Kendall to put Marietta up 21, 46-25. Kendall put an exclamation point on the period with a steal and a fastbreak dunk to put MHS up 25, 58-33, going into the fourth.
Marietta used a 12-0 run in the fourth to take its largest lead of the game at 72-37. Frontier scored the final nine points of the game, capped by Ethan Snyder’s basket, to get to the final score.