MARTINS FERRY – Another fine basketball season in Purple Land has ended in disappointment.

Third-seeded Martins Ferry fell to eighth-seeded Coshocton, 51-44, Tuesday night at Tolbert Gymnasium in Division III sectional play. The Redskins will play Fort Frye Friday at Beverly.

Coshocton improved to 11-12 against a most-demanding schedule, stocked with Division I and II schools. The Purple Riders bowed out at 16-7.

“Our record is a little deceiving. We play a very good schedule,” Coshocton coach Jeremy Ady said. “We hang our hat on playing defense. I thought we played it really well tonight.

“We did a great job of taking care of the ball. Once we got the lead we were able to control the tempo to our liking,” he added. “One of our keys all week was to focus on rebounding. We did a real nice job on the boards, especially on the offensive end. We beat a really good team tonight.”

Coshocton slowed the game to a snail’s pace, leading 9-8 after one quarter and 21-17 at halftime.

The Redskins’ defense came to the forefront in the third quarter, holding the Purple to just five points in the frame. In the meantime, Coshocton was tallying 13 of its own to build a formidable 34-22 advantage entering the final chapter.

The visitors became extremely disciplined offensively over the final eight minutes en route to moving to a 42-31 lead with just four minutes to play. The Purple Riders, however, made one final push, aided by the Redskins’ ineffectiveness at the charity stripe. Coshocton missed 11 free throws in the final quarter, enabling the hosts to climb to within 47-40 with 1:20 remaining.

Ferry misfired on a three before Griffin Mason goaled just inside a minute. After a Purple Rider turnover, Gaven Williams meshed one-of-two from the stripe for a 50-40 Redskins lead with 55.7 seconds remaining.

Ferry’s Logan Smith meshed two free throws, making it an eight-point deficit. Tyren Walker netted a free throw for the visitors with 44 ticks showing. Junior dandy Dasyn Hores goaled for the Purple, making it a 51-44 lighting with 35 seconds left.

Coshocton proceeded to miss two more free throws but Ferry turned it over to seal its fate.

“We knew Coshocton is a team we did not want to fall behind. They are so well-disciplined and very well-coached,” Ferry head coach Derek Edwards said. “They get the lead and they can play that Princeton-style offense. It is tough to defend.

“We just could never get the lead. We had to battle upstream all night,” he added. “We couldn’t capitalize on our opportunities. We didn’t turn it over much tonight but when we did it really hurt.”

Williams played superbly, leading Coshocton with 20 points. Zach Bradford added nine for the Redskins while Kameron Brown added eight lightings.

Smith led the Purple Riders with 14 points while Hores produced 11 counters. DeAndre Pugh was limited to nine points.

“You hate to see the season end like this. I couldn’t have asked for two better seniors than DeAndre and Donovan (Shrodes),” Edwards said. “We got a good group coming back next year. But they have to make the commitment and put the work in.”