Photo/CODY NESPOR RIVER'S Ty Long drives down the lane as Linsly's Raef Wykes defends during Saturday's OVAC Class 3A championship game at Harrison Central High School. The Cadets prevailed over the Pilots, 55-39.

CADIZ — Linsly has been widely revered this season for its work on the offensive end. And rightfully so since the Cadets are scoring the ball at a better than 70-point clip.

However, often times winning a championship — at any level of any sport — it boils down to defense. The Cadets proved Saturday afternoon that they’re able to lock down on the defensive end, too.

Holding River to 35% shooting and forcing 23 turnovers, Linsly wore down the top-seeded Pilots and captured the school’s first OVAC boys basketball championship since 2012 with a 55-39 victory.

“Our kids kept their poise throughout, did a good job and finished it off down the stretch,” Linsly head coach Dave Wojcik said. “This (championship) is special for our seniors.”

River had the tempo and game seemingly to its liking in the first half. However, the Pilots still found themselves trailing 18-17 at halftime, which was something that Wojcik stressed to his club at the break.

“For all of the misses and mishaps we had in the first half, we still came in (to the locker room) up one,” Wojcik said. “We felt really good. I felt like we were getting to their legs and wearing them down a little bit, so we wanted to pick up the pace even more in the second half.”

The Cadets were able to execute that plan, too.

Behind an impressive, 9-point quarter from Gavin Jackson, who was named the game’s MVP, Linsly outscored River, 20-15 and took a 38-32 lead into the fourth quarter.

“Under a minute to go in the third quarter, it was a two-point game and if we possess the ball, it’s still a two-point game, but we had a couple of mishaps and (Linsly) made us pay and it became 38-32,” River head coach Mark Romick said. “That really seemed to start the run for them.”

Jackson’s scoring outburst included what felt like an early backbreaking trifecta from the wing. He had an opportunity to go in for basically an uncontested layup, but opted for the 3-point shot, which was all net.

“That’s who we are and that’s who Gavin is,” Wojcik said. “Gavin’s an aggressive kid and I want him to shoot the ball. He gave me the look in the second quarter and when he’s on, he’s really hard to stop and he did a heck of a job for us.”

Romick also pointed to a stretch in the fourth when his team was still down only six, but the Cadets fully asserted themselves to set the tempo.

“They sped us up, starting in the second quarter, but when it was 40-34, we had some looks, but they were able to capitalize again,” Romick said. “Linsly plays in streaks and when they hit a 3, it’s katy bar the door because it’s contagious with them.”

That is seemingly how it happened once again for the Cadets. Once Jackson got it going, other Linsly players such as senior Caleb Murray, who was saddled with foul trouble much of the game, got it going, too.

Murray scored half of his 14 in the fourth quarter and senior point guard Raef Wykes, who was a definite factor on both ends of the floor, also had two buckets.

On the other end, the Pilots failed to record a field goal in the fourth. They cashed in 7 of 9 from the line for their only points.

“I thought we did a great job for three quarter, but give credit to Linsly because their pressure really hurt us,” Romick said. “Tip your hat to them because they have a lot of length and athleticism, which wears on you as the game went on.”

Linsly was led in the scoring column by Jackson’s 15. Murray’s aforementioned production was complemented by Wykes’ 11. Junior Nathan Coleman finished with nine.

River, meanwhile, was led by its junior duo of Brody Lollathin and Ty Long. Each had 10. Senior Brody Longwell added seven.

Linsly 55, River 39

LINSLY (55) — Wykes 5, 0-1 11; Murray 5, 3-3 14; Donovic 1, 0-0 2; W. Taylor 1, 0-0 2; G. Jackson 6, 2-2 15; Anderson 1, 0-0 2; Vilenius 0, 0-0 0; D. Jackson 0, 0-0 0; Coleman 4, 1-4 9; A. Taylor 0, 0-0 0; Zhu 0, 0-0 0; Kovalesky 0, 0-0 0; Sun 0, 0-0 0; Totals: 23, 6-10 55. RIVER (39) — Isaly 0, 4-6 4; Joos 0, 0-0 0; Bowers 0, 0-0 0; Creamer 0, 0-0 0; Lollathin 3, 3-3 10; Longwell 3, 1-2 7; Harlan 0, 0-0 0; Thompson 1, 0-0 2; Blue 0, 0-0 0; Long 2, 6-7 10; Willis 0, 0-0 0; Potts 3, 0-0 6; Totals: 12, 14-18 39.

3-point goals: L — Wykes, Murray, Jackson. R — Lollathin.