Feb 7, 2025 By Jerin Steele 4 min read

JEFFERSON – Nate Gregory released a three-pointer early in the fourth quarter and immediately started begging for the ball to find its way off the backboard and into the rim.

“I knew it was long, so I was just praying that it would bank in,” Gregory said.

Sure enough, that’s what happened.

Considering the shooter’s touch he had Friday night, a gift from the Basketball Gods was probably deserved.

Gregory scored a game-high 24 points and Class 2A Section 3 champ Chartiers-Houston earned a hard-fought 49-36 victory at Jefferson-Morgan.

The Bucs have won 13 in a row and finished 13-1 in section play. Jefferson-Morgan fell to 10-4 in the section and 14-7 overall.

Gregory had 17 points in the first half and that banked 3-pointer proved crucial in the fourth quarter, because it came after an ultra-low scoring third quarter.

Chartiers-Houston didn’t have a field goal until there was less than two minutes remaining in the third, but its defense kept them in it and they ended up winning the frame 8-6 to take 31-28 lead.

“Our defense travels for sure,” Gregory said. “We like playing teams that bring energy. We want to bring the energy back to them. That helps with our defense and helps control the game.”

Jeremiah Robertson did his best to keep the Rockets in it, but foul trouble ended up getting him in the end.

After Jake Perchinsky hit a jumper to give the Bucs their largest lead of the game at 38-30, Robertson scored on put backs on consecutive possessions to cut the lead in half, but picked up his fifth foul with three minutes, three seconds remaining, ending the night with 20 points.

Chariters-Houston outscored Jefferson-Morgan, 11-2, the rest of the way.

“He gave us a lot of life offensively, so that definitely hurt us,” Rockets coach Brandon Lawless said. “He’s a great source of energy off the bench. He gives us that scoring opportunity every time he’s on the floor and without him it’s a big piece missing.”

Gregory and Robertson went back and forth trading buckets in the second quarter.

Robertson scored 11 in the frame and 14 of the Rockets’ 22 first half points, but picked up his third foul with 25 seconds remaining until halftime.

He gave the Rockets their first lead with a reverse layup, making it 22-21 with 50 seconds left, but Gregory canned a foul line jumper right before the buzzer sounded, giving the Bucs a 23-22 lead at the break.

Gregory had 10 points in the quarter and 17 of Chartiers-Houston’s first half points.

“Nate stepped up big, especially in the first half,” Bucs coach Rich Tranquill said. “He was attacking the rim probably harder than I’ve ever seen him attack the rim. Shots were falling from the outside and he’s capable of that. He has that ability. If it’s not him one night, we have other guys that can step up too.”

Justus Buckingham added 12 points for the Bucs, who were 9 for 10 from the free throw line in the fourth.

Both teams are headed to the playoffs. Brackets will be revealed on Monday.

Lawless said the Rockets can take some lessons from playing the section champ tough with them into the postseason.

“We just were short on executing for a little bit and it led to an 18-8 run in the fourth quarter,” he said. “When you go on a run where you don’t score and you’re playing a good basketball team that’s what’s going to happen. It was a spell of three or four minutes and ultimately the score reflects worse than what the game indicates.”