By JIM WALKER

jim.walker@irontontribune.com

ATHENS — It was win No. 22 for South Webster Jeeps but it was the milestone No. 800th win for Hall of Fame basketball coach Norm Persin.

The South Webster Jeeps beat the Trimble Tomcats 51-34 to win the Division 4 district championship on Friday at the Ohio University Convocation Center and in the process gave Persin a win that puts him among a select group.

Richard Kortokrax amassed 890 wins in his career while Joe Petrocelli finished with 831. Persin is now 800-225 in 45 seasons.

The district title for South Webster (22-3) was its first since 2013.

“This was never about me and 800 wins. This has always been about the kids and winning the district,” said Persin. “This program has only won five district championships in school history. This was one of our goals.

“I told them when I came in that things are going to be different. If you work hard and do what you’re supposed to do and play defense and we did.”

Kayden Kempton hit a 3-pointer at the 5:37 mark of the first quarter that gave Trimble a 6-5 lead, its last lead of the game.

Dylan Shupert hit a 3-pointer and Roberts his a short turn around jumper and the Jeeps were up 10-6 just before the end of the quarter.

The Jeeps (22-3) went up 18-12 on a foul shot by Owen Mault with 2:24 left in the half but Cole Wright made a layup and Brady Jajczyk hit a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to 18-17. Super hit a trifecta with 7 seconds left in the half and it was 21-17.

The game was close midway through the third quarter when 6-foot-7 junior Eli Roberts scored the final 10 points of the quarter as he went 5-for-5 from the field and the Jeeps opened up a 37-22 lead.

“We got on (Roberts) at halftime and told him he needed to step up and be the player you’re supposed to be and he did. He came out and played pretty well. And some of the other kids stepped up, too,” said Persin.

“I thought we played good defense. We couldn’t get our offense going early but our defense kept us in the game.,” said Persin.

The Tomcats got within 42-32 on a putback by Levi Weber, but with time winding down Trimble was forced to foul and the Jeeps made 9-of-10 free throws over the final 2:41 to secure their berth in the regionals.

Roberts finished with a game-high 16 points, Sommer had 11 and Shupert 9.

Trimble (15-9) was led by Kemptonwith 9 and Jajczyk with 7.

South Webster will face Leesburg Fairfield at 8 p.m. on Tuesday in the regional semifinals at Ohio University’s Convocation Center.

The first game at 6 p.m. is Worthington Christian and Berlin Hiland. Tuesday’s winners will meet in the finals at 7 p.m. on Friday.

Trimble    6 11 11 12 = 34

S. Webster 10 11 16 14 = 51

TRIMBLE (15-9): Brandon Burdette 1 1 0-0 5, Luke Osborne 0 0 0-0 0, Kayden Kempton 1 2 0-0 8, Levi Weber 1 0 1-2 3, Chase Patton 0 0 0-0 0, Michael Clark 0 1 6-6 9, Brady Jajczyk 1 1 2-4 7, Cole Wright 1 0 0-0 2. Totals: 5 5 9-12 34. Fouls: 16. Fouled out: None.

SOUTH WEBSTER (22-3): Eli Roberts 5 1 3-3 16, Christian White 0 1 3-4 6, Dylan Shupert 0 3 0-0 9, Owen Mault 1 0 3-4 5, Hunter Barnard 1 0 0-0 2, Brock Campbell 0 0 2-2 2, Jack Timothy 0 0 0-0 0, Tyler Sommer 2 1 4-7 11. Totals: 9 6 15-20 51. Fouls: 14. Fouled out: None.