ZANESVILLE - Every time Newark needed an answer, J.T. Shumate had one. In fact, he had a bunch.

The Wildcats' 6-6 senior sniper hit six 3-pointers among his 31 points, including 15 of the team's first 17. 

It was the help he received, however, that made the difference in a 65-56 win against host Zanesville on Saturday night at a festive Winland Memorial Gymnasium.

All seven Wildcats who played scored in a game where they made 22 of 39 action shots, including 8 of 12 3-pointers.

Shumate rarely got wide-open looks, but his combination of height, quick release and ability to shoot on the move were problematic for Blue Devil defenders.

Even the length and athleticism of 6-7 Cameron Brooks-Harris struggled to contain Shumate after he began guarding him in the second quarter.

"It's been one of those years for him," Newark coach Jeff Quackenbush said. "Everything good that is happening to him is well deserved. He's worked super hard on his game and, the thing is, in the offseason he puts in so much time. He just has a ton of confidence and that's what happens when you work on the game by yourself."

Shumate and Brooks-Harris combined for 33 first-half points, but Shumate came up with two critical baskets in the fourth quarter to keep the Devils at arm's reach.

Zanesville (5-1) cut an 11-point third-quarter deficit to 45-39 on a jumper from Aronde Myers just two possessions into the third quarter, but Shumate banked in an off-balanced 3 from the corner the next time down.

Myers hit a 3 to make it 56-50 with just more than two minutes left, but Shumate converted a three-point play off a press breaker to again extend the lead.

Zanesville never got closer than seven points the rest of the way.

"Mentally and physically, they out-executed us," Zanesville coach Scott Aronhalt said. "They got it to their guys where they needed to get it to them, where they wanted it, and we're stumbling over ourselves and throwing it away."

Zanesville led 12-6 in the first quarter when Shumate answered with 3s on consecutive possessions to tie the game.

The quick release, developed between his freshman and sophomore seasons, made him near-impossible to cover with a smaller defender. Quackenbush said he's also taken to the role of go-to scorer after spending much of the past two seasons as a complementary player to former All-Ohioan B.J. Duling.

"We've always looked at him as someone with a lot of skill, but he's now grown into his body a little bit," Quackenbush said. "Last year we had a lot of different guys, where on other teams he would have gotten more shots. He's playing great for us."

Ironically, though, it was a stretch with Shumate on the bench with his third foul that gave the Wildcats key breathing room. 

The Wildcats (4-2) led just 30-27 with 43 seconds left before halftime, but they held the Blue Devils without a basket over a span of 10 possessions that stretched some five minutes into the third quarter.

It was then that senior guard Anthony Watson, a transfer from New Albany, scored seven of his 12 points, including five straight off turnovers to start the second half.

Prior to that, Newark got four straight points from Bryson Allen-Grover and a big tip-in just before the halftime buzzer from Nick Deckard.

It led to a 40-29 lead in the third quarter.

Aronhalt knows his players will benefit from playing in a regular season game against the Wildcats, but the big picture wasn't on his mind.

"It just upsets me that we weren't more competitive," Aronhalt said. "There were some tough plays to be made out there, and every time there was a tough situation, we didn't make any of them. They made the plays."

Myers had 18 points and Brooks-Harris 17 for Zanesville.

Newark won the reserve game, 44-34, behind 13 points from Louie Cook. Zarek Morgan's nine points led Zanesville.


Twitter: @SamBlackburnTR