SALINEVILLE — The Columbiana boys basketball left no doubts Wednesday.

The Clippers scored the first 15 points to beat Southern Local, 81-51, and claim a share of its third straight Eastern Ohio Athletic Conference title.

Columbiana finishes the regular season at 16-6 overall and 12-2 in the EOAC, tied with Lisbon for the top spot.

The Clippers have won four of the last seven EOAC titles and own 24 league championships in school history.

Columbiana showed its balance with five players scoring in double figures and made 14 three-pointers.

Freshman Zander Oliver, making his second varsity start, scored a personal-high 15 points with four rebounds and four steals

Carter Johnson collected 14 points. Hunter Davanzo totaled 13 points, eight rebounds and six steals. Senator Johnson added 13 points and six rebounds and Avery Young had 12 points. Cooper Brown contributed four assists and six blocks.

Southern finishes the regular season at 3-19 after a 1-14 start. The Indians were 0-14 in the EOAC and has lost 15 league games in a row.

Southern led by freshman Jack Pitts with 13 points and Jacob McCurdy with 12. Mason Pitts added nine points and Landen Heffner eight.

Senator Johnson ignited Columbiana’s quick start as he scored off an offensive rebound, passed to Hunter Davanzo for a layup and had a dunk off a Davanzo steal and assist that gave the Clippers a 9-0 lead only 3 1/2 minutes into the game.

Oliver and Carter Johnson followed with three-pointers to boost the lead to 15-0 before Jack Pitts scored a layup for Southern’s first points to beat the first-quarter buzzer.

A Brown layup pushed the Clippers’ lead to 22-2 with 6:41 left in the second quarter.

The Clippers led 43-16 at halftime and 64-32 after three quarters.

Columbiana also won the junior varsity game, 23-18. Carter Griffith scored eight points and Matthew Garver six for the Clippers. Ben Paxson had seven points for the Indians.

C: 15-28-21-17–81

S: 2-14-16-19–51

COLUMBIANA SCORING: Senator Johnson 5-2-13, Zander Oliver 5-2-15, Trey Snyder 1-0-3, Carter Johnson 5-0-14, Hunter Davanzo 5-3-13, Cooper Brown 2-0-4, Avery Young 4-0-12, Liam McElwain 2-0-5, Deron Winnale 1-0-2, Jacob Parks 0-0-0, Brennan Murphy 0-0-0, Matthew Garver 0-0-0. TEAM TOTALS: 30-59, 7-18: 81.

SOUTHERN SCORING: Landen Heffner 4-0-8, Jacob McCurdy 4-2-12, Zac Mayfield 1-0-3, Mason Pitts 4-0-9, Trevor Groff 1-0-2, Jack Pitts 5-0-13, Aiden Davis 0-0-0, Ben Paxson 1-0-2, Kim Charid-Guliman 1-0-2, Jensen Allender 0-0-0. TEAM TOTALS: 21, 2-5: 51.

Three-point goals: Columbiana 14-28 (C. Johnson 4, Young 4, Oliver 3, S. Johnson, Snyder, McElwain), Southern 7 (J. Pitts 3, McCurdy 2, Mayfield, M. Pitts).

Fitch 46,

West Branch 42

BELOIT — Austintown Fitch outscored West Branch 10-2 in the final 4 1/2 minutes as the Falcons rallied for a 46-42 victory Wednesday.

Leading 40-36, West Branch managed two points the rest of the way. A Brady Evans three-pointer with 2:55 remaining gave Fitch its first lead at 42-40.

Junie Higgs made a pair of free throws to give the Falcons a 44-40 lead with 32 seconds to play.

West Branch’s Gavin Gregory followed by scoring off an offensive rebound to close the gap to 44-42 at the 22-second mark.

Higgs added two more free throws with 15 seconds remaining as the Falcons led 46-42. West Branch couldn’t connect on its next possession.

Fitch improves to 15-6 and will play at Green on Friday. The Falcons have won eight of their last 10 games with losses to Canfield and Youngstown Ursuline, two of the top teams in the Mahoning Valley.

West Branch, which entered the game with 10 wins in its last 12 games, drops to 13-8. The Warriors will play at South Range on Saturday.

Giles led Fitch with a game-high 17 points. Evans added 11 points and Higgs scored eight points on 6-of-6 free throw shooting.

Kasen Weaver topped West Branch with 11 points and five rebounds. Gregory had nine pointts and seven rebounds and Jeremiah Thomas nine points, five rebounds and four assists. Chase Gee contributed eight points, including a three-pointer from beyond half court to give the Warriors an 8-5 lead after the first quarter.

West Branch led 20-10 with 4:30 to play in the second quarter and Fitch trimmed the deficit to 33-31 through three quarters.

Fitch also won the junior varsity game, 45-42. Luke Curry had 10 points for the Warriors.

AF: 5-10-16-15–46

WB: 8-13-11-11–42

AUSTINTOWN FITCH SCORING: Junie Higgs 1-6-8, AJ Diaz 2-0-5, Braeden Sallee 2-1-5, Brady Evans 4-0-11, Anthony Waller 0-0-0, EJ Giles 6-1-17. TEAM TOTALS: 15, 8-14: 46.

WEST BRANCH SCORING: Jeremiah Thomas 3-2-9, Gavin Gregory 4-1-9, Grady Hirst 0-0-0, Chase Gee 3-0-8, Zach Coffee 1-0-2, Kasen Weaver 4-2-11, Brock Woost 0-0-0, Landon Coffee 1-1-3. TEAM TOTALS: 16, 6-18: 42.

Three-point goals: Fitch 8 (Giles 4, Evans 3, Diaz), West Branch 4 (Gee 2, Thomas, Weaver).