Story byThe Portsmouth Daily Times, OhioKevin Colley, The Portsmouth Daily Times, OhioSun, January 4, 2026 at 2:21 AM UTC·6 min readSOUTH WEBSTER — Friday evening's SOC III opener between the South Webster Jeeps and the Minford Falcons boys basketball programs at South Webster High School had terrific energy well before tip-off. After all, the festivities in between the junior varsity and varsity basketball contests honored South Webster's 2006 OHSAA Division IV State Championship team — a wonderfully assembled celebration that had a wholesome feel to it in front of a near capacity crowd between two conference rivals. AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementWhen the celebration was finished, however, it was a familiar name that proceeded to tear it up — and make one of South Webster's most dedicated sports families proud. Brycin McClintic, the nephew of 2005-06 state championship player and current South Webster head baseball coach Ryan McClintic, was, as the kids say, 'on a heater' from the word go as the senior scored 10 of the Jeeps' first 12 points and ultimately ripped the cords for a career-high 31 points in South Webster's 68-58 victory over the Minford Falcons' boys basketball program, moving South Webster to 7-1 to complete what was an excellent celebration of basketball on the Jeeps side. For Norm Persin, starting off 1-0 in SOC III competition and meeting the challenge against a Minford program that continues to play better than its record indicates was pleasing."Anytime we play an SOC contest, defend home court, and get a win, it's big," Persin said. "It's been a huge rivalry contest between us and Minford over the last couple of years, vying for the championship and everything. They had a great tournament run last year, and we did as well.
