McClain wins over county rival Fairfield
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
LEESBURG — In a game that was played closely at times, the McClain Tigers were able to pull away in the second half to gain a non-league win over Highland County foe Fairfield Saturday evening by a 62-52 score at Grandle Gymnasium.
In a game that had the Lions and Tigers exchange the lead multiple times in the first half, with the Tigers leading 25-24 at the conclusion of the first half, MHS started to slowly pull away in the third quarter was they outscored the host Lions, 7-1 in the first two minutes of the quarter.
"We came out and played well, but in the second half, we played a little sloppy," FHS head coach Everett Snyder said. "We had a mismatch with (Thomas) Schrader, and he took advantage of his height in the matchup.
"Then they (MHS) found Faulconer on the backside, and we weren't able to get on a run. We talked about keeping Faulconer from posting up."
[[In-content Ad]]In that span of time for the Tigers, they had scoring from Ryan Faulconer and Thomas Schrader for a 35-25 lead around the 6:00 mark of the quarter.
MHS (5-2) didn't seem to wear down in the third, even though the night before they played in a triple-overtime loss to the Adena Warriors.
"The win makes me proud because we played in three overtimes the night before," MHS head coach Joe Wisecup said. "This was a gut check. The fatigue part is more mental than physical, but the kids did a good job toward the end."
The Tigers continued to offset points scored by the Lions (5-5) as FHS senior Joey Wilson converted a three-point play, but that was answered with six straight points as Faulconer scored four straight, followed by a layup off a pass from Evan Mustard with 3:04 left in the quarter.
Faulconer led all scorers with a game-high 25 points. The junior added seven rebounds, one block and one steal.
Wilson led the Lions with 19 points.
"Joey played well, but again, we were foul-prone," Snyder said. "We had to play without two starters, and hopefully we'll get both of them back soon."
With MHS holding onto a 38-28 advantage, the Lions came back with 3-pointers from Matthew Leach and Brant Huff with the MHS lead cut down to four points at 38-34 with 1:52 left in the quarter.
MHS ended the third with a 5-1 run with points by Jeremiah Savage and Faulconer for a 43-35 advantage.
"Jeremiah had a great game defensively," Wisecup said. "He keeps improving. Also, Mikel (Pritchard) played more aggressively offensively and he made good decisions, which is good to see."
The Tigers managed to keep their lead in the fourth frames but the Lions made MHS work for it (even with two starters being inactive for the game due to various reasons) when Huff made his second 3-pointer of the half with 7:09 left in regulation.
MHS finished the fourth by outscoring the Lions, 19-17.
As for the first half, the Tigers led the first quarter, 17-13, and the Lions led the second frame, 11-8.
Also in double figures for the Lions were Blake Hildebrant with 12 points and Huff, who also finished with 12 points.
For the Tigers, Thomas Schrader totaled 14 points and 10 rebounds for a double-double.
"Fairfield is a tough place to play," Wisecup said. "This is a good win, but the next two weeks will tell us what kind of team we are."
MHS finished 13-of-25 from the free-throw line, and the Lions were 13-of-21. There were 10 total 3-pointers, with the Lions sinking seven, including four from Huff and two by Hildebrant.
In a game that had the Lions and Tigers exchange the lead multiple times in the first half, with the Tigers leading 25-24 at the conclusion of the first half, MHS started to slowly pull away in the third quarter was they outscored the host Lions, 7-1 in the first two minutes of the quarter.
"We came out and played well, but in the second half, we played a little sloppy," FHS head coach Everett Snyder said. "We had a mismatch with (Thomas) Schrader, and he took advantage of his height in the matchup.
"Then they (MHS) found Faulconer on the backside, and we weren't able to get on a run. We talked about keeping Faulconer from posting up."
[[In-content Ad]]In that span of time for the Tigers, they had scoring from Ryan Faulconer and Thomas Schrader for a 35-25 lead around the 6:00 mark of the quarter.
MHS (5-2) didn't seem to wear down in the third, even though the night before they played in a triple-overtime loss to the Adena Warriors.
"The win makes me proud because we played in three overtimes the night before," MHS head coach Joe Wisecup said. "This was a gut check. The fatigue part is more mental than physical, but the kids did a good job toward the end."
The Tigers continued to offset points scored by the Lions (5-5) as FHS senior Joey Wilson converted a three-point play, but that was answered with six straight points as Faulconer scored four straight, followed by a layup off a pass from Evan Mustard with 3:04 left in the quarter.
Faulconer led all scorers with a game-high 25 points. The junior added seven rebounds, one block and one steal.
Wilson led the Lions with 19 points.
"Joey played well, but again, we were foul-prone," Snyder said. "We had to play without two starters, and hopefully we'll get both of them back soon."
With MHS holding onto a 38-28 advantage, the Lions came back with 3-pointers from Matthew Leach and Brant Huff with the MHS lead cut down to four points at 38-34 with 1:52 left in the quarter.
MHS ended the third with a 5-1 run with points by Jeremiah Savage and Faulconer for a 43-35 advantage.
"Jeremiah had a great game defensively," Wisecup said. "He keeps improving. Also, Mikel (Pritchard) played more aggressively offensively and he made good decisions, which is good to see."
The Tigers managed to keep their lead in the fourth frames but the Lions made MHS work for it (even with two starters being inactive for the game due to various reasons) when Huff made his second 3-pointer of the half with 7:09 left in regulation.
MHS finished the fourth by outscoring the Lions, 19-17.
As for the first half, the Tigers led the first quarter, 17-13, and the Lions led the second frame, 11-8.
Also in double figures for the Lions were Blake Hildebrant with 12 points and Huff, who also finished with 12 points.
For the Tigers, Thomas Schrader totaled 14 points and 10 rebounds for a double-double.
"Fairfield is a tough place to play," Wisecup said. "This is a good win, but the next two weeks will tell us what kind of team we are."
MHS finished 13-of-25 from the free-throw line, and the Lions were 13-of-21. There were 10 total 3-pointers, with the Lions sinking seven, including four from Huff and two by Hildebrant.