Mustangs pull away in 4th to defeat Lions
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
LEESBURG — For most of three quarters, the Lynchburg-Clay Mustangs and the Fairfield Lions played close to even on the scoreboard at Grandle Gymnasium. But as the game progressed, the Mustangs were able to gallop away with the Southern Hills Athletic Conference win.
LC was able to outlast the Lions in the fourth by outscoring them 31-26, eventually taking home the win by an 81-72 final score.
For the victorious Mustangs (1-0, 3-1), they took the lead for good with 3:09 left in the third off a 3-pointer by Brandon Storer, and from there, though it wasn't the most crisp play by either team, LC managed to keep the lead and pull away as the final minutes of the game progressed.
"It was a team win (Friday)," LC head coach Matt Carson said. "We had some guys hit double digits tonight and who stepped up and got some points. The first half, we had the fast start, which we wanted, but it wasn't fast enough … we weren't scoring the way I wanted us to.
"I wanted us to make a couple extra passes, and I thought our defense was a lot better in the second half. We had a lot of mental breakdowns at the end. That is my fault, maybe we need to work on that stuff more in practice."
Carson spoke about the Lions and the tempo of the game.
"Fairfield can shoot the ball," he said. "I watched them play Paint Valley, and they scored 68 there and 72 on us, but this is a tempo we are fine playing, we just need to play it on a more consistent basis.
"We have to sit down and guard the basketball better. That's all there is to it."
After the Mustangs did take what was the lead for good in the third, the Lions made the game interesting with a steal and layup by Klay Walker with 1:36 left in the third for a 45-44 deficit by the Lions. Walker ended the game with 16 points.
LC answered with a 3-pointer by Storer at the 1:07 mark and a layup by River Mullins to give LC back a six-point lead. That lead ended up being four points by the end of the quarter with Ethan Putnam making a put-back basket with 24 seconds left in the quarter.
The Mustangs increased their lead to eight points to start the fourth with Devin Pierson and Tristan Wilbanks scoring points in the paint. Pierson finished tied with the game-high in scoring with 23 points, including 14 in the fourth. Wilbanks totaled 14 points.
From there, LC went on what was a 10-2 run for a lead of 62-51 with 6:00 left in the game.
Putnam, who also tied for the game-high 23 points, later answered with a 3-pointer for the Lions and then a layup at the 4:00 mark of the fourth for a 71-62 deficit to the rival Mustangs.
With FHS (0-1, 0-4) trailing by eight points with 3:30 on the scoreboard, LC's Storer sank another 3-pointer to push LC back in front by 11. Storer finished with 16 points in the win.
Putnam made another trey for the Lions with 2:17 to make it a six-point game, but in the final 1:43 of the game, LC outscored the Lions, 8-4 to keep the win.
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At halftime, the Lions led 36-34 due in large part to a 10-2 run in the final 2:00 of the half. In that run, Paul Dean scored the first four points, and in between those two baskets were separate charges taken by the Lions.
From there, Walker made a 3-pointer, then Jensen Daulton connected from beyond the arc with a 3-pointer to put FHS in front at 36-33. LC ended the first half with a free throw to make it a two-point difference at the half.
"The first half, we did a good job at the end the half and took the lead," FHS head coach Everett Snyder said. "We maintained that lead for a good bit of the third. We were down nine in the second quarter before we fought to get ahead.
"What hurt us early on was we didn't get back on defense and they scored points in transition. They got a lot of transition baskets in the first quarter that we shouldn't have let happen. Wyatt Evans (who totaled 15 points) was big on the board with 12, but we need more than just one person going in and getting the rebounds."
Before the wild second quarter, it was LC leading after the first eight minutes, 21-17.
"Lynchburg, they have a good team, we just have to come back and be prepared to play two conference games next week," Snyder said.
This was the Lions' third game this week where they had to face a different variety of teams, including an overtime game on Tuesday, a road non-conference game Wednesday and the SHAC game Friday against the Mustangs. All in all, it has been a tough, but productive week for the Lions on the court.
"I like the progress of the team, and we have a great group of kids to build with," Snyder said. "To play Hillsboro in overtime, and to play Paint Valley, who is one of the best Division IV schools in the SE District, and Lynchburg here (Friday) … our guys played hard, we just have to keep working."
LC was able to outlast the Lions in the fourth by outscoring them 31-26, eventually taking home the win by an 81-72 final score.
For the victorious Mustangs (1-0, 3-1), they took the lead for good with 3:09 left in the third off a 3-pointer by Brandon Storer, and from there, though it wasn't the most crisp play by either team, LC managed to keep the lead and pull away as the final minutes of the game progressed.
"It was a team win (Friday)," LC head coach Matt Carson said. "We had some guys hit double digits tonight and who stepped up and got some points. The first half, we had the fast start, which we wanted, but it wasn't fast enough … we weren't scoring the way I wanted us to.
"I wanted us to make a couple extra passes, and I thought our defense was a lot better in the second half. We had a lot of mental breakdowns at the end. That is my fault, maybe we need to work on that stuff more in practice."
Carson spoke about the Lions and the tempo of the game.
"Fairfield can shoot the ball," he said. "I watched them play Paint Valley, and they scored 68 there and 72 on us, but this is a tempo we are fine playing, we just need to play it on a more consistent basis.
"We have to sit down and guard the basketball better. That's all there is to it."
After the Mustangs did take what was the lead for good in the third, the Lions made the game interesting with a steal and layup by Klay Walker with 1:36 left in the third for a 45-44 deficit by the Lions. Walker ended the game with 16 points.
LC answered with a 3-pointer by Storer at the 1:07 mark and a layup by River Mullins to give LC back a six-point lead. That lead ended up being four points by the end of the quarter with Ethan Putnam making a put-back basket with 24 seconds left in the quarter.
The Mustangs increased their lead to eight points to start the fourth with Devin Pierson and Tristan Wilbanks scoring points in the paint. Pierson finished tied with the game-high in scoring with 23 points, including 14 in the fourth. Wilbanks totaled 14 points.
From there, LC went on what was a 10-2 run for a lead of 62-51 with 6:00 left in the game.
Putnam, who also tied for the game-high 23 points, later answered with a 3-pointer for the Lions and then a layup at the 4:00 mark of the fourth for a 71-62 deficit to the rival Mustangs.
With FHS (0-1, 0-4) trailing by eight points with 3:30 on the scoreboard, LC's Storer sank another 3-pointer to push LC back in front by 11. Storer finished with 16 points in the win.
Putnam made another trey for the Lions with 2:17 to make it a six-point game, but in the final 1:43 of the game, LC outscored the Lions, 8-4 to keep the win.
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At halftime, the Lions led 36-34 due in large part to a 10-2 run in the final 2:00 of the half. In that run, Paul Dean scored the first four points, and in between those two baskets were separate charges taken by the Lions.
From there, Walker made a 3-pointer, then Jensen Daulton connected from beyond the arc with a 3-pointer to put FHS in front at 36-33. LC ended the first half with a free throw to make it a two-point difference at the half.
"The first half, we did a good job at the end the half and took the lead," FHS head coach Everett Snyder said. "We maintained that lead for a good bit of the third. We were down nine in the second quarter before we fought to get ahead.
"What hurt us early on was we didn't get back on defense and they scored points in transition. They got a lot of transition baskets in the first quarter that we shouldn't have let happen. Wyatt Evans (who totaled 15 points) was big on the board with 12, but we need more than just one person going in and getting the rebounds."
Before the wild second quarter, it was LC leading after the first eight minutes, 21-17.
"Lynchburg, they have a good team, we just have to come back and be prepared to play two conference games next week," Snyder said.
This was the Lions' third game this week where they had to face a different variety of teams, including an overtime game on Tuesday, a road non-conference game Wednesday and the SHAC game Friday against the Mustangs. All in all, it has been a tough, but productive week for the Lions on the court.
"I like the progress of the team, and we have a great group of kids to build with," Snyder said. "To play Hillsboro in overtime, and to play Paint Valley, who is one of the best Division IV schools in the SE District, and Lynchburg here (Friday) … our guys played hard, we just have to keep working."