McClain controls tempo to defeat rival Hillsboro

GREENFIELD — The McClain Lady Tigers and the Hillsboro Lady Indians battled relatively close for three quarters on Wednesday night, but the Lady Tigers used their depth and fast break scoring runs in the final eight minutes to pull away from their rival.

Once the final buzzer sounded, McClain had built a 29-point differential to seal the South Central Ohio League win by a 62-33 score at McClain Gym, giving them two wins in two days.

The previous night, the Lady Tigers won on the road at Adena by a 58-31 score. The two consecutive wins move the Lady Tigers to 8-2 overall and 5-2 in the SCOL. The loss sends Hillsboro to 1-6 in the league and 1-11 overall.

Take away the fourth quarter for the Lady Indians, and it was a game where they can build something on for the future of the program, as they are still a young team, with most players halfway through their varsity season.

“I asked my kids before the start of the game to give me everything they had, and they just ran out in the fourth quarter,” HHS head coach JR Moberly said. “They played hard all night long against a good basketball team, and I thought they gave me everything they had.

“In the end, the girls were spent, but I’m proud of the the effort they gave. I couldn’t be any more pleased with the effort the girls gave.”

McClain has some young players as well, although they have more varsity experience than their Highland County counterpart, but in the first frame, once eight minutes expired off the scoreboard, MHS led the visiting Lady Indians, 10-8, as the first four points of the game were scored by Beth Montgomery, giving the hosts a 4-0 advantage.

From there, Madison Snyder of the Lady Indians cut the lead in half with a jumper, but Malea Montavon answered for the Lady Tigers with four straight points, pushing the Lady Tigers out front, 8-2 with 3:18 left in the quarter.

Montavon finished with a game-high 21 points, totaling nine two-point baskets and one 3-pointer.

HHS came back by scoring six of the final eight points, making it a two-point game with two points by Snyder and the final four points of the first frame from Madi Marsh.

The Lady Tigers didn’t back away in the second quarter following the run of points by HHS that ended the first half. Instead, they too put together a nice scoring run to begin the second frame with Montavon, Maddy Stegbauer, Montgomery and Taylor Polley all contributing to the scoring in what was an 8-0 run with 6:04 left in the second, giving the Lady Tigers a 10-point advantage. On the last points of the run, Polley stole the ball and took it straight to the hoop on a fast break.

Polley totaled 14 points in the win. Montgomery was also in double figures for the Lady Tigers, ending the game with 10 points.

“We played really good last night, and tonight we didn’t shoot the ball as well,” McClain head coach Jarrod Haines said. “Luckily we had Malea Montavon on the floor, and she played a really good game. Once she got an offensive rebound and basket, she picked up from there and never quit. She made some big shots for us.”

Snyder broke up that scoring drive as well with two points for the Lady Indians, and eventually HHS cut the MHS lead to just four points with 3:29 left in the first half. Snyder led HHS with 11 points.

Montavon kept the Lady Tigers out front with two clutch baskets in the paint for an eight-point advantage, and Mikenzie Coleman, along with Polley, gave MHS a lead of 11 points with 1:23 left in the half. Natalie Sullivan scored two points for HHS on a jumper, but the final points of the first half came with a jump shot at the buzzer by Montavon for a 27-18 lead.

The third frame was close as well, a three-point differential, as MHS won the frame at 14-11. HHS never cut the lead of the Lady Tigers down to single digits in the third or fourth quarters, as MHS won the final frame as well at 21-4.

In the third for HHS, Sullivan sank a 3-pointer with 4:15 left on the clock, highlighting their quarter. For MHS, Montavon scored seven points in the quarter, while Polley added three and Stegbauer totaled two points in the 14-point frame.

McClain’s fourth saw scoring from Montgomery, Montavon, Polley, Makenzie Montavon and a 3-pointer by Sara Bennett. Lana Grover and Snyder combined for the HHS fourth-quarter scoring.

For the game, HHS shot 57-percent from the free-throw line at 8-of-14, and MHS went 4-of-9 for 44 percent.

“Credit Hillsboro, every time we would make a run, JR would call a timeout and they would come right back at us,” Haines said. “We were able to take over in the fourth quarter when we had enough.

“We are still a young team. We don’t have a senior on the roster, and we are still learning every day. We are still trying to figure things out, so I couldn’t ask for a better group in terms of coming in and working on things. We just need to work on our defense more, because I’m a defensive-minded coach, but we are going to get there soon.”

In JV play on Wednesday, McClain defeated Hillsboro, 25-14. MHS was led by Elizabeth Kegley with six points and Macie Adams with five. For Hillsboro, Kelsey Burns and Kaley Burns led the Lady Indians with six points each.

HHS will play again on Dec. 30 at Goshen, and McClain’s next game will be on Dec. 28 vs. Whiteoak.

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In their game on Tuesday night at Adena, the Lady Tigers won by a 58-31 score over Adena in non-league play.

The Lady Tigers led 33-13 at the half and won the second-half quarters by a 25-18 score.

Polley led MHS with 21 points in the win over Adena, making three 3-pointers, and she was 4-of-6 from the free throw line. The junior guard also added four two-point baskets.

Malea Montavon followed with 11 points, including four two-point baskets and a 3-pointer, which came in the first quarter.

Beth Montgomery finished with nine points, and Lexie Barton totaled eight points in the victory over Adena. Also for MHS, Makenzie Montavon scored four points, Maddy Stegbauer finished with three points and scoring two points was Mikenzie Coleman.