McClain defeats county rival Hillsboro

     GREENFIELD – The McClain Lady Tigers keep on rolling in the early part of the season with pressure defense and the ability to go deep into their bench, as they defeated cross-county rival Hillsboro 63-19 Tuesday night at McClain High School.

     With the game being the South Central Ohio League opener for both squads, it was the tough Lady Tiger team who started off the opening eight minutes with a 22-1 run to set the tone for the remainder of the game.

     “Hillsboro struggled at the start of the game with their scoring, and that allowed us to open up with the big lead,” McClain head coach Dennis Overstake said. “Hillsboro played hard the entire game, but they just couldn’t get the ball to fall.”

     MHS junior Chrissy Cobb continued her strong season by starting off the game with a steal, and two points off the forced turnover. While scoring the layup, the junior was fouled and she converted a three-point play with the made free throw.

     Senior Shelby Buck came back with more points for the Lady Tigers as she sank a 3-pointer with 6:33 left in the opening quarter.

     HHS senior Heather Storer went 1 of 2 from the free-throw line for the Lady Indians, for the lone point of the quarter for HHS with 6:24 left in the quarter.

     “We had opportunities early in the game, but we missed four shots in the lane and that hurt us,” Hillsboro head coach Herb Mihalik said.

     McClain senior Kate Hammond, who led all scorers with a game-high 10 points in a combined two quarters played, connected twice from the foul line to increase the MHS lead to 8-1.

     MHS (1-0, 3-0) continued to keep the game a half-court game by pressuring the Lady Indians, and Cobb, again, stole the ball and took it to the hoop, stopping in the process while the Lady Indians over-pursued and then sank the basket. The Lady Tigers finished with a total of 13 steals.

     With 4:07 left in the first, MHS senior Megan Saylor sank a shot for a 12-1 advantage. Also scoring in the opening quarter for the Lady Tigers were junior Frankie Wise, sophomore Jenna Perie and sophomore Kate Crabtree. Wise nailed her second basket of the quarter at the buzzer for the 22-1 advantage.

     In the second quarter, a quarter in which the Lady Tigers cleared the bench, allowing all players to gain playing time, sophomore Sammy Rooks made the lead 25 points with a basket.

     MHS junior Megan Hogle followed with two free throws and senior Savanna Brown scored her first points of the season with a basket inside the paint, while under pressure with 4:52 left in the first half.

     The first HHS points of the quarter came with 1:52 left when Storer made a free throw. The first half ended with Saylor going 2 of 2 from the free-throw line, and Storer making the first HHS shot from the floor for the Lady Indians with 1:12 left in the second quarter.

     Buck increased the MHS lead to 37-4 in the third with a 3-pointer.

     HHS senior Shelby Coyle maneuvered around a defender and went to the hoop with 6:21 left in the third. But, the Lady Tigers were there to retaliate as Hammond and Saylor made back-to-back baskets.

     Coyle answered with a long-range jumper, but for the second time in the quarter, it was the combo of Hammond and Saylor who increased the MHS lead to 47-8 at the halfway mark of the third.

     Sophomore Annemarie Stamper made a put back basket for HHS late in the quarter and senior Megan Barnes drained a 3-pointer with 17 seconds left in the third for HHS.

     “We played better in the second half,” Mihalik said. “We took shots we wanted to take and hopefully that will help turn things around in the future. We talked about playing hard every possession and if we do that, that is all I can ask for.”

     HHS junior Jenni Willey scored late in the final quarter for HHS. Rooks made consecutive baskets for MHS in the fourth. MHS senior Alex Taylor made the score 61-17 with two points at the 3:16 mark of the final eight minutes.

     For the second time this season 11 Lady Tigers scored at least two points in the game.

     MHS led in rebounds with 35, as Perie led the Lady Tigers with six. Hammond and Hogle each had five boards. HHS had 12 rebounds total.

     “We aren’t always going to be able to press like we did in this game, but when we can’t press we can go into a quarter defense,” Overstake said. “Our full court pressure is just one of our weapons.”

     HHS (0-1, 0-3) will play again Friday, their fourth road game, as they face SCOL foe Madison-Plains at MPHS.

     MHS will host SCOL rival Clinton-Massie on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. The MHS freshman will start the Saturday triple header at 10:30 a.m. as they face Western.

BOX SCORE

SCORE BY QUARTERS

HHS – 1 3 11 4 – 19

MHS – 22 12 17 12 – 63

INDIVIDUAL STATS

MHS (63)

F.Wise 2 4, S.Rooks 4 8, S.Brown 1 2, C.Cobb 4 1-1 9, M.Saylor 3 2-2 8, M.Hogle 2 2-2 6, K.Hammond 4 2-4 10, K.Crabtree 1 2, S.Buck 0 (2) 6, A.Taylor 1 2-2 4, J.Perie 2 4. TOTALS: 24 (2) 9-11 63.

HHS (19)

S.Coyle 3 0-2 6, A.Stamper 2 0-1 4, H.Storer 1 2-6 4, M.Barnes 0 (1) 3, J.Willey 1 2. TOTALS: 7 (1) 2-9 19.