McClain Lady Tigers win Round 1 in rivalry game with Hillsboro
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
GREENFIELD — Saturday was one of the closer contested games in quite some time between the host McClain Lady Tigers and the Hillsboro Lady Indians, as the score was tied in the fourth frame. After the score was tied around the 3:00 mark, it was the Lady Tigers who broke away in the final minutes for a 37-30 victory.
The win at McClain Gym on “Super Saturday” in the Frontier Athletic Conference showcased top quality on both sides, but it all came down to the fourth quarter. Entering the final eight minutes of action, McClain led by a 25-24 score, after the Lady Indians were the ones who led the third frame at 6-2.
Neither team did any scoring in the first minute of the final quarter, and it wasn’t until the 6:50 mark of the quarter where Kyla Burchett sank a free throw for MHS with 6:50 on the clock for a 26-24 lead. McClain (4-1, 6-3) added to their lead with a put-back basket by Bri Weller as she grabbed the offensive rebound and battled the defense of HHS for the tough two-point basket.
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Hillsboro (0-5, 1-9) responded with two consecutive baskets, as Jordan Moberly brought the Lady Indians within two points of tying the score with a basket at the 4:58 mark. That was followed with a jumper by Mallory Parsons with 3:09 left in regulation for a 28-28 tied score.
Eight seconds later on the game clock, Weller — who totaled seven points — was fouled and responded by making one of the two ensuing free throws, and with 2:25 left in the quarter, Burchett sank a jump shot for a 31-28 McClain advantage. Burchett finished the game with six points.
McClain continued to add to their lead — which ultimately became a 9-2 run to end the game — with two free throws by Weller and four free throws on two final visits to the free-throw line by Emma Stegbauer. HHS ended the scoring for the game with a basket by Karleigh Hopkins, who totaled five points in the loss.
“Our shooting woes continued, but we did enough at the end of the game to win,” McClain head coach Jarrod Haines said. “We went to a zone, and I felt that was the difference in the fourth quarter, and they struggled to have any offense at the end. Jaelyn Pitzer did a great job of reading things and getting her hands on a lot of passes, and that opened things up, and we are a lot better when we are in transition.
“We just didn’t have very many opportunities to get into transition, but in the fourth quarter I felt we did. In the second half, we only made three shots from the field, but free throw-wise we did enough to win, and I’m proud of my kids.”
A big difference in the game was the free-throw shooting by both teams with the Lady Indians going 6-of-17 (35 percent) from the free-throw line, while McClain was 12-of-17 (71-percent).
Hillsboro head coach JR Moberly also spoke about the game, highlighting the effort his team played with on Saturday.
“I though our kids played especially hard, but that is what we kind of expect,” Moberly said. “I thought we played pretty well for three-and-a-half quarters. Our defense was excellent, and it was my fault because we played man up to the last possession, then I switched it to a zone.”
Early on in the game, the tone was set with McClain leading 11-7 after the completion of the first frame, but it was Hillsboro’s Karleigh Hopkins who put the Lady Indians on the scoreboard first with a 3-0 lead off a three-point play. From there, a jumper by Stegbauer, followed by a 3-pointer by Burchett, left McClain ahead 5-3. Gracie Dean tied the score with two points for the Lady Indians, but Josie Crabtree broke the tied score with a basket at the 3:30 mark for a 7-5 score in favor of the Lady Tigers.
McClain’s Payton Pryor gained a three-point play to build a five-point advantage. MHS scored the final points of the first frame with a free throw by Stegbauer for the 11-7 score.
McClain held the lead for the entire second quarter, gaining a 23-18 advantage, as they outscored visiting Hillsboro, 12-11.
In the second frame the Lady Tigers had scoring from Cierra Bolender, Pryor, Jaelyn Pitzer and Stegbauer. In the second frame, Pitzer sank two 3-pointers and made a two-point baskets. Her first trey of the frame came with 3:15 left in the quarter to push the Lady Tigers ahead by six points at 18-12. The second 3-pointer by Pitzer came with eight seconds left in the quarter for what was the halftime score of 23-18.
Stegbauer and Pitzer tied for the lead in scoring for MHS with eight points each.
For HHS in the second quarter, their 11 points were scored by Josie Hopkins (three), Mallory Parsons (two), Brynn Bledsoe (five) and Christine Page (one).
In the third quarter, Hillsboro outscored the Lady Tigers 6-2, as HHS scored their six points off a basket by Moberly, followed by a layup by Josie Hopkins and another two-point basket by Hopkins, as she led the Lady Indians with nine points for the game. McClain’s lone points in the third were scored off a jumper from Weller.
Other final scoring for the game for the Lady Tigers included Pryor with four points, Crabtree with two points and Bolender with two points. More final scoring for the Lady Indians included Dean (two), Parsons (four), Bledsoe (five), Moberly (four) and Page (one).
Next for the Lady Indians is a home game on Monday, Dec. 23 vs. the Paint Valley Lady Bearcats in a non-conference game. McClain is scheduled to play next on Saturday, Dec. 28 at Adena with a JV start of noon.
The win at McClain Gym on “Super Saturday” in the Frontier Athletic Conference showcased top quality on both sides, but it all came down to the fourth quarter. Entering the final eight minutes of action, McClain led by a 25-24 score, after the Lady Indians were the ones who led the third frame at 6-2.
Neither team did any scoring in the first minute of the final quarter, and it wasn’t until the 6:50 mark of the quarter where Kyla Burchett sank a free throw for MHS with 6:50 on the clock for a 26-24 lead. McClain (4-1, 6-3) added to their lead with a put-back basket by Bri Weller as she grabbed the offensive rebound and battled the defense of HHS for the tough two-point basket.
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Hillsboro (0-5, 1-9) responded with two consecutive baskets, as Jordan Moberly brought the Lady Indians within two points of tying the score with a basket at the 4:58 mark. That was followed with a jumper by Mallory Parsons with 3:09 left in regulation for a 28-28 tied score.
Eight seconds later on the game clock, Weller — who totaled seven points — was fouled and responded by making one of the two ensuing free throws, and with 2:25 left in the quarter, Burchett sank a jump shot for a 31-28 McClain advantage. Burchett finished the game with six points.
McClain continued to add to their lead — which ultimately became a 9-2 run to end the game — with two free throws by Weller and four free throws on two final visits to the free-throw line by Emma Stegbauer. HHS ended the scoring for the game with a basket by Karleigh Hopkins, who totaled five points in the loss.
“Our shooting woes continued, but we did enough at the end of the game to win,” McClain head coach Jarrod Haines said. “We went to a zone, and I felt that was the difference in the fourth quarter, and they struggled to have any offense at the end. Jaelyn Pitzer did a great job of reading things and getting her hands on a lot of passes, and that opened things up, and we are a lot better when we are in transition.
“We just didn’t have very many opportunities to get into transition, but in the fourth quarter I felt we did. In the second half, we only made three shots from the field, but free throw-wise we did enough to win, and I’m proud of my kids.”
A big difference in the game was the free-throw shooting by both teams with the Lady Indians going 6-of-17 (35 percent) from the free-throw line, while McClain was 12-of-17 (71-percent).
Hillsboro head coach JR Moberly also spoke about the game, highlighting the effort his team played with on Saturday.
“I though our kids played especially hard, but that is what we kind of expect,” Moberly said. “I thought we played pretty well for three-and-a-half quarters. Our defense was excellent, and it was my fault because we played man up to the last possession, then I switched it to a zone.”
Early on in the game, the tone was set with McClain leading 11-7 after the completion of the first frame, but it was Hillsboro’s Karleigh Hopkins who put the Lady Indians on the scoreboard first with a 3-0 lead off a three-point play. From there, a jumper by Stegbauer, followed by a 3-pointer by Burchett, left McClain ahead 5-3. Gracie Dean tied the score with two points for the Lady Indians, but Josie Crabtree broke the tied score with a basket at the 3:30 mark for a 7-5 score in favor of the Lady Tigers.
McClain’s Payton Pryor gained a three-point play to build a five-point advantage. MHS scored the final points of the first frame with a free throw by Stegbauer for the 11-7 score.
McClain held the lead for the entire second quarter, gaining a 23-18 advantage, as they outscored visiting Hillsboro, 12-11.
In the second frame the Lady Tigers had scoring from Cierra Bolender, Pryor, Jaelyn Pitzer and Stegbauer. In the second frame, Pitzer sank two 3-pointers and made a two-point baskets. Her first trey of the frame came with 3:15 left in the quarter to push the Lady Tigers ahead by six points at 18-12. The second 3-pointer by Pitzer came with eight seconds left in the quarter for what was the halftime score of 23-18.
Stegbauer and Pitzer tied for the lead in scoring for MHS with eight points each.
For HHS in the second quarter, their 11 points were scored by Josie Hopkins (three), Mallory Parsons (two), Brynn Bledsoe (five) and Christine Page (one).
In the third quarter, Hillsboro outscored the Lady Tigers 6-2, as HHS scored their six points off a basket by Moberly, followed by a layup by Josie Hopkins and another two-point basket by Hopkins, as she led the Lady Indians with nine points for the game. McClain’s lone points in the third were scored off a jumper from Weller.
Other final scoring for the game for the Lady Tigers included Pryor with four points, Crabtree with two points and Bolender with two points. More final scoring for the Lady Indians included Dean (two), Parsons (four), Bledsoe (five), Moberly (four) and Page (one).
Next for the Lady Indians is a home game on Monday, Dec. 23 vs. the Paint Valley Lady Bearcats in a non-conference game. McClain is scheduled to play next on Saturday, Dec. 28 at Adena with a JV start of noon.