Second-half adjustments lead McClain Lady Tigers to win over Hillsboro
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
GREENFIELD — After a strong first half by the Hillsboro Lady Indians, the visiting McClain Lady Tigers had a stronger second half, and after trailing at halftime, the Lady Tigers regrouped, made adjustments and controlled the final two frames en route to a 45-33 win in Frontier Athletic Conference play at HHS.
McClain (6-1, 12-2) had issues with the Lady Indians’ press defense in the first two frames — just two days following their biggest win of the season to date when they defeated the Miami Trace Lady Panthers in overtime — and it was Hillsboro leading at the half, 23-20.
After the halftime break, McClain made adjustments, and the Lady Tigers took control of the game in the third frame. Their defense held Hillsboro to just two points in the quarter, and the MHS offense scored 15 points, including eight of those points by Jaelyn Pitzer, to take the lead at the 5:59 mark of the third and not trail for the remainder of the game.
“The girls fought hard right from the beginning, and I thought we had a pretty good start, but we just had trouble guarding Hillsboro’s half-court man, and they do a good job,” McClain head coach Jarrod Haines said. “Gracie Dean is extremely active, and Brynn Bledsoe knocked down some big shots for them, so we were just having some problems.
“We made some adjustments and went to the zone, and it gave them some problems. We held them to two points in the third quarter, I’m super proud of my kids for making the adjustments, and this is the second week in a row that we’ve done that going into the half.”
This was also the 32nd straight time the McClain girls basketball program has defeated the Lady Indians, a streak that began on the second meeting of the 2004-05 season on Feb. 5, 2005.
As for how the game began on Monday night, it was McClain who scored the first points of the game with a jumper from Kyla Burchett, and less 21 seconds later, it was Bri Weller who made it a 4-0 lead for McClain with a two-point basket. Weller finished the game with 17 points to lead the Lady Tigers.
“Weller and Pryor just worked extremely hard on the offensive boards, and I’m sure they were in double-digit on rebounds, but they were both extremely active on the inside,” Haines said. “Teams make Bri earn the points that she gets, but she is active. Bri presents a matchup nightmare, and they had a guard on her, and we were trying to take advantage of that in the first half and feed her the ball inside.”
Hillsboro (3-4, 5-9) answered with a basket from Brynn Bledsoe, only to have Weller score two points in the paint for MHS following a rebound. Bledsoe equaled those points with two made shots from the free-throw line, followed with two points by Sinai Roberts of HHS, tying the score at 6-6 with 3:11 on the first-quarter clock.
McClain regained the lead with a bucket from Payton Pryor, only to see Gracie Dean of the Lady Indians add two points to the home side of the scoreboard, tying the score at eight points each. Pryor added two more points from the free-throw line, and Bledsoe added one last point in the quarter with a free throw. Pryor totaled nine points in the win, while Hillsboro’s Dean led HHS with 14 points.
Hillsboro outscored the Lady Tigers, 14-10 in the second quarter, giving the home team a 23-20 lead at halftime. In the second, McClain had a basket by Weller to start the quarter, but Dean answered with a layup at the 5:07 mark of the second for a 12-11 McClain lead.
MHS extended their lead to three points with two made free-throw attempts by Pryor, but a wide-open 3-pointer from Bledsoe tied the game at 14 points each with 4:35 remaining in the first half. HHS took the lead following a put-back basket by Roberts. Bledsoe totaled 13 points for HHS.
Both teams continued to battle with McClain having points in the rest of the second frame by Emma Stegbauer, Pryor and Burchett, while HHS had points by Bledsoe and Dean (including a three-point play) to leave HHS in the lead at 23-20.
Then came the third frame as McClain won the frame, 15-2 for a 35-25 lead. Weller scored first with a layup, and Stegbauer tied the score at 23 with a made free throw at the 6:54 mark.
McClain took the lead with a 3-pointer from Pitzer at the 5:59 mark, and following a basket by Dean, the Lady Tigers ended the frame with a 9-0 run as Pitzer scored another 3-pointer, then a two-point layup, followed by two points from both Weller and Burchett for a 10-point lead at the end of the frame. Pitzer scored a total of eight points for the game in the win.
“Jaelyn hit two big threes and had a nice layup on a put-back, and she was huge for us,” Haines said of the third-quarter scoring of Pitzer. “It isn’t something we always ask her to do offensively, because she’s such a good defender for us, but tonight she hit some huge shots for us.
“She can do that, as she’s been coming on lately and hitting a lot of threes for us. She did that one Saturday (vs. Miami Trace), so I’m proud of her for that.”
HHS scored eight points in the fourth quarter, giving them 10 points in the second half combined, while McClain added 10 points in the fourth frame. McClain’s points in the fourth frame were by Weller, Pryor, Stegbauer and Lily Barnes.
Hillsboro ended up being held scoreless from the 5:47 mark of the third to the 4:04 mark of the fourth quarter, as the scoreless drought of 10:23 came to an end with a 3-pointer by Bledsoe. Also scoring points in the fourth for HHS were Mya Bell and Dean.
Other final scoring for the Lady Tigers included Burchett (four points), Stegbauer (five points) and Barnes (two points). More final scoring for Hillsboro included four points by Roberts and two points from Bell.
McClain will next play Western Brown (varsity only) Saturday, Jan. 23 at the Eastern Brown Showcase.
Hillsboro’s next game is also Saturday, Jan. 23, when they host Waverly. The Lady Indians’ game on Jan. 20 at West Union was postponed due to COVID-19 and has been rescheduled for Feb. 10.
McClain (6-1, 12-2) had issues with the Lady Indians’ press defense in the first two frames — just two days following their biggest win of the season to date when they defeated the Miami Trace Lady Panthers in overtime — and it was Hillsboro leading at the half, 23-20.
After the halftime break, McClain made adjustments, and the Lady Tigers took control of the game in the third frame. Their defense held Hillsboro to just two points in the quarter, and the MHS offense scored 15 points, including eight of those points by Jaelyn Pitzer, to take the lead at the 5:59 mark of the third and not trail for the remainder of the game.
“The girls fought hard right from the beginning, and I thought we had a pretty good start, but we just had trouble guarding Hillsboro’s half-court man, and they do a good job,” McClain head coach Jarrod Haines said. “Gracie Dean is extremely active, and Brynn Bledsoe knocked down some big shots for them, so we were just having some problems.
“We made some adjustments and went to the zone, and it gave them some problems. We held them to two points in the third quarter, I’m super proud of my kids for making the adjustments, and this is the second week in a row that we’ve done that going into the half.”
This was also the 32nd straight time the McClain girls basketball program has defeated the Lady Indians, a streak that began on the second meeting of the 2004-05 season on Feb. 5, 2005.
As for how the game began on Monday night, it was McClain who scored the first points of the game with a jumper from Kyla Burchett, and less 21 seconds later, it was Bri Weller who made it a 4-0 lead for McClain with a two-point basket. Weller finished the game with 17 points to lead the Lady Tigers.
“Weller and Pryor just worked extremely hard on the offensive boards, and I’m sure they were in double-digit on rebounds, but they were both extremely active on the inside,” Haines said. “Teams make Bri earn the points that she gets, but she is active. Bri presents a matchup nightmare, and they had a guard on her, and we were trying to take advantage of that in the first half and feed her the ball inside.”
Hillsboro (3-4, 5-9) answered with a basket from Brynn Bledsoe, only to have Weller score two points in the paint for MHS following a rebound. Bledsoe equaled those points with two made shots from the free-throw line, followed with two points by Sinai Roberts of HHS, tying the score at 6-6 with 3:11 on the first-quarter clock.
McClain regained the lead with a bucket from Payton Pryor, only to see Gracie Dean of the Lady Indians add two points to the home side of the scoreboard, tying the score at eight points each. Pryor added two more points from the free-throw line, and Bledsoe added one last point in the quarter with a free throw. Pryor totaled nine points in the win, while Hillsboro’s Dean led HHS with 14 points.
Hillsboro outscored the Lady Tigers, 14-10 in the second quarter, giving the home team a 23-20 lead at halftime. In the second, McClain had a basket by Weller to start the quarter, but Dean answered with a layup at the 5:07 mark of the second for a 12-11 McClain lead.
MHS extended their lead to three points with two made free-throw attempts by Pryor, but a wide-open 3-pointer from Bledsoe tied the game at 14 points each with 4:35 remaining in the first half. HHS took the lead following a put-back basket by Roberts. Bledsoe totaled 13 points for HHS.
Both teams continued to battle with McClain having points in the rest of the second frame by Emma Stegbauer, Pryor and Burchett, while HHS had points by Bledsoe and Dean (including a three-point play) to leave HHS in the lead at 23-20.
Then came the third frame as McClain won the frame, 15-2 for a 35-25 lead. Weller scored first with a layup, and Stegbauer tied the score at 23 with a made free throw at the 6:54 mark.
McClain took the lead with a 3-pointer from Pitzer at the 5:59 mark, and following a basket by Dean, the Lady Tigers ended the frame with a 9-0 run as Pitzer scored another 3-pointer, then a two-point layup, followed by two points from both Weller and Burchett for a 10-point lead at the end of the frame. Pitzer scored a total of eight points for the game in the win.
“Jaelyn hit two big threes and had a nice layup on a put-back, and she was huge for us,” Haines said of the third-quarter scoring of Pitzer. “It isn’t something we always ask her to do offensively, because she’s such a good defender for us, but tonight she hit some huge shots for us.
“She can do that, as she’s been coming on lately and hitting a lot of threes for us. She did that one Saturday (vs. Miami Trace), so I’m proud of her for that.”
HHS scored eight points in the fourth quarter, giving them 10 points in the second half combined, while McClain added 10 points in the fourth frame. McClain’s points in the fourth frame were by Weller, Pryor, Stegbauer and Lily Barnes.
Hillsboro ended up being held scoreless from the 5:47 mark of the third to the 4:04 mark of the fourth quarter, as the scoreless drought of 10:23 came to an end with a 3-pointer by Bledsoe. Also scoring points in the fourth for HHS were Mya Bell and Dean.
Other final scoring for the Lady Tigers included Burchett (four points), Stegbauer (five points) and Barnes (two points). More final scoring for Hillsboro included four points by Roberts and two points from Bell.
McClain will next play Western Brown (varsity only) Saturday, Jan. 23 at the Eastern Brown Showcase.
Hillsboro’s next game is also Saturday, Jan. 23, when they host Waverly. The Lady Indians’ game on Jan. 20 at West Union was postponed due to COVID-19 and has been rescheduled for Feb. 10.