LC Mustangs win by 10 after trailing by 19 against Felicity-Franklin

DODSONVILLE — When trailing by 19 points in the second quarter on a Tuesday night while playing on your home court in a non-conference game, it would be easy for some teams to fold up shop and start thinking about the next game, as all the momentum was with the opponent. 

That’s the difference between some teams and the Lynchburg-Clay Mustangs this season, because the Mustangs, though trailing 29-10 following a technical foul call in the second quarter, could have easily continued the game and just completed it. 

They didn’t. 

Instead, the Mustangs regrouped, refocused, cut the deficit down to 11 points at halftime, and by the time the third quarter ended, they held a one-point lead. 

With their renewed energy and awareness on the basketball court, the Mustangs then built a lead by as many as 14 points in the fourth frame to eventually gain the win over the visiting Felicity-Franklin Cardinals by a 75-65 score. 

“They (Felicity-Franklin) really shot the ball well, and we told the kids before the game that this is a game where if we don’t play well, and they shoot like they usually do, there is a chance we could get into some trouble, and that’s exactly what happened,” LCHS head coach Kyle Pertuset said. “We were able to gather ourselves and do a little better job defensively and get back in. I feel like a lot of it tonight comes down to intensity. 

“I don’t know if we thought we could roll the ball out and just play because we were home, and we were not ready to play. We’ve got to be better in that department, but at the same time, hats off to the kids for fighting back.”

The first quarter saw the Mustangs trail 20-8 when the quarter ended, then at halftime they trailed 39-28. LCHS in the first quarter had four points from Denver Clinton, two points by Tanner Roberts and two points from Niehaus. 

In the 20-point second frame, LCHS had two points from Niehaus (who ended the game with four points), Quin Wells with two points, 10 points by Clinton and six points from Harley Lewis off two 3-pointers. 

Then the third quarter began, and though the Cardinals increased their lead to 13 points with 7:02 left in the third with the first points of the quarter, the Mustangs started their comeback effort with more points on the board and stronger defense. 

“Once we got down 19 and we went into the locker room down 11, we made a couple adjustments in the second with how we were pressuring the basketball, and then we went back to (Tanner) Roberts in the third quarter, so we adjusted more to a zone press and made a couple alignment changes, and I just thought the kids did a really good job of buying into what we were trying to do in the second half,” Pertuset said. “Adjustments are adjustments, and everybody has an opinion on them, but the kids are the ones out on the floor doing the heavy lifting, and I give all the credit to them and fighting back to get this win.”

Clinton — who led LCHS with 24 points — made two free throws at the 6:35 mark, and with 5:57 on the clock Lewis scored two points for the Mustangs, making it a nine-point game. Lewis finished the game with eight points. 

Later, after two points by the Cardinals, a 3-pointer by Elam Faust (who finished with nine points) and two points scored by Tanner Roberts brought the Mustangs to within six points of tying the score at 43-37 with 4:55 left in the third. Roberts ended the game with 14 points. 

After the Cardinals made another 3-pointer, LCHS had two more free throws made by Clinton and a jumper from Wells for a five-point scoring differential at 46-41 with 4:14 left in the quarter, as Wells scored eight points in the win. 

Felicity-Franklin scored another two points for a seven-point lead, but that quickly shifted into a three-point lead as Lynchburg-Clay had a put-back basket by Roberts and points in the paint by Clinton with 2:08 left in the third. 

The Cardinals scored a basket with 1:51 left in the quarter as that was their final points of the third, but that wasn’t the case for the home team Mustangs as Roberts, Linkin Barnett (who totaled eight points) and Clinton combined for six points in the final 51 seconds of the third to put the Mustangs ahead by one point at 51-50. 

The Mustangs didn’t trail for the remainder of the game, as their lead went to four points with a 3-pointer by Barnett. LCHS built their lead to 14 points in the fourth quarter with 2:18 left in the game with points from Faust (who made a 3-pointer with 6:16 left in the quarter), Wells, Clinton and Roberts, as Lynchburg-Clay went on a 14-2 run. 

Felicity-Franklin got the LCHS lead down to as low as seven points, but ultimately the Mustangs didn’t let go of the lead as they fended off 3-pointers from Hayden Broadwell — who led the Cardinals with 32 points — and eventually won the game by 10 points. 

The Cardinals finished the game with 13 two-point baskets, 11 3-pointers (six from Broadwell), and they were 6-of-6 from the free-throw line. 

Other scorers for Felicity were: Trent Taulbee (16), Logan Cole (11) and Lane McElfresh (6). FFHS finished the game with 16 turnovers. 

The Mustangs’ team totals included 25 two-point baskets, five 3-pointers (Faust 2, Barnett 1, Lewis 2), and they went 10-of-18 from the free-throw line. LCHS had nine turnovers. 

“I thought everybody played really well, but I will say (Tanner) Roberts stepped up in the second half and started playing true to his size, which is a good thing, and I thought a lot of guys gave a great effort,” Pertuset said. “Elam Faust defensively, Linkin Barnett, Denver Clinton, and you look at Aric Slack and the minutes he gave us in the first half, that was huge toward starting the initial run.” 

Felicity-Franklin now stands at 8-12 overall this season. Lynchburg-Clay improves to 8-11 this season (3-8 SHAC Div. I). 

Next for LCHS is a home Southern Hills Athletic Conference game on Friday, Feb. 13 against the Ripley Blue Jays (0-11, 2-18). 

BOX SCORE
FFHS    20 19 11 15 — 65
LCHS    08 20 23 24 — 75

LYNCHBURG-CLAY (75) — Q.Wells 3 (0) 2-4 8, E.Faust 1 (2) 1-4 9, L.Barnett 1 (1) 3-6 8, T.Niehaus 2 (0) 0-0 4, T.Roberts 7 (0) 0-0 14, D.Clinton 10 (0) 4-4 24, H.Lewis 1 (2) 0-0 8. TOTALS: 25 (5) 10-18 75. 

FELICITY-FRANKLIN (65) — H.Broadwell 6 (6) 2-2 32, T.Taulbee 4 (2) 2-2 16, L.Cole 3 (1) 2-2 11, L.McElfresh 0 (2) 0-0 6. TOTALS: 13 (11) 6-6 65.