Wildcats add SHAC win with victory over Lynchburg-Clay
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
DODSONVILLE — A very strong first quarter by the Whiteoak Wildcats set the pace of their rivalry game with the host Lynchburg-Clay Mustangs on Tuesday night, as it was the Wildcats who held the lead at the conclusion of all four quarters for a 71-55 win in Southern Hills Athletic Conference play.
With the win, the Wildcats added to their lead in the conference standings in Division II of the SHAC, improving to 7-2 in the SHAC, while their overall record moved to 11-7.
Whiteoak had four players reach double-figure scoring en route to the win, as Brad Ashbaugh led the way with 28 points. Landon Barnett followed with 20 points, while Luken Roades totaled 12 points and Nick Bailey scored 11 points.
WHS totaled 10 3-pointers among those four players, with 13 two-point baskets, and they all finished a combined 15-of-15 from the free-throw line.
“Like I told the guys, every win we can knock down here at the end of the year is good for league, good for tournament, and our guys came out and played well, came out and shot, especially in the first quarter,” Whiteoak head coach Ryan Barnett said. “I was happy overall with the kids, and in the first quarter we were like 7-of-8 from three.
“(Lynchburg-Clay) called a timeout, and I told the kids, ‘Look, you can’t live and die with the three, and it is going to stop here in a little bit,’ and it did. We just have to understand that and go to something else.
“Having scoring like we did (Tuesday) makes it tough for the other team to guard. It was a good all-around offensive effort for us.”
Whiteoak led 19-6 four minutes into the opening frame with Ashbaugh having three points in that time frame, while Barnett scored seven points and Roades scored nine of the first 19 points by the Wildcats in that span. Roades finished the game with four 3-pointers.
Eventually Lynchburg-Clay (4-5, 5-12) came back to make it a 19-9 score with a 3-pointer by Brady Chisman, but Ashbaugh answered with a 3-pointer of his own for a 22-9 Wildcat advantage with 2:26 still left in the first frame. Chisman led LCHS with 13 points for the game.
By the time the first frame came to a close, it was WHS leading by 10 points at 27-17.
“They came out shooting hot in the first quarter, and we didn’t answer as well on the offensive end in that first quarter, but even with that being said, we went to some different stuff defensively and held them in check for awhile,” LCHS head coach Matt Carson said. “We got a couple run outs and didn’t go down, got a steal but we’d turn it over … We put ourselves in position to chip into that lead, but we just did that at the most inopportune times.
“They just jumped on us really early, and when that happens you are playing catch-up for the rest of the game, and I felt that’s what we were doing the rest of the game, playing catch-up.”
LCHS had points from Chisman, Ian Waits, Chase Smaltz, Kyle Bennington and Noah Miller in the first.
Whiteoak finished the second frame with an 11-point lead, outscoring the Mustangs, 8-7 in the quarter. Bailey began the second with a three-point play for a 30-17 WHS advantage with 7:22 on the clock.
Ashbaugh followed with a 3-pointer for Whiteoak and a 33-17 score for a lead of 16 points with 6:27 left in the opening half. For the game, in Ashbaugh’s 28 points scored, he totaled five two-point baskets, four 3-pointers and he was 6-of-6 from the free-throw line.
LCHS scored the next seven points with a basket by Bryce Badgley, a 3-pointer from Chisman and a layup by Miller, as Miller totaled 12 points for the Mustangs.
WHS scored 10 points in the third, while the Mustangs cut the Whiteoak lead to eight points as LCHS scored 13 points in the third. Though Barnett scored the first points of the third frame for WHS, LC answered with a 3-pointer by Miller and a 3-pointer from Binkley for a 37-30 score with 5:15 left in the third.
Ashbaugh came back for the Wildcats by scoring two points in the paint, and then following a rebound and layup by Barnett, it was WHS leading by 11 points with 3:42 on the third-quarter clock at 41-30.
Bennington — who finished with 10 points for the game — scored two points for LCHS off a put-back basket, and WHS equaled those points with two made free throws by Bailey after he was fouled. Miller scored two points off a put-back basket of his own for the Mustangs. In Bailey’s 11 points scored, he collected three two-point baskets and was 5-of-5 in his free throw attempts.
Next, Barnett stole the ball and took it to the hoop for two points with 39 seconds on the scoreboard. Barnett ended the game with five two-point baskets, two 3-pointers, and he was 4-of-4 from the free-throw line.
LCHS scored the final three points of the third when Smaltz sank a 3-pointer at the top of the key in the final seconds of the frame.
“We came out and guarded man in the third quarter, and I thought the kids did a good job of that,” Carson said. “We cut the lead to five at the start of the fourth, but they hit a couple shots and it was just a couple little things.
“Whiteoak is playing good basketball right now. We just have to come back and work tomorrow to get ready for Friday.”
Whiteoak’s eight-point lead after three quarters shrank to five points at the start of the fourth when Ian Waits knocked down a 3-pointer for a 45-40 score, still in favor of Whiteoak.
That was as close as the Mustangs got to the lead for the rest of the game, as the Wildcats outscored LCHS, 26-18 in the final eight minus of action.
In the fourth frame for Whiteoak, Ashbaugh made one 3-pointer, three two-point baskets and he was 6-of-6 from the free-throw line.
Whiteoak also extended their lead with four points in the fourth by Bailey, four points by Barnett (4-of-4 fro the free-throw line) and a 3-pointer by Roades. In the fourth quarter alone, WHS was 12-of-12 from the free-throw line.
“We kind of used a couple of our strengths in the fourth with rebounding, getting up the floor and getting quick transition points,” Barnettt said. “We also were able to put the press on, got a steal or two and got some transition points out of that too.
“Overall, our guys played well tonight. We are playing well at the right time of the season.”
As a team, the Mustangs totaled 15 two-point baskets, seven 3-pointers (Chisman 2, Miller 2, Waits 1, Smaltz 1, Binkley 1), and they were 4-of-7 from the free-throw line.
In the JV game, the Wildcats defeated Lynchburg-Clay, 43-15. WHS was led in the JV game by Evan DeAtley with 11 points and Logan Bieler with 10 points. Landon West and Trey Pitzer each scored five points for LCHS in the JV game to lead the way for the Mustangs.
Next for the Wildcats is an SHAC game on Saturday, Feb. 6, as they will host the Peebles Indians. The Mustangs are scheduled to play again on Friday, Feb. 5 at home against the North Adams Green Devils in an SHAC contest.
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With the win, the Wildcats added to their lead in the conference standings in Division II of the SHAC, improving to 7-2 in the SHAC, while their overall record moved to 11-7.
Whiteoak had four players reach double-figure scoring en route to the win, as Brad Ashbaugh led the way with 28 points. Landon Barnett followed with 20 points, while Luken Roades totaled 12 points and Nick Bailey scored 11 points.
WHS totaled 10 3-pointers among those four players, with 13 two-point baskets, and they all finished a combined 15-of-15 from the free-throw line.
“Like I told the guys, every win we can knock down here at the end of the year is good for league, good for tournament, and our guys came out and played well, came out and shot, especially in the first quarter,” Whiteoak head coach Ryan Barnett said. “I was happy overall with the kids, and in the first quarter we were like 7-of-8 from three.
“(Lynchburg-Clay) called a timeout, and I told the kids, ‘Look, you can’t live and die with the three, and it is going to stop here in a little bit,’ and it did. We just have to understand that and go to something else.
“Having scoring like we did (Tuesday) makes it tough for the other team to guard. It was a good all-around offensive effort for us.”
Whiteoak led 19-6 four minutes into the opening frame with Ashbaugh having three points in that time frame, while Barnett scored seven points and Roades scored nine of the first 19 points by the Wildcats in that span. Roades finished the game with four 3-pointers.
Eventually Lynchburg-Clay (4-5, 5-12) came back to make it a 19-9 score with a 3-pointer by Brady Chisman, but Ashbaugh answered with a 3-pointer of his own for a 22-9 Wildcat advantage with 2:26 still left in the first frame. Chisman led LCHS with 13 points for the game.
By the time the first frame came to a close, it was WHS leading by 10 points at 27-17.
“They came out shooting hot in the first quarter, and we didn’t answer as well on the offensive end in that first quarter, but even with that being said, we went to some different stuff defensively and held them in check for awhile,” LCHS head coach Matt Carson said. “We got a couple run outs and didn’t go down, got a steal but we’d turn it over … We put ourselves in position to chip into that lead, but we just did that at the most inopportune times.
“They just jumped on us really early, and when that happens you are playing catch-up for the rest of the game, and I felt that’s what we were doing the rest of the game, playing catch-up.”
LCHS had points from Chisman, Ian Waits, Chase Smaltz, Kyle Bennington and Noah Miller in the first.
Whiteoak finished the second frame with an 11-point lead, outscoring the Mustangs, 8-7 in the quarter. Bailey began the second with a three-point play for a 30-17 WHS advantage with 7:22 on the clock.
Ashbaugh followed with a 3-pointer for Whiteoak and a 33-17 score for a lead of 16 points with 6:27 left in the opening half. For the game, in Ashbaugh’s 28 points scored, he totaled five two-point baskets, four 3-pointers and he was 6-of-6 from the free-throw line.
LCHS scored the next seven points with a basket by Bryce Badgley, a 3-pointer from Chisman and a layup by Miller, as Miller totaled 12 points for the Mustangs.
WHS scored 10 points in the third, while the Mustangs cut the Whiteoak lead to eight points as LCHS scored 13 points in the third. Though Barnett scored the first points of the third frame for WHS, LC answered with a 3-pointer by Miller and a 3-pointer from Binkley for a 37-30 score with 5:15 left in the third.
Ashbaugh came back for the Wildcats by scoring two points in the paint, and then following a rebound and layup by Barnett, it was WHS leading by 11 points with 3:42 on the third-quarter clock at 41-30.
Bennington — who finished with 10 points for the game — scored two points for LCHS off a put-back basket, and WHS equaled those points with two made free throws by Bailey after he was fouled. Miller scored two points off a put-back basket of his own for the Mustangs. In Bailey’s 11 points scored, he collected three two-point baskets and was 5-of-5 in his free throw attempts.
Next, Barnett stole the ball and took it to the hoop for two points with 39 seconds on the scoreboard. Barnett ended the game with five two-point baskets, two 3-pointers, and he was 4-of-4 from the free-throw line.
LCHS scored the final three points of the third when Smaltz sank a 3-pointer at the top of the key in the final seconds of the frame.
“We came out and guarded man in the third quarter, and I thought the kids did a good job of that,” Carson said. “We cut the lead to five at the start of the fourth, but they hit a couple shots and it was just a couple little things.
“Whiteoak is playing good basketball right now. We just have to come back and work tomorrow to get ready for Friday.”
Whiteoak’s eight-point lead after three quarters shrank to five points at the start of the fourth when Ian Waits knocked down a 3-pointer for a 45-40 score, still in favor of Whiteoak.
That was as close as the Mustangs got to the lead for the rest of the game, as the Wildcats outscored LCHS, 26-18 in the final eight minus of action.
In the fourth frame for Whiteoak, Ashbaugh made one 3-pointer, three two-point baskets and he was 6-of-6 from the free-throw line.
Whiteoak also extended their lead with four points in the fourth by Bailey, four points by Barnett (4-of-4 fro the free-throw line) and a 3-pointer by Roades. In the fourth quarter alone, WHS was 12-of-12 from the free-throw line.
“We kind of used a couple of our strengths in the fourth with rebounding, getting up the floor and getting quick transition points,” Barnettt said. “We also were able to put the press on, got a steal or two and got some transition points out of that too.
“Overall, our guys played well tonight. We are playing well at the right time of the season.”
As a team, the Mustangs totaled 15 two-point baskets, seven 3-pointers (Chisman 2, Miller 2, Waits 1, Smaltz 1, Binkley 1), and they were 4-of-7 from the free-throw line.
In the JV game, the Wildcats defeated Lynchburg-Clay, 43-15. WHS was led in the JV game by Evan DeAtley with 11 points and Logan Bieler with 10 points. Landon West and Trey Pitzer each scored five points for LCHS in the JV game to lead the way for the Mustangs.
Next for the Wildcats is an SHAC game on Saturday, Feb. 6, as they will host the Peebles Indians. The Mustangs are scheduled to play again on Friday, Feb. 5 at home against the North Adams Green Devils in an SHAC contest.
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