McClain Tigers win at Whiteoak

Tuesday (Feb. 6) saw a Highland County battle that went down to the wire, as the McClain Tigers broke a tied score late in the fourth quarter and won their fifth game of the season by defeating a county counterpart, the host Whiteoak Wildcats, 43-40. 

McClain (5-15) and Whiteoak (5-14) were tied after the first quarter, with each team scoring 13 points. McClain added 12 points to their scoring total in the second frame, while Whiteoak scored nine points in the same frame for a halftime score of 25-22 in favor of the visiting Tigers. 

The second half began with Whiteoak winning the third quarter at 13-8, but McClain took the fourth frame at 10-5 for the non-conference win. 

MHS was led by Seth Weller with 16 points, as the senior totaled three 3-pointers, three two-point baskets and he was 1-of-2 from the free-throw line. 

Jordan Bell finished with nine points off three 3-pointers, and Andrew Potts totaled eight points with three two-point baskets, and he went 2-of-2 from the free-throw line. 

Owen Sykes finished with seven points for the Tigers, and Michael Noszka Jr. totaled three points in the win. 

Whiteoak was led by Brady Brandenburg with 14 points, sinking five baskets from the field and going 4-of-5 from the free-throw line. 

Sawyer Blair totaled 13 points with three 3-pointers and two baskets from the field. 

Also for WHS, Zander Roades scored seven points, Zach Igo added four points and Aiden Crowe scored two points. 

Next for McClain is an away game on Friday, Feb. 9 at Zane Trace in non-conference action. From there, they finish the regular season on Saturday, Feb. 10 at home in a FAC makeup game against Chillicothe. 

The Wildcats are scheduled to face the Fairfield Lions at WHS on Friday, Feb. 9 in their next game, and following that game the Wildcats will play on Friday, Feb. 16 at home against the Lynchburg-Clay Mustangs, as both games are SHAC contests.