Lady Tigers squeak by South Point

The McClain Lady Tigers varsity basketball team opened up tournament play Saturday afternoon in Greenfield and really struggled offensively and had to hold on at the end, defeating South Point in a nail-biter, 32-31.

McClain advances to the Southeast District semifinals Wednesday night, when they will play second-seated Circleville at Southeastern High School in the second game of the night (approximately 8 p.m.).

Both teams played exceptional, aggressive defense the entire game, which was a big reason for the low-scoring final tally.

“You kind of expect this sometimes when you start tournament play,” said McClain head coach Shania Massie. “We knew we would have to handle some pressure and fight through some adversity, and I think we did that.

“Give our defense credit, we held a pretty good team to just 31 points, and I think that’s pretty darn good, but give them credit too because they held us to 32.

“South Point is a well-coached team with a lot of speed and talent, probably one of the better lower seeded teams that I’ve ever seen,” Massie continued. “Another thing that probably played into our poor performance offensively was the fact that we haven’t played a game in over a week.”

Things looked good for McClain to start the game when they got three quick points from Paisley Pryor and a couple of made free throws by Anna Eikenberry for a quick 5-0 lead. Another made basket by Pryor moments later put the Lady Tigers up 7-0 midway through the opening period.

But that would be all the points the McClain girls could muster, and South Point got a late bucket by Molly Adams and the first period ended with the Lady Tigers leading 7-2.

Both teams continued struggling to score points in the second period but McClain did manage to outscore the Lady Pointers 7-6 and take a slim 14-8 advantage into the halftime.

Eikenberry led McClain with four points in the quarter, giving her six for the game, along with Pryor, who added five.  

In the third period, senior Brenna Wright seemed to really want the ball and was a force inside driving to the basket, and she led the Lady Tigers, scoring five points in the frame but South Point played their best quarter and outscored McClain 13-7 and knotted the score at 21-21.

“Brenna (Wright) really attacked their defense in that third quarter and probably kept us in the game,” Massie said. “That just shows her role on this team. She’s one of our seniors and she really wants to win, and it showed today by how hard she played.”

The fourth period started well like the first for the Lady Tigers after back-to-back scores by Pryor and Larah Henson gave McClain some breathing room and a 25-21 lead. But South Point answered with three straight baskets, two by Samiya Bradburn, and the Lady Pointers had only their second lead of the game 27-25 with just over three minutes left in regulation.

After a quick timeout by McClain, Pryor scored on a long three, putting the Lady Tigers back in front 28-27 until Adams connected for South Point and McClain found themselves trailing again 29-28 with 2:30 showing on the clock. Wright answered for the Lady Tigers with the two biggest free throws of the game, followed by another clutch basket by Henson, and McClain led 32-29 with a little more then a minute left.

The game ended with Adams getting a last-second stick-back basket as the horn sounded, and the Lady Tigers escaped with a hard-earned 32-31 victory over the scrappy Lady Pointers from South Point. Adams finished with a team-high 12 points for the Lady Pointers.

“I thought Anna (Eikenberry) and Brenna (Wright) both played really well and very hard for us today,” Massie said. “We know they have a defensive game, and today they had a pretty good offensive one that they had to adjust with.

“We’re going to take tomorrow off and recover, then come back Monday and start preparing for Circleville. Circleville is a great team that’s going to give us a run for our money, and we know they’ll come to play, so we’re going to have to make some adjustments and come up with a good game plan if we expect to pull off a win over them.”

Massie was asked about her four talented seniors, Anna Eikenberry, Katie Cook, Brenna Wright and Lindsey Hutchinson, who played their final game on the McClain floor, and what they’ve meant to her and her program.

“These four seniors really mean a lot to me. I’ve grown a great relationship with them these last two years and especially this year,” Massie said. “They’re awesome girls, and we seem to always have each other’s back, and that makes it fun.  I love these girls, and it really shows by how hard they have played for me.

“Our younger players really respect and look up to them but most of all, they are really great team mates and role models. They are best friends who hang out together and care about each other, just a phenomenal group to coach.”

Individual scoring for McClain: Paisley Pryor 5,2,13, Larah Henson 2,1,5, Brenna Wright 1,4,6, Anna Eikenberry 3,2,8, Totals 11,8,32. McClain converted 9-of-18 free-throws for 50 percent.

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