Lady Tigers stay perfect in FAC with win over Jackson

The McClain Lady Tigers won their 13th straight game and improved to 14-1 on the season after handily defeating Jackson 51-18 in a Frontier Athletic Conference game Wednesday night in Greenfield.

McClain struggled early to score points, and their leading scorer on the season sophomore Paisley Pryor was held without a point the entire opening quarter.  

Senior post player Anna Eikenberry and sophomore Larah Hanson both picked up the slack and scored eight and four points, respectively, and the Lady Tigers led 14-5 at the end of the first quarter. Eikenberry finished with a game-high 16 points in the contest.

“It was another slow start for us again tonight, and when Paisley (Pryor) is having trouble scoring, we need to have other players step up and score the basketball,” McClain head coach Shania Massie said after the game. “Anna (Eikenberry) is kind of a silent player on this team who sometimes gets overlooked by some people, and like tonight, she showed what she’s capable of doing. She was our leading scorer with 16 points even though she had to sit some due to foul trouble, but that allowed some of our other players to step it up and score some points for us.”

In the second period, Pryor was able to get on track offensively, and she scored eight points while Eikenberry added five, which was all of the Lady Tigers’ scoring in the frame but allowed McClain to enjoy a double-digit 27-13 halftime advantage.

The Lady Tigers basically put the game away in the third quarter when they outscored Jackson 16-5 and extended their lead to 43-18. Pryor continued to stay hot in the period, scoring seven points and giving her 15 in the game. Henson added four, giving her a total of eight at that point in the game.

“Larah (Henson) played a nice game for us tonight,” said Massie “She rebounded really well, played great defense and scored 10 points and does everything I ask of her.

“She’s got a lot of grit in her and is always working hard to get better.”

McClain continued to play great defense in the fourth quarter when both coaches emptied their benches and let everyone play, but the Lady Tigers were the only ones to score.

It was an 8-0 quarter for McClain and an easy 51-18 FAC victory keeping them at the top of the FAC with a spotless 7-0 record as they are in the second half of conference play.

“I’m very pleased with where we are right now, but we have some really tough games down the stretch to close out the season against some really good teams,” Massie said. “Our schedule from here on out is going to be extremely difficult, and we know every time we play, we will have a big target on our backs.”

The Lady Tigers travel to Piketon Monday, Jan. 20 before returning home Wednesday, Jan. 22 to host Miami Trace.

Individual scoring for McClain: Larah Henson 4,2,10, Lindsey Hutchinson 1,0,2, Katie Cook 1,0,2, Paisley Pryor 4,6,15, Brie Cummins 1,0,2, Brenna Wright 1,2,2, Anna Eikenberry 7,2,16, Leah Lovett 0,2,2. Totals 18,12,51. 3-point goals Pryor 1. McClain converted 12-of-18 free throws for 66 percent.

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