McClain overcomes 13-point halftime deficit to defeat Adena

It was definitely a game of two halves Tuesday, Dec. 30 when the McClain Tigers hosted the Adena Warriors in a non-conference game in Greenfield before a packed house crowd, with McClain going on a 22-0 scoring run and taking its first lead of the game in the fourth to win 50-48.

The visitors from Frankfort took a 16-13 lead after one period of play behind senior sharpshooter Joey Francis, who accounted for half of his team’s 16 first-quarter points.

McClain got trifectas from Hudson Lovett, Jordan Bell and Brady Binegar, along with four points by junior post player Elijah Storer, to keep the score close, but in the second quarter, the Warriors outscored McClain 16-6 and took a double-digit 32-19 advantage into intermission.

McClain sophomore Connor Chandler opened the second period with a long 3-point basket to tie the score, but Adena closed out the quarter with a huge 14-3 run to take the double-figure halftime advantage.

Francis led all scorers at the break with 13 points for Adena, while Storer was McClain’s leading scorer with six.

After the dismal and lackluster first half, especially the second period, the Tigers began the second half with a lot more grit and enthusiasm. Lovett scored the first four points of the third to cut the lead to nine, 32-23, but the Warriors answered with a basket by Gavin Herald and a long three from Francis and the lead was back to double-digits at 37-23.

Binegar hit a long ball from behind the arc for the Tigers, followed by another made jumper by Herald at the four-minute mark of the third period. This is the point when the game and momentum really changed and swung into McClain’s favor.

With McClain trailing 39-26, Bell and senior Julien Evans, who had just entered the game, hit back-to-back threes, followed by a made basket in the paint by sophomore Kolton Lamb, and suddenly it was a five-point game with Adena ahead 39-34.

It was an 8-0 run for the Tigers that quickly became a 12-0 spurt after Lovett hit a pair of shots for McClain, and the quarter ended with Adena leading still, but by just a single point, 39-38.

The impressive run continued to start the fourth quarter when Evans connected on his second long ball of the contest to give McClain their first lead of the game, 41-39 with seven minutes left in regulation.

The 15-0 run ballooned to an amazing 18-0 run after Lovett converted an old-fashioned 3-point play inside, giving the Tigers a 44-39 lead.  Moments later, two-point baskets by Lamb and Evans made it a 22-0 run, increasing McClain’s advantage to 46-39 with just over three minutes to play.

This unbelievable and almost unheard-of run ended after Colton Garrison scored inside for Adena. Just as quickly as the tide had turned in McClain’s favor, the Warriors fought back down the stretch and went on a 9-0 run of their own and tied the game at 48-48 on a three-point shot by Langston Metzger with just 22 seconds left on the clock.

The Tigers ran the clock down and got a go-ahead basket by Lovett inside the paint with five seconds left for a 50-48 lead.

It looked like the game was headed for overtime when Adena’s Garrison took the ensuing inbounds pass, raced down court and went inside the paint for a shot and was fouled as time expired.

But the game ended, and the Tigers held on for the hard-fought victory after Garrison missed the first free-throw attempt and the hometown crowd erupted into a frenzy.

A jubilant but somewhat exhausted McClain head coach had lots of praise after the nail-biting victory over the talented and well-coached Adena squad.

“First of all, credit to Adena for how they came out,” Haines said. “Coach (Andrew) Day had a good game plan tonight, and it took a little time for our kids to adjust, but we did, and after a little wake-up call at halftime we figured it out. We could have laid down and quit at halftime, but we didn’t.

“We had a couple of silly turnovers early, but then we came back and knocked down some shots.”

The long ball was definitely a key to this win for the Tigers after they connected on nine shots from behind the arc with Binegar, Bell and Evans all having two each.

“Our comeback in the second half was sparked mainly by our defense, we really got after it and forced them to turn the ball over,” Haines said.

The Tigers got some superb bench play from Evans and Lamb in the second half, both were instrumental in orchestrating the incredible 13 point turn around and 22-0 run.

“I don’t know where to start,” Haines said. “Elijah Storer was amazing in the first half, then Kolton Lamb came in for him in the second half and gave us a huge spark.

“Julien Evans knocked down shots and gave us a big spark offensively in the second half and held their best player (Francis) to just three points. Hudson Lovett started getting to the basket and finishing, and I thought Brady Binegar played really well too.

“I’m just super proud of my kids and we needed this,” Haines continued. “I’ve said it before, there’s no easy games on our schedule, so this was a nice way to end the year for sure.”

McClain improves to 4-4 on the season, while Adena falls to 4-5 overall. The Tigers will be back in action Saturday, Jan. 3 when they play Blanchester in the Chad Hodson Classic at Fairfield H.S.

Individual scoring for McClain: Binegar 3,0,8, Bell 2,0,6, Chandler 1,0,3, Evans 3,0,8, Lovett 6,3,16, Lamb 1,0,2, Storer 3,0,8. Totals: 19,3,50.

Francis led Adena with a team-high 16 points, followed by Garrison, who had 15.

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