Blain Bergstrom's 25 points leads McClain past Hillsboro

(Continued from last week.)

Forward Andy Smith, the AP “Player of the Year” in Division II, averaged 20.3 ppg., while teammate Troy Seely (who made the Div. II second team) averaged 14.5 points, but both were gone from the 1994-95 team. That was about 35 points per game that Van Matre needed to replace – if possible.

Blain Bergstrom, Richie Price and Derek Nelson would be back, and would be the heart of the 1995-96 McClain team.

But the Tigers would have no experience and practically no size to go with them: 6’ 0” sophomore forward Aaron Trefz, and 5’ 10” sophomore Rob Hull would be competing for playing time, along with 5’ 7” freshman Ryan Weller and juniors Sean Mustard, Stuart Beatty, Mark Clyburn, Josh McCoy and Jeff Ritenour.

The Tigers would open their season Dec. 1 with the OU-C Classic, at Ohio University – Chillicothe. The next night they would host old SCOL rival Wilmington.

The Indians would open their season Dec. 1 with Wilmington and follow that with another road game, at Blanchester.

T.J. Turner and C.J. Captain led the offensive charge for the Indians, as they ripped the Wilmington Hurricane, 58-43 on Wilmington’s brand new court. Turner scored 16 points and Captain followed closely with 15.

Dave Schutte, of the Cincinnati Enquirer reported that the McClain Tigers would begin play in the Southern Buckeye Athletic Conference in 1997-98.

But McClain A.D. Jerry Blankenship said Schutte’s report was totally false. He said McClain had applied to the SBAC when Hillsboro joined the league. McClain was invited to a meeting, along with other schools, and were “soundly rejected.”

“We had only one positive vote,” said the AD, “and that came from Hillsboro. Since that time, we have not applied anywhere.”

On Dec. 8, Hillsboro traveled to Blanchester, where they outscored the Wildcats 28-2 in the first quarter and went on to annihilate the blue and white by a score of 100-33. Twelve Indians dented the scoring column, with McConnaughey leading the way with 18 points. No Blanchester player scored more than 7 points.

Hillsboro won their first home game Tuesday, Dec. 12, when they walloped Loveland 64-48 on the Hillsboro court. On Friday night, the red-and-white traveled to Clermont Northeastern, where T.J. Turner turned in 28 points, and the Tribe took a 68-58 SBAC win over the Rockets.

On Dec. 16, the Indians were on the road again, this time to Greenfield, where they tangled with the tough McClain Tigers.

McClain led at every quarter stop, and edged the Tribe, 52-47.

Blain Bergstrom led the way for the Tigers, racking up 25 markers. Captain’s 8 and McConnaughey’s 7 were Hillsboro’s best.

Western Brown was scheduled to meet the Indians in Hillsboro, Dec. 19, but this game was canceled due to inclement weather. It was re-scheduled for Jan. 20.

December 22 saw the Indians drop their second straight game, this time to visiting Miami Trace, 49-48. Actually, the Tribe enjoyed a four-point lead with only seconds remaining, and had possession of the basketball, when an ill-chosen three-point shot was thrown up. The shot was missed, Trace grabbed the rebound, came down and scored, and Hillsboro had
lost two consecutive games.

The third non-conference challenge for the red-and-white was on Dec. 29, when they traveled to Washington C.H. to take on the Blue Lions.

The Tribe jumped out to a 16-11 first quarter lead, increased the lead to 37-26 at halftime, then hung on through the second half to bring home an 81-73 win. Four Indians scored in double figures, led by Ben Middleton who racked up 19 points. Chad Dresbach hit two fourth-quarter three pointers when WCH appeared to be making a comeback. The Indians
rebounded better than they had in the previous two games.

(Continued next week.)

Bob Patton is a Highland County sports historian and a contributing writer to The Highland County Press.