Dominant 1st half leads to 3rd straight LC win
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
A new offense has brought a new attitude to the Lynchburg-Clay Mustangs' boys basketball program, and with that, success has followed as the winning trend continued on Saturday night.
The Mustangs gained their third consecutive victory in their non-conference meeting against the Ripley Blue Jays, dominating the first half with a 30-point difference in scoring, leading to a 66-49 win.
This was the second straight game the Mustangs scored 20-plus points in the first quarter, as they scored 24 points in their win against Fairfield.
"The last two games (in the first quarter), we've made shots and got the ball inside, made them foul us and made a good percentage from the free-throw line," LC head coach Jason McLaughlin said. "We've built a sizable lead, and in the second half, we played pretty much even with them, though they gained some ground in the second half.
"Our guys have played with confidence the last two nights and are playing winning basketball. They are getting to the guys who can score, and we've been pretty successful when that happens."
Since starting the season 0-7, the Mustangs have gone 7-4 since gaining their first win on Dec. 29. LC currently stands at 7-11 overall and 4-7 in Division I of the Southern Hills Athletic Conference.
"We've changed our whole philosophy on offense," McLaughlin said. "We really haven't changed defensively, but offensively, we've completely gotten rid of trying to run a motion offense. We want the big guys involved and make them do something with the ball."
The first half was more than enough to show teams in the area this isn't the same Mustang team they may have seen earlier in the season, as LC did close to everything correct in the first half, as they led 41-11 at halftime, including LC senior Alec Smith doubling the output of RHS in the first half as he totaled 22 points in the first two quarters.
For the game, Smith finished with 26 points, and he eventually led RHS 26-22 with 2:13 left in the third, before sitting out the third frame and a majority of the final eight minutes. Smith totaled a double-double as he collected 10 rebounds. The senior post player was 8-of-8 from the free-throw line.
In his past three games, Smith is averaging 25 points per game with scoring totals of 27 at North Adams, 22 at Fairfield and the aforementioned 26 vs. Ripley. He's also averaging a double-double in those three games with 14, 17 and 10 rebounds in each of those three games. For the season, Smith is averaging 16.8 points per game and 11.3 rebounds per game.[[In-content Ad]]
"There's not been a kid (in the past three games) that's been able to stop him," McLaughlin said. "He's just playing really good basketball right now. He's playing with confidence, and the kids are getting the basketball where he can be successful … and he's also knocking down threes."
Though the visiting Blue Jays opened the game with a 3-pointer, the Mustangs didn't falter as they scored the game's next eight points, including seven by Smith (one 3-pointer) and a free throw by Jacob Skaggs.
RHS scored four more points in the first, while LC had another two points by Smith and a layup from Marc Blankenship to end the first with a 12-7 lead.
The pace of the game completely went in favor of the hosts in the second quarter as the Mustangs outscored RHS, 29-4 in the second.
LC built a 20-11 lead following points by Skaggs, Gage Waits and two points by Smith. After two buckets by RHS, LC went on a 23-0 run in the final 4:24 of the quarter with points by Smith, Tyler Allen, Ryan Inman, Blankenship, Waits and Scott Cawood for the 30-point lead.
Inman finished with 14 points, including a 4-of-4 performance from the free-throw line. Skaggs finished with seven points. Scoring four points each were Waits, Blankenship, Allen and Cawood. Also scoring for the Mustangs were Ethan Simmons with two points and Devin Pierson with one point.
In the uncontested 23-point run, Smith scored nine points, including a 3-pointer with 59 seconds left in the first half.
RHS showed improvement in the second half by outscoring LC 13-12 in the third and 25-13 in the fourth.
For the game, LC went 16-of-20 from the free-throw line. RHS didn't shoot a free throw in the game but did make five 3-pointers.
Leading RHS in scoring were Donte Bennett and Brad Kirschner each with 11 points. Jonathan Staggs finished with eight points, while Andrew Inskeep and Houston Brown each totaled six points.
Also scoring for the Blue Jays were Zach Harney with three points and Javian Williams and Austin Whitt with two points each.
In JV play, RHS defeated LC, 44-35. Leading the Mustangs were Josh Goble and Josh Ahrmann each with eight points.
The Mustangs will play again on Tuesday, Feb. 12 as they host Huntington in a non-conference game.
On Friday, Feb. 15, the Mustangs will host West Union, and on Saturday, Feb. 16, LC will host Manchester in a makeup game, both being SHAC games, to wrap up the regular season.
"We are just building momentum, and I want us to continue that," McLaughlin said. "That's what we are doing, and we are playing kind of like a tournament team."
The Mustangs gained their third consecutive victory in their non-conference meeting against the Ripley Blue Jays, dominating the first half with a 30-point difference in scoring, leading to a 66-49 win.
This was the second straight game the Mustangs scored 20-plus points in the first quarter, as they scored 24 points in their win against Fairfield.
"The last two games (in the first quarter), we've made shots and got the ball inside, made them foul us and made a good percentage from the free-throw line," LC head coach Jason McLaughlin said. "We've built a sizable lead, and in the second half, we played pretty much even with them, though they gained some ground in the second half.
"Our guys have played with confidence the last two nights and are playing winning basketball. They are getting to the guys who can score, and we've been pretty successful when that happens."
Since starting the season 0-7, the Mustangs have gone 7-4 since gaining their first win on Dec. 29. LC currently stands at 7-11 overall and 4-7 in Division I of the Southern Hills Athletic Conference.
"We've changed our whole philosophy on offense," McLaughlin said. "We really haven't changed defensively, but offensively, we've completely gotten rid of trying to run a motion offense. We want the big guys involved and make them do something with the ball."
The first half was more than enough to show teams in the area this isn't the same Mustang team they may have seen earlier in the season, as LC did close to everything correct in the first half, as they led 41-11 at halftime, including LC senior Alec Smith doubling the output of RHS in the first half as he totaled 22 points in the first two quarters.
For the game, Smith finished with 26 points, and he eventually led RHS 26-22 with 2:13 left in the third, before sitting out the third frame and a majority of the final eight minutes. Smith totaled a double-double as he collected 10 rebounds. The senior post player was 8-of-8 from the free-throw line.
In his past three games, Smith is averaging 25 points per game with scoring totals of 27 at North Adams, 22 at Fairfield and the aforementioned 26 vs. Ripley. He's also averaging a double-double in those three games with 14, 17 and 10 rebounds in each of those three games. For the season, Smith is averaging 16.8 points per game and 11.3 rebounds per game.[[In-content Ad]]
"There's not been a kid (in the past three games) that's been able to stop him," McLaughlin said. "He's just playing really good basketball right now. He's playing with confidence, and the kids are getting the basketball where he can be successful … and he's also knocking down threes."
Though the visiting Blue Jays opened the game with a 3-pointer, the Mustangs didn't falter as they scored the game's next eight points, including seven by Smith (one 3-pointer) and a free throw by Jacob Skaggs.
RHS scored four more points in the first, while LC had another two points by Smith and a layup from Marc Blankenship to end the first with a 12-7 lead.
The pace of the game completely went in favor of the hosts in the second quarter as the Mustangs outscored RHS, 29-4 in the second.
LC built a 20-11 lead following points by Skaggs, Gage Waits and two points by Smith. After two buckets by RHS, LC went on a 23-0 run in the final 4:24 of the quarter with points by Smith, Tyler Allen, Ryan Inman, Blankenship, Waits and Scott Cawood for the 30-point lead.
Inman finished with 14 points, including a 4-of-4 performance from the free-throw line. Skaggs finished with seven points. Scoring four points each were Waits, Blankenship, Allen and Cawood. Also scoring for the Mustangs were Ethan Simmons with two points and Devin Pierson with one point.
In the uncontested 23-point run, Smith scored nine points, including a 3-pointer with 59 seconds left in the first half.
RHS showed improvement in the second half by outscoring LC 13-12 in the third and 25-13 in the fourth.
For the game, LC went 16-of-20 from the free-throw line. RHS didn't shoot a free throw in the game but did make five 3-pointers.
Leading RHS in scoring were Donte Bennett and Brad Kirschner each with 11 points. Jonathan Staggs finished with eight points, while Andrew Inskeep and Houston Brown each totaled six points.
Also scoring for the Blue Jays were Zach Harney with three points and Javian Williams and Austin Whitt with two points each.
In JV play, RHS defeated LC, 44-35. Leading the Mustangs were Josh Goble and Josh Ahrmann each with eight points.
The Mustangs will play again on Tuesday, Feb. 12 as they host Huntington in a non-conference game.
On Friday, Feb. 15, the Mustangs will host West Union, and on Saturday, Feb. 16, LC will host Manchester in a makeup game, both being SHAC games, to wrap up the regular season.
"We are just building momentum, and I want us to continue that," McLaughlin said. "That's what we are doing, and we are playing kind of like a tournament team."