Green Devils ruin LC homecoming celebration
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
DODSONVILLE — North Adams did what they needed to do to end the homecoming celebration of the Lynchburg-Clay Mustangs Friday night. The Mustangs, on the other hand, had problems with close buckets in the paint, leading to a 44-32 loss.
The Division I Southern Hills Athletic Conference matchup was preceded by LCHS homecoming festivities where Jacob Skaggs was named homecoming king and Laney Lewis was crowned homecoming queen.
Following the festivities, the game had a slow pace in the opening frame as the teams combined for eight points in the opening four minutes, with a tied score at 4-4.
From there, there was no scoring until the 1:32 mark of the first when David Shipley broke the monotony with a 3-pointer. From there, Seth Sparks added two points for NA, and the Mustangs ended what was a scoreless streak of 4:32 with Gage Waits bursting through two defenders for two points with .16 left in the first quarter.
NA ended the first with a 3-pointer from Shipley.
The game was a little closer at the conclusion of the first half as LC made it a four-point deficit, trailing by a 22-18 score.
LC ended the game with zero players in double-figure scoring.
"I thought we handled their pressure well with only 11 turnovers, but it seemed like every time we had a turnover they scored," LC head coach Jason McLaughlin said. "On fast breaks, we had decent shots and we got the shots we wanted, but we just missed too many of them."
Smith, who led LC in scoring with nine points, was first to score for the Mustangs in the second with a two-point bucket but was answered with two points from North Adams' Andrew Mitchell.
Tyler Allen brought LC closer with a 3-pointer, and later Devin Pierson made it a three-point difference as he sank a jumper for the Mustangs with 5:01 left in the second.
Later in the second, Ryan Inman and Allen combined for five straight points, including a second trey by Allen, tying the score at 18 with 3:14 on the clock.
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That was answered with a one-handed dunk by Levi Bales, who was underneath the basket and out of nowhere looped around for the one-handed dunk. NA took the four-point lead in the locker room with two points from Shipley.
Bales, though finishing with four points offensively, made a bigger difference on defense as he had numerous blocked shots and rebounds, using his height (6-6) to get in the way of LC players for the entire game.
"(Levi) Bales made a difference," McLaughlin said. "I don't know if we were intimidated by the height of some of their players or what, but we had trouble scoring inside."
Then the second half arrived for the Mustangs, and well, not much went their way in the third frame as they trailed by 10 points at the buzzer to end the frame.
NA opened the quarter with five straight points, including a 3-pointer by Mitchell, but it was equaled with five consecutive points from Pierson (a 3-pointer) and two points from Smith for a 27-23 NA advantage. After a free throw by Smith, the Green Devils ended the quarter by scoring the final seven points of the quarter with Sparks, Sheridan Carroll and Shipley combining for the run.
The free throw by Smith with 5:03 left in the third turned out to be the only points the Mustangs would score until there was 3:15 left in regulation, a span of 8:15 of game time without scoring a single point.
For the game, LC was 11-of-48 (23 percent) from the field.
LC finally added points to their side of the scoreboard with a bucket by Inman, but from there the Green Devils built a lead of 12 points at 38-26.
The Green Devils answered with six points in 1:06 for a 42-26 advantage.
The field goal by Inman was the lone shot the Mustangs made in the final frame as their final four points were via free throws from Smith and Waits.
In JV play, LC defeated North Adams, 48-32. Leading LC were Josh Ahrmann and Tristan Wilbanks each with 10 points. For NA, their JV leading scorer was Hank Sparks with 12 points.
The Mustangs will play again on Tuesday, Jan. 22 as they travel to face West Union in SHAC play.
The Division I Southern Hills Athletic Conference matchup was preceded by LCHS homecoming festivities where Jacob Skaggs was named homecoming king and Laney Lewis was crowned homecoming queen.
Following the festivities, the game had a slow pace in the opening frame as the teams combined for eight points in the opening four minutes, with a tied score at 4-4.
From there, there was no scoring until the 1:32 mark of the first when David Shipley broke the monotony with a 3-pointer. From there, Seth Sparks added two points for NA, and the Mustangs ended what was a scoreless streak of 4:32 with Gage Waits bursting through two defenders for two points with .16 left in the first quarter.
NA ended the first with a 3-pointer from Shipley.
The game was a little closer at the conclusion of the first half as LC made it a four-point deficit, trailing by a 22-18 score.
LC ended the game with zero players in double-figure scoring.
"I thought we handled their pressure well with only 11 turnovers, but it seemed like every time we had a turnover they scored," LC head coach Jason McLaughlin said. "On fast breaks, we had decent shots and we got the shots we wanted, but we just missed too many of them."
Smith, who led LC in scoring with nine points, was first to score for the Mustangs in the second with a two-point bucket but was answered with two points from North Adams' Andrew Mitchell.
Tyler Allen brought LC closer with a 3-pointer, and later Devin Pierson made it a three-point difference as he sank a jumper for the Mustangs with 5:01 left in the second.
Later in the second, Ryan Inman and Allen combined for five straight points, including a second trey by Allen, tying the score at 18 with 3:14 on the clock.
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That was answered with a one-handed dunk by Levi Bales, who was underneath the basket and out of nowhere looped around for the one-handed dunk. NA took the four-point lead in the locker room with two points from Shipley.
Bales, though finishing with four points offensively, made a bigger difference on defense as he had numerous blocked shots and rebounds, using his height (6-6) to get in the way of LC players for the entire game.
"(Levi) Bales made a difference," McLaughlin said. "I don't know if we were intimidated by the height of some of their players or what, but we had trouble scoring inside."
Then the second half arrived for the Mustangs, and well, not much went their way in the third frame as they trailed by 10 points at the buzzer to end the frame.
NA opened the quarter with five straight points, including a 3-pointer by Mitchell, but it was equaled with five consecutive points from Pierson (a 3-pointer) and two points from Smith for a 27-23 NA advantage. After a free throw by Smith, the Green Devils ended the quarter by scoring the final seven points of the quarter with Sparks, Sheridan Carroll and Shipley combining for the run.
The free throw by Smith with 5:03 left in the third turned out to be the only points the Mustangs would score until there was 3:15 left in regulation, a span of 8:15 of game time without scoring a single point.
For the game, LC was 11-of-48 (23 percent) from the field.
LC finally added points to their side of the scoreboard with a bucket by Inman, but from there the Green Devils built a lead of 12 points at 38-26.
The Green Devils answered with six points in 1:06 for a 42-26 advantage.
The field goal by Inman was the lone shot the Mustangs made in the final frame as their final four points were via free throws from Smith and Waits.
In JV play, LC defeated North Adams, 48-32. Leading LC were Josh Ahrmann and Tristan Wilbanks each with 10 points. For NA, their JV leading scorer was Hank Sparks with 12 points.
The Mustangs will play again on Tuesday, Jan. 22 as they travel to face West Union in SHAC play.