Lady Tigers knock down Falcons

     GREENFIELD – With four games in the books, the McClain Lady Tigers are undefeated as they handled the Clinton-Massie Lady Falcons 47-25 Saturday afternoon at McClain High School, in South Central Ohio League action.

     The win lifts the Lady Tigers to 4-0 overall, 2-0 in league play.

     MHS played with another balanced attack on both sides of the court, using many different combinations of players to secure the SCOL win.

     “Coach Wilkerson complemented our defense after the ballgame,” McClain head coach Dennis Overstake said. “We ran a few combos that worked for us, and we need to keep doing that as the season continues.”

     Defensively the Lady Tigers forced 16 turnovers, while grabbing 19 defensive rebounds (27 total). MHS also had 13 steals. MHS senior Shelby Buck led with five steals.

     “We had to start playing good defense instead of a reaching defense because we didn’t want to get into foul trouble,” Overstake said.

     The Lady Tigers held the lead after the first quarter with an 11-7 lead. Massie scored first, but senior Kate Hammond tied the game at 2-2 with two free throws. The senior tied the game again at four with a jumper at the 3:49 mark of the quarter. Hammond continued to dominate the first with inside points to give the Lady Tigers a lead that they never gave back.

     Hammond ended the first quarter with nine points.

     The second quarter was all McClain with senior Megan Saylor scoring a three-point play with a basket in the paint, and knocking down the ensuing free throw after being fouled.

     Hammond, who finished with a game-high 18 points, continued what turned out to be an 11-0 scoring run with a jumper. Hammond finished the game with six rebounds, three assists, two steals and one block.

     Senior Cortney Hyer sank a long-range jumper to give MHS a 9-point lead with 5:11 left in the first half.

     MHS sophomore Kate Crabtree sank a free throw and junior Chrissy Cobb, with a bounce pass from Hyer, made a stand-up jumper to increase the MHS lead to 21-9.

     After Massie stopped the run, Saylor, who grabbed five total boards, and Hammond came back with back-to-back buckets.

     Entering the third quarter leading by 14 points the Lady Tigers outscored the Lady Falcons 13-5 in eight minutes.

     Hyer started off with the Lady Tigers’ only 3-pointer, but Massie came back with two free throws from junior Brooke Sargent.

     MHS answered in full force with points from Buck, Cobb, Jenna Perie and Hammond for a 9-0 run to make the score 38-14 leaving 1:49 left in the third.

     Massie junior Alexis Stover sank a 3-pointer with 1:27 left in the quarter.

     McClain controlled the final quarter with baskets by Saylor, Hammond and Crabtree. Crabtree scored back-to-back baskets with her final points coming via a turnaround jumper. Saylor finished in double figures with 10 points.

     Massie was led by Jordanne Gambill with 13 points.

     Frankie Wise had a steal and one assist for MHS. Sammy Rooks gained one assist and Alex Taylor had two rebounds. Perie grabbed five rebounds for MHS.

     McClain (2-0, 4-0) will play again next Saturday as they will host the Madison-Plains Lady Golden Eagles. Friday night MPHS defeated SCOL foe Hillsboro.

BOX SCORE

SCORE BY QUARTERS

CMHS – 7 5 5 8 – 25

MHS – 11 15 13 8 – 47

INDIVIDUAL STATS

MHS (47)

C.Cobb 1 1-2 3, M.Saylor 4 2-3 10, C.Hyer 1 (1) 5, K.Hammond 7 4-7 18, K.Crabtree 2 1-2 5, S.Buck 2 2-2 4, J.Perie 1 2.TOTALS: 18 (1) 10-17 47.

CMHS (25)

J.Gambill 4 5-7 13, M.Moyer 1 2, B.Machado 1 2, B.Smith 0 1-3 1, A.Stover 0 (1) 3, B.Sargent 1 2-2 4. TOTALS: 7 (1) 8-12 25.