Mustangs end season at Convo
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
ATHENS — Three-point plays went to the Zane Trace Pioneers in the final minutes of the fourth quarter, and with that came the end of the regular season for the Lynchburg-Clay Mustangs, as LC fell to the Pioneers, 59-45 in the Division III SE District Semifinals at the Convocation Center.
The loss at Ohio University capped off a whirlwind season for the Mustangs (12-12) as they started the year with seven straight losses, and before this loss, the Mustangs had eight consecutive wins.
For a game which was close, with the score tied seven times through three quarters, it was the final eight minutes that just got away from the visiting Mustangs, though the first couple minutes of the quarter were even.
"I thought we ran out of energy and that the game got more physical," LC head coach Jason McLaughlin said. "They started using their size better, and I thought the game got a little out of control with the foul calling, but my guys played really hard.
"I'm glad they got here to get this experience, and hopefully we can build on this for the years to come."
In the quarter that got away from LC, the Mustangs tied the score at 38, then took a lead of 40-38 with points from Alec Smith and Devin Pierson with 6:31 left in regulation.
But with 6:12 on the clock, the Pioneers tied the game at 40 and followed that with consecutive three-point plays, as they ended the final 6:12 of the game with a run of 21-5, including a 14-0 run from the 6:12 mark until Pierson broke the streak with a layup at 2:27.
ZT (19-5) added two more three-point plays and forced multiple turnovers with physical play to eventually seal the district semifinal win.
LC was led by Pierson, a freshman, with 18 points, followed by Gage Waits and Smith with nine points each. Ryan Inman added eight points, and Jacob Skaggs rounded out the scoring with one point.
Smith led LC with 12 rebounds, while Inman followed with eight. Waits led LC with four assists, and Inman and Pierson each had one steal.
For ZT, leading them in scoring was Wes Beam with 21 points, followed by Pierce Mowery with 18 points. Eric Hutton and Connor Hutton each scored 10 points for the Pioneers.
The opening quarter of the game was close to even with ZT leading 12-11 after eight minutes, with the score being tied four times at 2, 6, 8 and 10.
In the first, Pierson and Inman tied the score at two and six, and later Pierson and Inman gave the Mustangs the lead, as Inman sank a free throw to put LC ahead, 11-10.
LC led 26-23 at halftime with Pierson beginning the second with a layup while being fouled at 7:18, putting LC ahead by one point.
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"We wanted to build some momentum going into halftime," McLaughlin said. "We had a little bit of a lead and were unable to switch our defenses up like we wanted to. We never got that five- or seven-point lead, and (ZT) did a really good job of working the ball around and getting the ball inside to their big players.
"It came down to us not hitting shots."
After two points by the Pioneers, Smith and Pierson combined for five points with Smith banking two points off the glass and through the hoop, while Pierson tallied a three-point play with 4:30 left in the first half for an 18-14 LC advantage.
Less than a minute later, Pierson sank a 3-pointer for a 21-16 lead by the Mustangs, bringing an "Oh-lay" chant from the energetic LC student section.
Waits hit a 3-pointer with 1:47 left in the second, putting LC up by four, and that was followed with two points by Smith, with the assist by Waits. The Pioneers sank a 3-pointer near the end of the quarter, cutting the LC lead to three points at 26-23.
As for the LC third, following two points to start the quarter by ZT, Waits answered with a 3-pointer to put the Mustangs ahead, 29-25.
For the third, LC was outscored 15-10, as the score was tied three times at 32, 34 and 36, with Skaggs tying the score at 34 with a free throw at the 3:21 mark of the quarter. Inman later made the score 36-36 with two free throws at the 1:07 mark. LC went 16-of-21 from the free-throw line, while ZT was 7-of-9.
As for the season, it was only getting better as the season continued for the Mustangs.
"We got off to a terrible start at 0-7," McLaughlin said. "We had six straight away games and a tough schedule. We had to completely redo everything that we were doing offensively and defensively.
"We started to build some team chemistry and got the guys who we needed the ball more the most shots in the game. Once we started doing that, we became successful. They got so much better as the year progressed."
LC had six seniors play their final game in Jacob Skaggs, Ethan Simmons, Tyler Allen, Aaron Little, Alec Smith and Scott Cawood.
"They are a great group of kids," McLaughlin said. "I want to give a hats off to Jacob, Tyler and Alec because they gave us a lot of minutes this year and stepped up to make big plays all year.
"Aaron, Ethan and Scott … they've been good practice players and really made Alec a better player. They would come to practice and play hard every day to make our team better."
The loss at Ohio University capped off a whirlwind season for the Mustangs (12-12) as they started the year with seven straight losses, and before this loss, the Mustangs had eight consecutive wins.
For a game which was close, with the score tied seven times through three quarters, it was the final eight minutes that just got away from the visiting Mustangs, though the first couple minutes of the quarter were even.
"I thought we ran out of energy and that the game got more physical," LC head coach Jason McLaughlin said. "They started using their size better, and I thought the game got a little out of control with the foul calling, but my guys played really hard.
"I'm glad they got here to get this experience, and hopefully we can build on this for the years to come."
In the quarter that got away from LC, the Mustangs tied the score at 38, then took a lead of 40-38 with points from Alec Smith and Devin Pierson with 6:31 left in regulation.
But with 6:12 on the clock, the Pioneers tied the game at 40 and followed that with consecutive three-point plays, as they ended the final 6:12 of the game with a run of 21-5, including a 14-0 run from the 6:12 mark until Pierson broke the streak with a layup at 2:27.
ZT (19-5) added two more three-point plays and forced multiple turnovers with physical play to eventually seal the district semifinal win.
LC was led by Pierson, a freshman, with 18 points, followed by Gage Waits and Smith with nine points each. Ryan Inman added eight points, and Jacob Skaggs rounded out the scoring with one point.
Smith led LC with 12 rebounds, while Inman followed with eight. Waits led LC with four assists, and Inman and Pierson each had one steal.
For ZT, leading them in scoring was Wes Beam with 21 points, followed by Pierce Mowery with 18 points. Eric Hutton and Connor Hutton each scored 10 points for the Pioneers.
The opening quarter of the game was close to even with ZT leading 12-11 after eight minutes, with the score being tied four times at 2, 6, 8 and 10.
In the first, Pierson and Inman tied the score at two and six, and later Pierson and Inman gave the Mustangs the lead, as Inman sank a free throw to put LC ahead, 11-10.
LC led 26-23 at halftime with Pierson beginning the second with a layup while being fouled at 7:18, putting LC ahead by one point.
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"We wanted to build some momentum going into halftime," McLaughlin said. "We had a little bit of a lead and were unable to switch our defenses up like we wanted to. We never got that five- or seven-point lead, and (ZT) did a really good job of working the ball around and getting the ball inside to their big players.
"It came down to us not hitting shots."
After two points by the Pioneers, Smith and Pierson combined for five points with Smith banking two points off the glass and through the hoop, while Pierson tallied a three-point play with 4:30 left in the first half for an 18-14 LC advantage.
Less than a minute later, Pierson sank a 3-pointer for a 21-16 lead by the Mustangs, bringing an "Oh-lay" chant from the energetic LC student section.
Waits hit a 3-pointer with 1:47 left in the second, putting LC up by four, and that was followed with two points by Smith, with the assist by Waits. The Pioneers sank a 3-pointer near the end of the quarter, cutting the LC lead to three points at 26-23.
As for the LC third, following two points to start the quarter by ZT, Waits answered with a 3-pointer to put the Mustangs ahead, 29-25.
For the third, LC was outscored 15-10, as the score was tied three times at 32, 34 and 36, with Skaggs tying the score at 34 with a free throw at the 3:21 mark of the quarter. Inman later made the score 36-36 with two free throws at the 1:07 mark. LC went 16-of-21 from the free-throw line, while ZT was 7-of-9.
As for the season, it was only getting better as the season continued for the Mustangs.
"We got off to a terrible start at 0-7," McLaughlin said. "We had six straight away games and a tough schedule. We had to completely redo everything that we were doing offensively and defensively.
"We started to build some team chemistry and got the guys who we needed the ball more the most shots in the game. Once we started doing that, we became successful. They got so much better as the year progressed."
LC had six seniors play their final game in Jacob Skaggs, Ethan Simmons, Tyler Allen, Aaron Little, Alec Smith and Scott Cawood.
"They are a great group of kids," McLaughlin said. "I want to give a hats off to Jacob, Tyler and Alec because they gave us a lot of minutes this year and stepped up to make big plays all year.
"Aaron, Ethan and Scott … they've been good practice players and really made Alec a better player. They would come to practice and play hard every day to make our team better."