Mustangs fend off Blue Jays for SHAC victory

DODSONVILLE — It wasn't easy, as the Lynchburg-Clay Mustangs were tested throughout the entire game, but LC eventually passed that test for a Southern Hills Athletic Conference victory over the Ripley Blue Jays, 72-67.

The Saturday evening win by the Mustangs was a physical tournament-like game on the court with the score being tied by Ripley at 57 with 3:43 left in regulation.

That's when the game really got interesting.

From there, LC (7-3, 11-5) broke the tied score with two free throws from Gage Waits, but it was answered with a 3-pointer by Ripley's Austin Whitt to put the Blue Jays ahead 60-59. Whitt led the 'Jays with 20 points.

Waits tied the game with a free throw at the 3:05 mark (60-60), but Whitt equaled the feat of Waits, putting the 'Jays ahead, 61-60 with 2:33 remaining.

From the 2:17 mark to the 1:44 mark, the Mustangs defended their home court with a layup from Ryan Inman, a 3-pointer by Devin Pierson and one free throw from Marc Blankenship to move LC ahead, 66-61.

Following two missed free throws by the 'Jays and Mustangs, LC did come back with two converted free throws by Inman for a 68-61 advantage with 1:03 on the scoreboard.

The Mustangs managed to keep their lead and the win with Pierson and Inman combining for four free throws in the final 52 seconds of the game.

LC head coach Matt Carson said the win was "gutsy."

"I told them in the locker room, this being our third game in four days, gutting it out is about the only thing you can say," Carson said. "Ripley has gotten better, and we knew they were playing better.

"Defensively, and this is on me, we just have to get better at guarding the basketball. Whether it is man, zone, press … we have to do a better job. We are going to work on that."

Pierson led all scorers with 29 points, including nine in the fourth quarter. He made five 3-pointers.

Waits followed with 16 points, and Inman totaled 15 points.

"Gage runs the show for us and he's a pass-first point guard," Carson said. "We try to tell him, if you see a crease, go for it. He's also shooting the 3-pointer a lot better, and that has helped us a lot in opening things up."

The Mustangs were 23-of-34 from the free-throw line, while RHS went 8-of-15.

This SHAC matchup was tough from the very beginning with the 'Jays leading the Mustangs, 20-18 at the conclusion of the first eight minutes of a physical first frame.

"Physical was an understatement in describing this game," Carson said. "That is what it is … a real physical game. It was a tournament atmosphere. This is a physical league, and a lot of the teams left on our schedule are physical ball clubs."

In the first, the score was tied four times at 11, 13, 16 and 18 with Pierson scoring 10 of the 18 points in the quarter, including two 3-pointers at the 6:29 and 3:35 marks of the first frame.

Also in the first, Christian Inman had five points and Ryan Inman scored two.

The second frame was a lot of defense with LC outscoring the visitors, 7-6. The quarter included another 3-pointer from Pierson and two points each from Blankenship and Chaz Lanier.

LC rallied out of the locker room in the third, with a 24-point quarter in front of their home crowd, and their defense held RHS to 16 points.

The third frame saw RHS build a four-point lead at 35-31, until Waits and Ryan Inman each made two free throws for a 35-35 score with 4:55 on the clock.

RHS responded with a jumper by Andrew Inskeep and a 3-pointer from Preston Kirk at the 3:22 mark to move ahead of the Mustangs, 41-35. Kirk totaled 15 points, and teammate Holton Hamilton scored 14 points. Inskeep finished with 13 points.

LC didn't back down, answering with two points from Tristan Wilbanks and a 3-pointer by Pierson at the 2:36 mark of the third for a one-point deficit at 41-40.

The Mustangs ended the quarter with nine straight points in the final 2:07 with two free throws by Christian Inman, a 3-pointer by Waits and four consecutive points from Pierson to put LC ahead, 49-41.

"Everybody who got into the game tonight did good things for us," Carson said. "It was a good team win.

"Josh Ahrmann did some really good things defensively, and Chaz got his first start of the year and played a nice game. Every kid who got into the game hustled. We have three practices coming up, and that will be a good opportunity for us to fix some things we need to improve on."

For the game, the score was tied nine total times.

In JV play LC defeated RHS, 60-47. Zach Blankenship led LC with 26 points.