Tigers top Red Raiders 77-64

     GREENFIELD – Leading by two points at the end of the third quarter, the McClain Tigers hit the shots needed in the final eight minutes to defend their home court Saturday night, as they defeated the London Red Raiders 77-64 in South Central Ohio League play.

     The Tigers were battling sickness with three players under the weather, as senior starter Lucas Polley missed the game.

     “The biggest thing (Saturday) was we had three kids who were sick. Zach (Matracia) gutted it out and played tough,” McClain head coach Brent Eaton said. “Caleb (Gregory) shot well and L.T. Walters’ points in the second half were huge.”

     The Tigers’ tied the game with .27 left in the third when Cameron Cooper made a put back bucket. After Nik Beatty took a charge with 16.1 left, a jumper by Logan Wise put the Tigers ahead at 52-50 to end the third.

     Kameron Mace gave MHS a four-point led with a two-point basket, but the Red Raiders answered with a basket from Dylan Follrod. The Tigers answered with seven straight points when Wise Gregory, and Beatty put the Tigers ahead at 61-52 with 5:46 remaining in the final quarter. Beatty’s basket was a 3-pointer.

     London had a comeback attempt getting within four points of MHS on a steal and fast break by Seth Wingo with 3:45 left in the game.

     But the Tigers didn’t allow the Red Raiders to get any closer when Mace sank a wide-open 3-pointer followed with a three-point play by Gregory to extend the Tigers’ lead to 10 points at 69-59.

     Jordon Seldon put down points for the Red Raiders, but an inside bucket from Walters and two free throws by Wise gave the Tigers 73-61. Seldon led all scorers with 30 points making nine baskets from the field. The senior was 12 of 19 from the free-throw line.

     “We couldn’t guard him,” Eaton said about Seldon. “He’d score inside, spin off and draw fouls.”

     The start of the game was all McClain with Gregory scoring a 3-pointer, followed with a layup from Wise for the early 5-0 lead. With 4:53 remaining in the same quarter Mace drained a trifecta. Gregory sank his second 3-ball at the 3:27 mark of the first, and with nearly 2:00 left in the first Wise knocked down a 3-pointer to give the Tigers a 14-5 lead.

     Jordan Johnson scored a 3-pointer for the Red Raiders, but the Tigers were solid inside the paint with put back points from Zack Uhl.

     Leading by six points to start the second Zack Mullikin and Mace off-set a free throw from London with inside points from Mullikin and a 3-pointer from Mace for a 23-13 lead with 6:07 left in the first half.

     After points from the Red Raiders, Matracia sank two free throws to take back the 10-0 point advantage. Matracia also gained six rebounds.

     With just over 2:00 left in the quarter Scott Balzer made a 3-pointer for the Tigers. His points were followed by a free throw by Cooper.

     London ended the first half with six straight points as Seldon made a jumper and free throw. Johnson sank a 3-pointer at the buzzer, bringing LHS within two points of the Tiger lead, making the score 37-35 at the end of the first half.

     Leading 40-38 Wise gave the Tigers some breathing room with 5:06 left in the third with a a shot from beyond the arc.

     London took the lead with a 6-0 run at 48-45, but the score was tied at 48 with a timely 3-pointer from Walters with 1:27 left in the quarter.

     Wise led the Tigers in scoring with 18 points. Wise also gained three rebounds, four steals and took a charge.

     Mace finished with 17 points and six rebounds as the Tigers totaled 27 rebounds, with LHS grabbing 24. Gregory ended the game with 13 points, making two of the 10 MHS 3-point baskets.

     For London Wingo scored 13 points.

     The Tigers forced 20 turnovers with as the Tigers had 14 of their own.

     MHS (2-1, 3-2) will travel to Hillsboro this Wednesday in a cross-county SCOL matchup.

     LHS drops to 1-4 overall, 1-2 in the SCOL.

BOX SCORE

SCORE BY QUARTERS

LHS – 12 23 15 14 – 64

MHS – 18 19 15 25 – 77

INDIVIDUAL STATS

MHS (77)

Mace 2 (3) 4-6 17, Wise 5 (2) 2-2 18, Cooper 1 1-2 3, Balzer 0 (1) 3, Gregory 3 (2) 1-4 13, Uhl 1 2, Walters 2 (1) 1-2 8, Beatty 0 (1) 3, Matracia 1 4-8 6, Mullikin 2 4. TOTALS: 17 (10) 13-24 77.

LHS (64)

Shoemaker 1 2, Wingo 5 3-4 13, Downing 1 2, Follrod 2 0-1 4, Bennett 1 1-1 3, Johnson 0 (2) 6, Wright 2 4, Seldon 9 12-19 30. TOTALS: 21 (2) 16-25 64.