Tigers use defense, strong second half to hand Shermans 2nd loss
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
GREENFIELD — It can be said the young McClain Tigers matured on the basketball court Saturday night.
The offense of the Tigers had something to prove in the second half, after scoring just nine points in the opening 16 minutes.
They proved a lot in the final two quarters. For the program known for their defense, which was there for the Tigers all four quarters, their offense showed up in full force in the final two quarters (including 15-0 run to start the fourth). The combination of defense, along with their second-half offense, allowed the Tigers to defeat the Unioto Shermans, 49-39 at McClain High School, handing UHS their second loss of the season.
"Unioto is a very good team," MHS head coach Brent Eaton said "Their point guard is hurt, and he's one of the best around. Regardless, I thought our competitiveness … our 'want to' was impressive."
This Tigers (4-8) were held to five points in the first quarter and four more points in the second, trailing the Shermans (of the Scioto Valley Conference) at halftime 15-9.
After halftime, the Tigers' offensive game started to click, as they scored more points in the third frame (16) than either team did in the first half. In the fourth, the Tigers used their defense as their best offense by forcing turnovers and scoring on fast-break opportunities, along with adding points from the free-throw line.
This time, the Tigers took advantage of their trips to the charity stripe, going 10-of-11 in the fourth frame and 14-of-18 (78 percent) for the game, which turned out to be much-needed points to seal the win.
And if any win was a "team win," then this one qualified as such with freshman Ryan Faulconer leading the Tigers with 13 points, all in the second half. The freshman was 7-of-7 from the free-throw line.
"We owe our free-throw shooting success to Coach Wisecup and nobody else," Eaton said. "He's an absolutely amazing free-throw coach. He's done wonders, and Ryan (Faulconer) was shooting 38 percent at the beginning of the year, and now he's shooting around 70 percent."
Evan Mustard followed with 11 points (one 3-pointer), and Thomas Schrader scored 10 points, including two 3-pointers.
As for the aforementioned second half, what exactly did Eaton and his coaching staff say to the Tigers in the locker room at the half?
"Honestly, defensively there were no changes," Eaton said. "The only thing we said before the game was we wanted to give up four offensive rebounds in the game, and they had four in the first half.
"At halftime we told them, 'no more,' and we out-rebounded them 19-7 in the second half, and they ended up with five or six offensive rebounds. We also had 12 steals, so our defensive pressure was really strong."
What about the offense?
"Really, Coach (Brandon) Streitenberger said we just need to spread them (UHS) out, move the ball and attack off the dribble. That is what we did," Eaton said. "It seemed to be really effective."
At the start of the second half, the Shermans (who played the second half without the services of 6-5 post player Chase Detillion due to injury) increased their lead to eight points to open the quarter. The Tigers responded with seven consecutive points, starting with a put-back basket by Faulconer, followed by a 3-pointer from Schrader and two free throws by Trey Lytle bringing the Tigers within one point of tying the score at 17-16. Lytle ended the game with seven points.
The Shermans (8-2) countered with five straight points, including a three-point play by Andrew Warner with 4:22 left in the quarter.
This time, the Tigers answered with seven consecutive points, with back-to-back layups by Schrader and a 3-pointer from Mustard, giving the Tigers their first lead at 23-22 at the 2:01 mark of the third.
UHS ended the third with the lead at 27-25, but the fourth belonged to the Tigers as they doubled the output of their opponent at 24-12.
McClain opened the fourth with the aforementioned run of 15-0 for a lead of 39-28 with 3:14 left in regulation.
The run began with a free throw by Lytle, followed by a layup from Mustard.
"Evan was phenomenal (Saturday)," Eaton said. "He was good as he could play defensively … he played outstanding."[[In-content Ad]]
The spark the Tigers were looking for came off their bench by junior John Turner, who stole the basketball and made a layup while being fouled. He followed through by making the free throw to complete a three-point play. Once the Shermans regained possession, Turner stole the ball again, this time taking the ball to the hoop uncontested for five points in a span of 15 seconds.
In fact, MHS scored 15 straight points in 4:28.
After Turner's quick five points, Brent Shannon sank a free throw, followed by a put-back basket by Mustard at the 4:52 mark of the fourth. The final four points of the run were from Faulconer and Roger Carroll for the 11-point lead.
UHS battled back with five straight points (including a 3-pointer from Bryce Arledge) to make it a six-point game with 2:08 left on the clock. Arledge led all scorers with a game-high 16 points, including four 3-pointers. Teammate Andrew Warner finished with nine points.
Then it was time for the Tigers to work from the free-throw line, and that's exactly what they did. From the 1:36 mark of the fourth up to the 39.8 mark, Faulconer was 6-of-6 from the charity stripe, along with a layup mixed in-between for eight straight points by the freshman, putting MHS up 49-36. Arledge finished the game with a 3-pointer for the Shermans.
In the opening two quarters, Schrader had a 3-pointer in the first for MHS. Also scoring in the first half for the Tigers were Lytle and Carroll.
McClain will be back at home on Tuesday, Jan. 17 as they host the second-place (in the SCOL) Miami Trace Panthers. MT has recent SCOL wins against Hillsboro and Clinton-Massie.
In JV play, the Tigers fell to UHS 33-22, and in the freshman game, MHS defeated the Shermans 40-23.
GAME NOTES: A moment of silence was held pregame to honor the memory of McClain supporter Norman VanMatre (the father of MHS Hall of Fame coach Rick VanMatre), who passed away Saturday … MHS has outscored their opponent in the second half two straight games … MHS made a total of three 3-pointers … The Tigers committed a total of 12 fouls (two in the first half) … MHS had 12 turnovers (six in the first half) … UHS had four 3-pointers … UHS was 5-of-10 (50 percent) from the free-throw line … UHS had a total of 15 turnovers … The Shermans committed 14 fouls (four in the first half).
BOX SCORE
SCORE BY QUARTERS
UHS 06 09 12 12 — 39
MHS 05 04 16 24 — 49
INDIVIDUAL STATS
MHS (49)
T.Lytle 1 (0) 5-6 7
R.Faulconer 3 (0) 7-7 13
R.Carroll 1 (0) 1-2 3
T.Schrader 2 (2) 0-2 10
J.Turner 2 (0) 1-1 5
E.Mustard 4 (1) 0-0 11
TOTALS: 13 (3) 14-18 49
UHS (39)
B.Arledge 2 (4) 0-0 16
J.Rose 0 (0) 1-2 1
D.Rinney 1 (0) 0-0 2
A.Woods 1 (0) 3-7 5
A.Warner 4 (0) 1-1 9
C.Dettillion 3 (0) 0-0 6
TOTALS: 11 (4) 5-10 39
The offense of the Tigers had something to prove in the second half, after scoring just nine points in the opening 16 minutes.
They proved a lot in the final two quarters. For the program known for their defense, which was there for the Tigers all four quarters, their offense showed up in full force in the final two quarters (including 15-0 run to start the fourth). The combination of defense, along with their second-half offense, allowed the Tigers to defeat the Unioto Shermans, 49-39 at McClain High School, handing UHS their second loss of the season.
"Unioto is a very good team," MHS head coach Brent Eaton said "Their point guard is hurt, and he's one of the best around. Regardless, I thought our competitiveness … our 'want to' was impressive."
This Tigers (4-8) were held to five points in the first quarter and four more points in the second, trailing the Shermans (of the Scioto Valley Conference) at halftime 15-9.
After halftime, the Tigers' offensive game started to click, as they scored more points in the third frame (16) than either team did in the first half. In the fourth, the Tigers used their defense as their best offense by forcing turnovers and scoring on fast-break opportunities, along with adding points from the free-throw line.
This time, the Tigers took advantage of their trips to the charity stripe, going 10-of-11 in the fourth frame and 14-of-18 (78 percent) for the game, which turned out to be much-needed points to seal the win.
And if any win was a "team win," then this one qualified as such with freshman Ryan Faulconer leading the Tigers with 13 points, all in the second half. The freshman was 7-of-7 from the free-throw line.
"We owe our free-throw shooting success to Coach Wisecup and nobody else," Eaton said. "He's an absolutely amazing free-throw coach. He's done wonders, and Ryan (Faulconer) was shooting 38 percent at the beginning of the year, and now he's shooting around 70 percent."
Evan Mustard followed with 11 points (one 3-pointer), and Thomas Schrader scored 10 points, including two 3-pointers.
As for the aforementioned second half, what exactly did Eaton and his coaching staff say to the Tigers in the locker room at the half?
"Honestly, defensively there were no changes," Eaton said. "The only thing we said before the game was we wanted to give up four offensive rebounds in the game, and they had four in the first half.
"At halftime we told them, 'no more,' and we out-rebounded them 19-7 in the second half, and they ended up with five or six offensive rebounds. We also had 12 steals, so our defensive pressure was really strong."
What about the offense?
"Really, Coach (Brandon) Streitenberger said we just need to spread them (UHS) out, move the ball and attack off the dribble. That is what we did," Eaton said. "It seemed to be really effective."
At the start of the second half, the Shermans (who played the second half without the services of 6-5 post player Chase Detillion due to injury) increased their lead to eight points to open the quarter. The Tigers responded with seven consecutive points, starting with a put-back basket by Faulconer, followed by a 3-pointer from Schrader and two free throws by Trey Lytle bringing the Tigers within one point of tying the score at 17-16. Lytle ended the game with seven points.
The Shermans (8-2) countered with five straight points, including a three-point play by Andrew Warner with 4:22 left in the quarter.
This time, the Tigers answered with seven consecutive points, with back-to-back layups by Schrader and a 3-pointer from Mustard, giving the Tigers their first lead at 23-22 at the 2:01 mark of the third.
UHS ended the third with the lead at 27-25, but the fourth belonged to the Tigers as they doubled the output of their opponent at 24-12.
McClain opened the fourth with the aforementioned run of 15-0 for a lead of 39-28 with 3:14 left in regulation.
The run began with a free throw by Lytle, followed by a layup from Mustard.
"Evan was phenomenal (Saturday)," Eaton said. "He was good as he could play defensively … he played outstanding."[[In-content Ad]]
The spark the Tigers were looking for came off their bench by junior John Turner, who stole the basketball and made a layup while being fouled. He followed through by making the free throw to complete a three-point play. Once the Shermans regained possession, Turner stole the ball again, this time taking the ball to the hoop uncontested for five points in a span of 15 seconds.
In fact, MHS scored 15 straight points in 4:28.
After Turner's quick five points, Brent Shannon sank a free throw, followed by a put-back basket by Mustard at the 4:52 mark of the fourth. The final four points of the run were from Faulconer and Roger Carroll for the 11-point lead.
UHS battled back with five straight points (including a 3-pointer from Bryce Arledge) to make it a six-point game with 2:08 left on the clock. Arledge led all scorers with a game-high 16 points, including four 3-pointers. Teammate Andrew Warner finished with nine points.
Then it was time for the Tigers to work from the free-throw line, and that's exactly what they did. From the 1:36 mark of the fourth up to the 39.8 mark, Faulconer was 6-of-6 from the charity stripe, along with a layup mixed in-between for eight straight points by the freshman, putting MHS up 49-36. Arledge finished the game with a 3-pointer for the Shermans.
In the opening two quarters, Schrader had a 3-pointer in the first for MHS. Also scoring in the first half for the Tigers were Lytle and Carroll.
McClain will be back at home on Tuesday, Jan. 17 as they host the second-place (in the SCOL) Miami Trace Panthers. MT has recent SCOL wins against Hillsboro and Clinton-Massie.
In JV play, the Tigers fell to UHS 33-22, and in the freshman game, MHS defeated the Shermans 40-23.
GAME NOTES: A moment of silence was held pregame to honor the memory of McClain supporter Norman VanMatre (the father of MHS Hall of Fame coach Rick VanMatre), who passed away Saturday … MHS has outscored their opponent in the second half two straight games … MHS made a total of three 3-pointers … The Tigers committed a total of 12 fouls (two in the first half) … MHS had 12 turnovers (six in the first half) … UHS had four 3-pointers … UHS was 5-of-10 (50 percent) from the free-throw line … UHS had a total of 15 turnovers … The Shermans committed 14 fouls (four in the first half).
BOX SCORE
SCORE BY QUARTERS
UHS 06 09 12 12 — 39
MHS 05 04 16 24 — 49
INDIVIDUAL STATS
MHS (49)
T.Lytle 1 (0) 5-6 7
R.Faulconer 3 (0) 7-7 13
R.Carroll 1 (0) 1-2 3
T.Schrader 2 (2) 0-2 10
J.Turner 2 (0) 1-1 5
E.Mustard 4 (1) 0-0 11
TOTALS: 13 (3) 14-18 49
UHS (39)
B.Arledge 2 (4) 0-0 16
J.Rose 0 (0) 1-2 1
D.Rinney 1 (0) 0-0 2
A.Woods 1 (0) 3-7 5
A.Warner 4 (0) 1-1 9
C.Dettillion 3 (0) 0-0 6
TOTALS: 11 (4) 5-10 39