Sports Today: A Highland County rivalry renews; teams hit the road for Friday
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
It’s Friday night, and with the bitter winter cold all around us, it is time to sit in a warm gym and watch some boys basketball to begin the weekend. If you want to stay in Highland County, there are two games that can provide that comfort.
Both games are Southern Hills Athletic Conference matchups with the Lynchburg-Clay Mustangs playing in their second game of the season by hosting the Peebles Indians. This is their lone meeting of the season as Peebles is now in Division II of the SHAC and LCHS is Division I. In recent years, these two teams have battled for the Div. I SHAC championship, with the Mustangs coming out with the title.
Also for Highland County is a battle of two Highland County SHAC Division II teams with Whiteoak traveling to Fairfield in what could be a very exciting game atmosphere. The Lions enter the game at 3-0 and are playing some very nice basketball, coming off a win Tuesday night against Paint Valley by a 51-49 score in non-conference play. Whiteoak also won on Tuesday night, 54-42 over Felicity-Franklin for their first win of the season, now standing at 1-1 overall.
There are also Frontier Athletic Conference (FAC) games for Highland County, as Hillsboro is on the road at Washington, bringing their 3-0 overall record with them, and the McClain Tigers will be playing their third game of the season, this time at Jackson.
Hillsboro is also hosting a swimming meet at home (YMCA) vs. East Clinton. Hillsboro recently lost a swim meet to the McClain Tiger Sharks in both boys and girls action. Click here to read about the event.
Here is more on the four basketball games on Friday night.
Friday, Dec. 8
Boys Basketball
• Hillsboro at Washington
This could be the best game in the FAC this evening with both teams not having a loss yet. The Blue Lions have played just one game thus far, defeating Circleville, 62-57 on Tuesday night. Hillsboro has won games against Eastern Brown (60-54), McClain (58-36) and Georgetown (53-48).
Last season, the two teams split their meetings with the Blue Lions winning the first meeting on Dec. 16, 2016 by a 51-44 score, then on Feb. 3, 2017 at WCH the Indians won 67-61.
• McClain at Jackson
This FAC game has the Tigers on the road for the third time this season — in their third game — taking on conference foe Jackson. McClain (1-1) last played on Saturday night in a loss to Hillsboro, but defeated Westfall last Friday at the Zane Trace Hoops Classic by a 53-34 score.
Jackson has begun the season 2-0 with wins over Meigs (62-56) and River Valley (77-44). Last season in non-conference play at Jackson, the Tigers defeated JHS, 46-38 on Dec. 10, 2016.
• Peebles at Lynchburg-Clay
Like mentioned earlier, this is a game that should bring a lot of excitement as the fans are usually really into this game, plus the competition on the court has been excellent as well as of late between the two teams.
Last year, the Mustangs won their first meeting against Peebles on Dec. 9, 2016 by a 45-42 score, and then again won at Peebles on Jan. 31, 2017 by a 65-60 score. LCHS has won the past four meetings with Peebles, but all four games have been highly competitive.
This season, the Mustangs have a little different roster compared to last year, and in their lone game thus far they lost to Ripley by a 73-56 score, though LC trailed by just three points after three quarters, so it was a much closer played game than the score shows.
Also, there is LC senior Eric McLaughlin, who needs 22 points to gain his 1,000th career point. In game one against Ripley last Friday, he scored 16 points.
• Whiteoak at Fairfield
This could be an interesting game, and with the Fairfield Lions playing some nice basketball with three wins in three chances, they have the momentum going into the SHAC contest against Whiteoak.
The Lions have wins against Paint Valley (51-49), East Clinton (73-66) and Manchester (73-48) to start the year. At the start of the season, it was a guess so to speak about how the young Fairfield team would pick up the varsity game with a mix of youth and some experience on the roster. So far, that question has been answered, and they’ve been a fun team to watch with their speed and ability to play defense as well.
The Wildcats are 1-1 on the year with a win this past Tuesday against Felicity Franklin (54-42) and a loss to Peebles (65-50) in a game that was also played a lot closer than the final score shows last Friday night. In the loss to PHS, the Wildcats trailed by just two points after three quarters by a 47-45 score.
• On this date in the archives
The game on this date is back in 2012, when the McClain Lady Tigers defeated the Hillsboro Lady Indians, 50-47 at HHS. The game had a total of 55 fouls called, and it was win No. 491 for then-MHS head coach Dennis Overstake as he gained the 500th win later in the season. Shania Massie was the leading scorer for McClain in the SCOL game with 16 points, and Hillsboro’s Kaylynn Bell led all scorers with 17 points. Click here to read the full article.
Both games are Southern Hills Athletic Conference matchups with the Lynchburg-Clay Mustangs playing in their second game of the season by hosting the Peebles Indians. This is their lone meeting of the season as Peebles is now in Division II of the SHAC and LCHS is Division I. In recent years, these two teams have battled for the Div. I SHAC championship, with the Mustangs coming out with the title.
Also for Highland County is a battle of two Highland County SHAC Division II teams with Whiteoak traveling to Fairfield in what could be a very exciting game atmosphere. The Lions enter the game at 3-0 and are playing some very nice basketball, coming off a win Tuesday night against Paint Valley by a 51-49 score in non-conference play. Whiteoak also won on Tuesday night, 54-42 over Felicity-Franklin for their first win of the season, now standing at 1-1 overall.
There are also Frontier Athletic Conference (FAC) games for Highland County, as Hillsboro is on the road at Washington, bringing their 3-0 overall record with them, and the McClain Tigers will be playing their third game of the season, this time at Jackson.
Hillsboro is also hosting a swimming meet at home (YMCA) vs. East Clinton. Hillsboro recently lost a swim meet to the McClain Tiger Sharks in both boys and girls action. Click here to read about the event.
Here is more on the four basketball games on Friday night.
Friday, Dec. 8
Boys Basketball
• Hillsboro at Washington
This could be the best game in the FAC this evening with both teams not having a loss yet. The Blue Lions have played just one game thus far, defeating Circleville, 62-57 on Tuesday night. Hillsboro has won games against Eastern Brown (60-54), McClain (58-36) and Georgetown (53-48).
Last season, the two teams split their meetings with the Blue Lions winning the first meeting on Dec. 16, 2016 by a 51-44 score, then on Feb. 3, 2017 at WCH the Indians won 67-61.
• McClain at Jackson
This FAC game has the Tigers on the road for the third time this season — in their third game — taking on conference foe Jackson. McClain (1-1) last played on Saturday night in a loss to Hillsboro, but defeated Westfall last Friday at the Zane Trace Hoops Classic by a 53-34 score.
Jackson has begun the season 2-0 with wins over Meigs (62-56) and River Valley (77-44). Last season in non-conference play at Jackson, the Tigers defeated JHS, 46-38 on Dec. 10, 2016.
• Peebles at Lynchburg-Clay
Like mentioned earlier, this is a game that should bring a lot of excitement as the fans are usually really into this game, plus the competition on the court has been excellent as well as of late between the two teams.
Last year, the Mustangs won their first meeting against Peebles on Dec. 9, 2016 by a 45-42 score, and then again won at Peebles on Jan. 31, 2017 by a 65-60 score. LCHS has won the past four meetings with Peebles, but all four games have been highly competitive.
This season, the Mustangs have a little different roster compared to last year, and in their lone game thus far they lost to Ripley by a 73-56 score, though LC trailed by just three points after three quarters, so it was a much closer played game than the score shows.
Also, there is LC senior Eric McLaughlin, who needs 22 points to gain his 1,000th career point. In game one against Ripley last Friday, he scored 16 points.
• Whiteoak at Fairfield
This could be an interesting game, and with the Fairfield Lions playing some nice basketball with three wins in three chances, they have the momentum going into the SHAC contest against Whiteoak.
The Lions have wins against Paint Valley (51-49), East Clinton (73-66) and Manchester (73-48) to start the year. At the start of the season, it was a guess so to speak about how the young Fairfield team would pick up the varsity game with a mix of youth and some experience on the roster. So far, that question has been answered, and they’ve been a fun team to watch with their speed and ability to play defense as well.
The Wildcats are 1-1 on the year with a win this past Tuesday against Felicity Franklin (54-42) and a loss to Peebles (65-50) in a game that was also played a lot closer than the final score shows last Friday night. In the loss to PHS, the Wildcats trailed by just two points after three quarters by a 47-45 score.
• On this date in the archives
The game on this date is back in 2012, when the McClain Lady Tigers defeated the Hillsboro Lady Indians, 50-47 at HHS. The game had a total of 55 fouls called, and it was win No. 491 for then-MHS head coach Dennis Overstake as he gained the 500th win later in the season. Shania Massie was the leading scorer for McClain in the SCOL game with 16 points, and Hillsboro’s Kaylynn Bell led all scorers with 17 points. Click here to read the full article.