Wildcats claw past rival Mustangs
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
MOWRYSTOWN — Never trailing for the entire 32 minutes, the Whiteoak Wildcats were zoned in Friday on senior night, as their defense caused rival Lynchburg-Clay problems for a majority of the Southern Hills League affair, as the Wildcats defended their home court with a 68-51 victory.
The Wildcats (8-5, 11-8) dominated both sides of the court in the first half, leading 35-18, but after a time out in the early stages of the second frame and not before five straight points by Aaron Skaggs, who led LC with 16 points, and Austin Fawley of Lynchburg-Clay, WHS turned it on with an 8-0 run for a 12-point lead with 3:16 remaining in the quarter.
The eight-point run began with points from seniors Ben Barnett and Ethan Hawkins, followed by a tough two points by senior Jerry Stuckey, who made a bucket while being fouled. Barnett sealed the 8-0 run with a steal and fast break points to the hoop.
For the remainder of the second Skaggs exchanged baskets with junior Joe Michael and Barnett, with Barnett ending the dominate opening 16 minutes with a 3-pointer at the buzzer. Michael ended the game with 17 points.
"After the time out we wanted to keep them back because they were penetrating our zone defense," Whiteoak head coach Tom Wessner said. "LC had been shooting their 3-pointers well lately, but we didn't want them to drive the ball to the lane, so we focused on their driving and we got to their shooters."
Each team put up double figures in the third frame, but the Wildcats doubled the output of the Mustangs with a 20-10 quarter for a 55-28 advantage.
Dylan Noll opened up the third with two points for the Mustangs (5-5, 6-11), but his points were equaled by Barnett. Noll countered with two more points, but they were answered, this time by Hawkins.
Barnett led all scorers with a game-high 25 points, making a total of three 3-pointers and seven two point baskets.
"Ben has played a lot of point guard for us this year after we switched him from the two spot," Wessner said. "Tonight when we needed baskets and he was there. For the last three weeks Ben has been making some really good decisions."
Both teams kept going bucket-for-bucket, with LC's Tyler Davidson making the score 40-24 with inside points.
WHS ended the third with 10-2 run, scoring their 10 all in a row with Michael, Ethan Eyre, Mike Carraher and Hawkins all contributing to the run. LC's Jorden DeHaas scored the final points of the quarter with 1:31 remaining.
LC rallied in the fourth quarter, outscoring WHS 23-13.
Fawley, who scored 15 points, turned things up a notch for the Mustangs as he scored nine straight with two 3-pointers and a retro three-point play to bring LC within 15 points of the Wildcats.
WHS ended the game with a 7-1 run as Wes Stratton scored the final point for WHS.
"We tried to change things up but we traded baskets with them in the third and we couldn't get a good enough run to stop them," Lynchburg-Clay head coach Jason McLaughlin said. "We were outplayed tonight and we didn't figure out their hustle and match it until the second half.
"Their (WHS) zone was difficult for us. We have struggled with it all season and tonight they exposed our weaknesses."
In the first quarter WHS led 16-9 after eight minutes. LC tied the game twice at the 7:04 mark and at the 5:31 mark after Steven Collins netted two inside points for the Mustangs.
Michael put WHS up 10-6, but Davidson brought LC closer with a 3-ball at the 1:57 mark. Hawkins answered with a 3-point shot .48 seconds later, followed with a taken charge and another 3-ball with 43.5 left in the opening eight minutes to give the Wildcats a seven point lead. Hawkins finished with 18 points.
WHS was 9 of 18 from the free-throw line, with LC going 3 of 5.
The win lifts the Wildcats to 11-8 overall, with an SHL mark of 8-5. LC falls to 6-11, 5-5.
WHS will play again in the Division IV SE District Sectional tournament as they will face the Fairfield Lions at Valley High School at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 24. WHS swept the season series against the Lions.
LC will host Ripley on Saturday, then take on West Union on Wednesday in their Division III SE DIstrict Sectional game.
In JV play Friday night, LC defeated WHS 46-34. Shain Gragg netted 16 points for LC, followed by 14 points from Jesse McComas. WHS was led by Jon Fox with 13 points, and Wes Stratton with 11.
In freshman play WHS defeated LC 37-31. Jesse Bradds (WHS) and Jacob Skaggs (LC) each scored 12 points.
BOX SCORE
SCORE BY QUARTERS
LCHS - 9 9 10 23 - 51
WHS - 16 19 20 13 - 68
INDIVIDUAL STATS
WHS (68)
Stratton 0 1-2 1, Stuckey 1 1-3 3, Barnett 7 (3) 2-3 25, Michael 6 5-7 17, Eyre 1 0-1 2, Hawkins 6 (2) 0-1 18, Carraher 1 0-1 2. TOTALS: 22 (5) 9-18 68.
LCHS (51)
Davidson 2 (1) 7, Skaggs 8 0-1 16, DeHaas 1 2, Fawley 2 (3) 2-3 15, Noll 4 1-1 9, Collins 1 2. TOTALS: 18 (4) 3-5 51.[[In-content Ad]]
The Wildcats (8-5, 11-8) dominated both sides of the court in the first half, leading 35-18, but after a time out in the early stages of the second frame and not before five straight points by Aaron Skaggs, who led LC with 16 points, and Austin Fawley of Lynchburg-Clay, WHS turned it on with an 8-0 run for a 12-point lead with 3:16 remaining in the quarter.
The eight-point run began with points from seniors Ben Barnett and Ethan Hawkins, followed by a tough two points by senior Jerry Stuckey, who made a bucket while being fouled. Barnett sealed the 8-0 run with a steal and fast break points to the hoop.
For the remainder of the second Skaggs exchanged baskets with junior Joe Michael and Barnett, with Barnett ending the dominate opening 16 minutes with a 3-pointer at the buzzer. Michael ended the game with 17 points.
"After the time out we wanted to keep them back because they were penetrating our zone defense," Whiteoak head coach Tom Wessner said. "LC had been shooting their 3-pointers well lately, but we didn't want them to drive the ball to the lane, so we focused on their driving and we got to their shooters."
Each team put up double figures in the third frame, but the Wildcats doubled the output of the Mustangs with a 20-10 quarter for a 55-28 advantage.
Dylan Noll opened up the third with two points for the Mustangs (5-5, 6-11), but his points were equaled by Barnett. Noll countered with two more points, but they were answered, this time by Hawkins.
Barnett led all scorers with a game-high 25 points, making a total of three 3-pointers and seven two point baskets.
"Ben has played a lot of point guard for us this year after we switched him from the two spot," Wessner said. "Tonight when we needed baskets and he was there. For the last three weeks Ben has been making some really good decisions."
Both teams kept going bucket-for-bucket, with LC's Tyler Davidson making the score 40-24 with inside points.
WHS ended the third with 10-2 run, scoring their 10 all in a row with Michael, Ethan Eyre, Mike Carraher and Hawkins all contributing to the run. LC's Jorden DeHaas scored the final points of the quarter with 1:31 remaining.
LC rallied in the fourth quarter, outscoring WHS 23-13.
Fawley, who scored 15 points, turned things up a notch for the Mustangs as he scored nine straight with two 3-pointers and a retro three-point play to bring LC within 15 points of the Wildcats.
WHS ended the game with a 7-1 run as Wes Stratton scored the final point for WHS.
"We tried to change things up but we traded baskets with them in the third and we couldn't get a good enough run to stop them," Lynchburg-Clay head coach Jason McLaughlin said. "We were outplayed tonight and we didn't figure out their hustle and match it until the second half.
"Their (WHS) zone was difficult for us. We have struggled with it all season and tonight they exposed our weaknesses."
In the first quarter WHS led 16-9 after eight minutes. LC tied the game twice at the 7:04 mark and at the 5:31 mark after Steven Collins netted two inside points for the Mustangs.
Michael put WHS up 10-6, but Davidson brought LC closer with a 3-ball at the 1:57 mark. Hawkins answered with a 3-point shot .48 seconds later, followed with a taken charge and another 3-ball with 43.5 left in the opening eight minutes to give the Wildcats a seven point lead. Hawkins finished with 18 points.
WHS was 9 of 18 from the free-throw line, with LC going 3 of 5.
The win lifts the Wildcats to 11-8 overall, with an SHL mark of 8-5. LC falls to 6-11, 5-5.
WHS will play again in the Division IV SE District Sectional tournament as they will face the Fairfield Lions at Valley High School at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 24. WHS swept the season series against the Lions.
LC will host Ripley on Saturday, then take on West Union on Wednesday in their Division III SE DIstrict Sectional game.
In JV play Friday night, LC defeated WHS 46-34. Shain Gragg netted 16 points for LC, followed by 14 points from Jesse McComas. WHS was led by Jon Fox with 13 points, and Wes Stratton with 11.
In freshman play WHS defeated LC 37-31. Jesse Bradds (WHS) and Jacob Skaggs (LC) each scored 12 points.
BOX SCORE
SCORE BY QUARTERS
LCHS - 9 9 10 23 - 51
WHS - 16 19 20 13 - 68
INDIVIDUAL STATS
WHS (68)
Stratton 0 1-2 1, Stuckey 1 1-3 3, Barnett 7 (3) 2-3 25, Michael 6 5-7 17, Eyre 1 0-1 2, Hawkins 6 (2) 0-1 18, Carraher 1 0-1 2. TOTALS: 22 (5) 9-18 68.
LCHS (51)
Davidson 2 (1) 7, Skaggs 8 0-1 16, DeHaas 1 2, Fawley 2 (3) 2-3 15, Noll 4 1-1 9, Collins 1 2. TOTALS: 18 (4) 3-5 51.[[In-content Ad]]