Tigers defeat Hillsboro in defensive battle
Lead Summary
By
Jim Jones-
It was a packed house in Greenfield Saturday night that saw the McClain varsity boys basketball team earn sweet revenge over Frontier Athletic Conference and county rival Hillsboro by a score of 44-39.
Junior Seth Weller led McClain with a game-high 27 points, with 12 of his points coming in the third quarter. Weller also had ice in his veins at the free-throw line where he made 7-of-8 foul shots, all coming in the fourth period, which was another big factor in securing the victory for the Tigers.
“Our kids came into this game today ready to go. They were really fired up, and it showed on the floor with their heart and hustle,” McClain head coach Bob Williams said. “I’m very proud of everyone’s effort today.”
Defense was probably the biggest factor in the ball game for McClain, who shut down a pretty potent Indians offense who scored over 70 points on them earlier in the season, this time holding them to just 39 on a special night for three Tiger seniors.
“This was our senior night, and all three of our seniors, Josiah Burchett, Robbie Wise and David Edwards, all started and gave great effort, really getting after it, especially on the defensive end,” Williams said.
Hillsboro’s defensive effort was pretty solid too, giving up just the 44 points, but they had no answer for Weller all night despite using multiple types of man and zone defenses.
“We’ve seen those kind of defensive looks all year, and sometimes we’re really good at beating them like we did tonight and sometimes we’re not,” Williams said. “Tonight our kids kept their composure and played great together the entire game, and we’ve shown that we’re a pretty good team when we do that.
“Coach (Blain) Bergstrom wrote on the blackboard before the game, ‘Play for our seniors and play for each other,’ and they took that to heart and that’s what they did tonight.”
McClain trailed 11-10 after one period but outscored the Indians 10-6 in the second and led 20-17 at the half.
Weller led the Tigers with eight points at the break and senior Robbie Wise had a pretty good half of basketball too with four points while playing some superb defense.
Hillsboro and McClain used a 1-3-1 zone defense to effectively shut down each other’s outside scoring ability for most of the opening half.
McClain switched from man-to-man and zone defenses aggressively the entire third quarter, and Weller was in a zone offensively in the period, scoring 12 of the Tigers’ 14 points as Greenfield’s lead grew to 34-29.
Both teams tallied 10 points each in the fourth period, but McClain iced the game late at the free-throw line and earn the hard-fought and very physical 44-39 FAC victory.
“Our three seniors are really great kids who come to practice and work extremely hard every day,” Williams said. “They are great young men and great teammates who are always positive role models who want to give their best effort in practice and in games. We’re going to miss them all, but I know they will be successful in whatever they choose to do in life after high school because they have great character.
“Our crowd support was awesome tonight and our student section was super again. Just a great night to be a McClain Tiger fan.”
McClain improves to 5-15 overall. The Tigers were led by Seth Weller and his game-high 27 points, followed by Andrew Potts with five. Rounding out the scoring for the Tigers were Robbie Wise (four), Josiah Burchett (four), Riley Cummins (three) and Drake Stapleton (one).
Hillsboro (5-15) was led by Bryce Parsons who had a team-high 12 points, followed closely by Steven Kibler, who also hit double figures with 11. Rounding out the scoring for the Indians were Tate Davis (nine), Nic Burns (five) and Dorian Stewart (one).
McClain was 10-of-15 from the foul line, while Hillsboro made 8-of-14.
McClain closes out the regular season when they travel to Leesburg Tuesday, Feb. 7 to face the undefeated and state-ranked Fairfield Lions, then travel to Piketon on Saturday, Feb. 11.
Hillsboro next hosts county rival Lynchburg-Clay on Feb. 7.
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Junior Seth Weller led McClain with a game-high 27 points, with 12 of his points coming in the third quarter. Weller also had ice in his veins at the free-throw line where he made 7-of-8 foul shots, all coming in the fourth period, which was another big factor in securing the victory for the Tigers.
“Our kids came into this game today ready to go. They were really fired up, and it showed on the floor with their heart and hustle,” McClain head coach Bob Williams said. “I’m very proud of everyone’s effort today.”
Defense was probably the biggest factor in the ball game for McClain, who shut down a pretty potent Indians offense who scored over 70 points on them earlier in the season, this time holding them to just 39 on a special night for three Tiger seniors.
“This was our senior night, and all three of our seniors, Josiah Burchett, Robbie Wise and David Edwards, all started and gave great effort, really getting after it, especially on the defensive end,” Williams said.
Hillsboro’s defensive effort was pretty solid too, giving up just the 44 points, but they had no answer for Weller all night despite using multiple types of man and zone defenses.
“We’ve seen those kind of defensive looks all year, and sometimes we’re really good at beating them like we did tonight and sometimes we’re not,” Williams said. “Tonight our kids kept their composure and played great together the entire game, and we’ve shown that we’re a pretty good team when we do that.
“Coach (Blain) Bergstrom wrote on the blackboard before the game, ‘Play for our seniors and play for each other,’ and they took that to heart and that’s what they did tonight.”
McClain trailed 11-10 after one period but outscored the Indians 10-6 in the second and led 20-17 at the half.
Weller led the Tigers with eight points at the break and senior Robbie Wise had a pretty good half of basketball too with four points while playing some superb defense.
Hillsboro and McClain used a 1-3-1 zone defense to effectively shut down each other’s outside scoring ability for most of the opening half.
McClain switched from man-to-man and zone defenses aggressively the entire third quarter, and Weller was in a zone offensively in the period, scoring 12 of the Tigers’ 14 points as Greenfield’s lead grew to 34-29.
Both teams tallied 10 points each in the fourth period, but McClain iced the game late at the free-throw line and earn the hard-fought and very physical 44-39 FAC victory.
“Our three seniors are really great kids who come to practice and work extremely hard every day,” Williams said. “They are great young men and great teammates who are always positive role models who want to give their best effort in practice and in games. We’re going to miss them all, but I know they will be successful in whatever they choose to do in life after high school because they have great character.
“Our crowd support was awesome tonight and our student section was super again. Just a great night to be a McClain Tiger fan.”
McClain improves to 5-15 overall. The Tigers were led by Seth Weller and his game-high 27 points, followed by Andrew Potts with five. Rounding out the scoring for the Tigers were Robbie Wise (four), Josiah Burchett (four), Riley Cummins (three) and Drake Stapleton (one).
Hillsboro (5-15) was led by Bryce Parsons who had a team-high 12 points, followed closely by Steven Kibler, who also hit double figures with 11. Rounding out the scoring for the Indians were Tate Davis (nine), Nic Burns (five) and Dorian Stewart (one).
McClain was 10-of-15 from the foul line, while Hillsboro made 8-of-14.
McClain closes out the regular season when they travel to Leesburg Tuesday, Feb. 7 to face the undefeated and state-ranked Fairfield Lions, then travel to Piketon on Saturday, Feb. 11.
Hillsboro next hosts county rival Lynchburg-Clay on Feb. 7.
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