Mustangs win rumble against Wildcats
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
MOWRYSTOWN — Though the Whiteoak Wildcats were celebrating their homecoming, there wasn't any dancing going on with the Lynchburg-Clay Mustangs Friday night.
There was physical play in the paint, tough pressure defense and for good measure possibly an elbow or two, and one intentional foul as the Mustangs crashed the Wildcats' homecoming festivities 60-53, gaining a Southrn Hills League win.
Whiteoak named Bailey Walker their homecoming queen and Nathan Hauke the homecoming king before the start of the varsity game.
Once the game began, one constant was fouls.
After the first half, the tally read 25 fouls combined in 16 minutes of basketball. The final total of fouls was 40 (in 32 minutes), with LC going 16-of-27 from the free-throw line and the Wildcats going 12-of-21. Of their 21 free-throw opportunities, WHS had just one free-throw attempt in the final two quarters.
"One of the things we have to start doing is use our size to our advantage," LC head coach Jason McLaughlin said. "Alec (Smith) and Wes (Pierson) did a heck of a job on the boards with 13 combined rebounds. We mixed it up with our man and zone.
"They (WHS) kept shooting threes and missing, and that gave us some easy chances for rebounds. At the end their defense collapsed, and we were able to get some easy buckets."
Though fouls slowed down the pace of the game, that could have been a good thing as neither team wanted to give an inch, as it was evident on the scoreboard with WHS leading LC 18-16 after the first quarter, and again, ending the first half with a 30-29 advantage over their visiting Highland County rival.
Both teams were only separated by four points after the third quarter, with WHS leading 42-38.
"I'm really proud of my guys for keeping their cool for the whole game," McLaughlin said. "It could have easily got out of hand, especially in the first half. That's one of the things we talked about at halftime … was keeping our cool and composure. I think we did that in the second half."
The difference was in the final eight minutes where the Mustangs were 10-of-20 from the charity stripe. WHS didn't have an opportunity to shoot a free throw in the fourth.
As the final frame began, the Mustangs trailed by four points, but that didn't last long as Tyler Davidson sank a 3-pointer with 7:33 showing on the scoreboard. After WHS made it a three-point lead, Gage Waits, who scored 13 points, passed to an open Davidson on a fast break for two points.
Eventually the score was tied at 46 with a 3-pointer by Davidson, and LC took the lead for what turned out to be for the remainder of the game with a jumper by Waits at the 4:33 mark for a 48-46 advantage.
Later in the quarter, at the 3:07 mark, Whiteoak's Luke Taggert knocked down a wide-open 3-pointer, cutting the LC lead to a single point.
After that field goal the game mostly was determined on the free-throw line. The Mustangs took what eventually turned into 20 free throws in the final 2:32.
Of those free throws, Davidson was 6-of-10. In that same span, Waits was 2-of-4. Austin Gorman and Wes Pierson each were 1-of-2 in the fourth. Pierson ended the rivalry game with 10 points.
In between all the free shots, Whiteoak's Gage Carraher and Taggert each made points in the paint. Taggert finished tied with the game-high in scoring with 18 points. Also scoring 18 points was Davidson.
"I thought Lynchburg did a very nice job in the second half," Whiteoak head coach Tom Wessner said. "They were very aggressive in their zone, and they did a good job of getting to their shooters.
"(LC) rebounded very well, and that makes it very difficult to get open shots and second chance shots to win the game."
If the fourth quarter was flowing over on free-throw attempts, the first frame set the tone as it perhaps was the most physical quarter of basketball played thus far this season by either team.
In the first quarter, there were nine free-throw attempts by the Wildcats and none by the Mustangs. WHS went 6-of-9 from the line as Doc Seip, who finished with 14 points, made four of them. Luke Taggert was 2-of-3 in the opening quarter from the free-throw line, along with a 3-pointer with 1:21 left in the quarter to cut the LC lead to 14-13.
After Waits put LC up 16-13 (still in the first), it was Zach Docter who tied the game for WHS, sinking a 3-pointer his own near the end of the quarter. Wes Stratton ended the opening eight minutes with a layup, putting the Wildcats ahead 18-16, breaking the tie.
The scored quarter score was tied twice at 18 and again at 25 when Seip made two consecutive free throws. His two free throws made it a total of 13 free throws taken in the second quarter.
Stratton broke the 25-25 tie with a three-point play, but LC came back with two free throws, cutting the lead back down to one. After Carraher made a bucket, Pierson made a jumper at the buzzer for LC, making it the aforementioned 30-29 halftime score.
The fouls were down in the third frame (five total), but that didn't decrease the intensity with LC taking a 31-30 lead when Ryan Inman went a perfect 2-of-2 from the charity stripe.
LC, after losing the lead on back-to-back Wildcat buckets, tied the score at 34 on a 3-pointer from Davidson. WHS answered with six straight points with Stratton, Docter and Seip all scoring in a span of less than two minutes. LC scored four straight to end the quarter, making it a four-point game.
"We just had a lot of mental mistakes. We had guys who weren't in the right position all night. We tried to make substitutions when people were lost, and we ran plays where people weren't where they were supposed to be," Wessner said.
The Wildcats will be back in action on Tuesday as they host Highland County rival Fairfield. LC will also play Tuesday when they take on Peebles at LC.
In the freshman game on Friday night, LC defeated WHS 32-16. For WHS, Grant Gorman and Dillon Neal each led with four points. For LC, Alex Pinkerton and Brody Smith each scored seven points.
WHS won the JV game 35-33. For WHS, Tyler Williams had 14 points, and for LC, Chaz Lanier tallied 10 points.
BOX SCORE
SCORE BY QUARTERS
LC 16 13 09 22 — 60
WHS 18 12 12 11 — 53
INDIVIDUAL STATS
LC (60)
G.Waits 3 (1) 4-6 13
A.Gorman 1 (0) 1-3 3
T.Davidson 0 (4) 6-12 18
R.Inman 3 (0) 2-2 8
W.Pierson 2 (1) 3-4 10
A.Smith 4 (0) 0-0 8
TOTALS: 13 (6) 16-27 60
WHS (53)
W.Stratton 3 (0) 1-2 7
B.Trublood 0 (0) 0-2 0
Z.Docter 1 (1) 0-1 5
S.Meyers 1 (0) 0-0 2
D.Seip 4 (0) 6-9 14
L.Taggert 5 (2) 2-3 18
G.Carraher 2 (0) 3-4 7
TOTALS: 16 (3) 12-21 53[[In-content Ad]]
There was physical play in the paint, tough pressure defense and for good measure possibly an elbow or two, and one intentional foul as the Mustangs crashed the Wildcats' homecoming festivities 60-53, gaining a Southrn Hills League win.
Whiteoak named Bailey Walker their homecoming queen and Nathan Hauke the homecoming king before the start of the varsity game.
Once the game began, one constant was fouls.
After the first half, the tally read 25 fouls combined in 16 minutes of basketball. The final total of fouls was 40 (in 32 minutes), with LC going 16-of-27 from the free-throw line and the Wildcats going 12-of-21. Of their 21 free-throw opportunities, WHS had just one free-throw attempt in the final two quarters.
"One of the things we have to start doing is use our size to our advantage," LC head coach Jason McLaughlin said. "Alec (Smith) and Wes (Pierson) did a heck of a job on the boards with 13 combined rebounds. We mixed it up with our man and zone.
"They (WHS) kept shooting threes and missing, and that gave us some easy chances for rebounds. At the end their defense collapsed, and we were able to get some easy buckets."
Though fouls slowed down the pace of the game, that could have been a good thing as neither team wanted to give an inch, as it was evident on the scoreboard with WHS leading LC 18-16 after the first quarter, and again, ending the first half with a 30-29 advantage over their visiting Highland County rival.
Both teams were only separated by four points after the third quarter, with WHS leading 42-38.
"I'm really proud of my guys for keeping their cool for the whole game," McLaughlin said. "It could have easily got out of hand, especially in the first half. That's one of the things we talked about at halftime … was keeping our cool and composure. I think we did that in the second half."
The difference was in the final eight minutes where the Mustangs were 10-of-20 from the charity stripe. WHS didn't have an opportunity to shoot a free throw in the fourth.
As the final frame began, the Mustangs trailed by four points, but that didn't last long as Tyler Davidson sank a 3-pointer with 7:33 showing on the scoreboard. After WHS made it a three-point lead, Gage Waits, who scored 13 points, passed to an open Davidson on a fast break for two points.
Eventually the score was tied at 46 with a 3-pointer by Davidson, and LC took the lead for what turned out to be for the remainder of the game with a jumper by Waits at the 4:33 mark for a 48-46 advantage.
Later in the quarter, at the 3:07 mark, Whiteoak's Luke Taggert knocked down a wide-open 3-pointer, cutting the LC lead to a single point.
After that field goal the game mostly was determined on the free-throw line. The Mustangs took what eventually turned into 20 free throws in the final 2:32.
Of those free throws, Davidson was 6-of-10. In that same span, Waits was 2-of-4. Austin Gorman and Wes Pierson each were 1-of-2 in the fourth. Pierson ended the rivalry game with 10 points.
In between all the free shots, Whiteoak's Gage Carraher and Taggert each made points in the paint. Taggert finished tied with the game-high in scoring with 18 points. Also scoring 18 points was Davidson.
"I thought Lynchburg did a very nice job in the second half," Whiteoak head coach Tom Wessner said. "They were very aggressive in their zone, and they did a good job of getting to their shooters.
"(LC) rebounded very well, and that makes it very difficult to get open shots and second chance shots to win the game."
If the fourth quarter was flowing over on free-throw attempts, the first frame set the tone as it perhaps was the most physical quarter of basketball played thus far this season by either team.
In the first quarter, there were nine free-throw attempts by the Wildcats and none by the Mustangs. WHS went 6-of-9 from the line as Doc Seip, who finished with 14 points, made four of them. Luke Taggert was 2-of-3 in the opening quarter from the free-throw line, along with a 3-pointer with 1:21 left in the quarter to cut the LC lead to 14-13.
After Waits put LC up 16-13 (still in the first), it was Zach Docter who tied the game for WHS, sinking a 3-pointer his own near the end of the quarter. Wes Stratton ended the opening eight minutes with a layup, putting the Wildcats ahead 18-16, breaking the tie.
The scored quarter score was tied twice at 18 and again at 25 when Seip made two consecutive free throws. His two free throws made it a total of 13 free throws taken in the second quarter.
Stratton broke the 25-25 tie with a three-point play, but LC came back with two free throws, cutting the lead back down to one. After Carraher made a bucket, Pierson made a jumper at the buzzer for LC, making it the aforementioned 30-29 halftime score.
The fouls were down in the third frame (five total), but that didn't decrease the intensity with LC taking a 31-30 lead when Ryan Inman went a perfect 2-of-2 from the charity stripe.
LC, after losing the lead on back-to-back Wildcat buckets, tied the score at 34 on a 3-pointer from Davidson. WHS answered with six straight points with Stratton, Docter and Seip all scoring in a span of less than two minutes. LC scored four straight to end the quarter, making it a four-point game.
"We just had a lot of mental mistakes. We had guys who weren't in the right position all night. We tried to make substitutions when people were lost, and we ran plays where people weren't where they were supposed to be," Wessner said.
The Wildcats will be back in action on Tuesday as they host Highland County rival Fairfield. LC will also play Tuesday when they take on Peebles at LC.
In the freshman game on Friday night, LC defeated WHS 32-16. For WHS, Grant Gorman and Dillon Neal each led with four points. For LC, Alex Pinkerton and Brody Smith each scored seven points.
WHS won the JV game 35-33. For WHS, Tyler Williams had 14 points, and for LC, Chaz Lanier tallied 10 points.
BOX SCORE
SCORE BY QUARTERS
LC 16 13 09 22 — 60
WHS 18 12 12 11 — 53
INDIVIDUAL STATS
LC (60)
G.Waits 3 (1) 4-6 13
A.Gorman 1 (0) 1-3 3
T.Davidson 0 (4) 6-12 18
R.Inman 3 (0) 2-2 8
W.Pierson 2 (1) 3-4 10
A.Smith 4 (0) 0-0 8
TOTALS: 13 (6) 16-27 60
WHS (53)
W.Stratton 3 (0) 1-2 7
B.Trublood 0 (0) 0-2 0
Z.Docter 1 (1) 0-1 5
S.Meyers 1 (0) 0-0 2
D.Seip 4 (0) 6-9 14
L.Taggert 5 (2) 2-3 18
G.Carraher 2 (0) 3-4 7
TOTALS: 16 (3) 12-21 53[[In-content Ad]]