Tigers hold on to defeat Whiteoak

It wasn’t pretty all night, but for most of the game Saturday night between McClain and Whiteoak it was entertaining and exciting to the very end, with the Tigers edging out their county rivals by a razor-thin 50-47 margin.

It was also the second night in a row that the Wildcats had suffered a hard-luck defeat after losing to conference foe Lynchburg-Clay by a single point on Friday night.

The first period was a fast-paced and back and forth quarter that saw both teams have three-point leads at one point, but the score was tied 16-16 when the horn sounded.

Zane Adams and Jordan Bell led the Tigers’ first-quarter scoring with eight and six points, respectively, and both connected on a pair of long balls in the frame. Zander Roades led Whiteoak with eight points, which included a pair of threes. Adams continued to shoot lights out for most of the contest, scoring a game-high 31 points that included five from behind the arc.

“The best thing for us tonight was that we made shots,” said McClain head coach Jarrod Haines. “Zane (Adams) and Jordan (Bell) really carried us, especially in the first half.

“We’ve got some kids that can get the hot hand like that and together with our defense, those are the two things that are going to be really big for us this year. We’re going to play hard and get after it on defense, and that’s just the way it’s going to be.”

In the second quarter, the Tigers were able to extend their lead to 29-20 after outscoring Whiteoak 13-4 with Adams again leading the way with 13, giving him 21 points at the break.

The Wildcats came out quick to begin the third quarter and scored five straight points after a long three by Roades and another bucket by Zach Igo, and suddenly it was a ballgame again with McClain leading just 29-25.

Whiteoak pulled to within two points at 34-32 at the 1:40 mark of the third after another score by Roades, but Bell answered for the Tigers with his third trifecta of the game pushing the lead back to 37-32. The third period ended with McClain still holding a slim 40-33 advantage heading to the fourth.

The Tigers looked like they might put the game away early in the fourth after Adams scored on the inside and Bell connected with his fourth long-ball of the contest, giving McClain their first double-digit lead at 45-33.

But Whiteoak wasn’t finished by any means, and after Sawyer Blair scored eight straight points, including a pair of threes, the Wildcats were back in the game trailing just by three points,  47-44 with a minute remaining in regulation.

The Wildcats were forced to foul down the stretch, and after Owen Sykes converted one of two free-throws, Roades drilled a long three and cut the McClain deficit to a single point, 48-47 with 29 seconds left to play.

The Tigers closed out the game making two of four free-throws, the last by Brandon Greene, that sealed the victory for McClain with just seconds remaining.  

Coach Haines spoke about his team’s bench play that he thought was a big factor in the hard-fought victory.

“I thought when Owen (Sykes) and Brandon (Greene), two of our starters, were plagued with early foul trouble, our bench came in and gave us some really good minutes,” Haines said. “Tristen Dowden was an animal on the boards rebounding for us tonight, and Julien Evans was able to keep possessions alive for us, then Hudson Lovett and Brady Binegar, both freshmen, came in and did some nice things for us.

“Another key for us was that Riley Cummins did a great job of defending the Roades kid tonight. He had 27 points last night against Lynchburg. I don’t know how many points he had tonight, but it wasn’t 27.”

Roades led Whiteoak with a team-high 16 points.

“Our kids are having fun and still learning how to win, and with the community getting behind us it’s a really big step in the right direction, we just want to keep moving forward,” Haines said. “We haven’t won a league game for a while, and we’ve got Washington coming in here Friday night, so we need everyone to come out and pack the stands.”

Individual scoring for McClain: Zane Adams 10,6,31, Jordan Bell 4,1,13, Riley Cummins 1,0,2, Hudson Lovett 1,0,2, Owen Sykes 0,1,1, Brandon Greene 0,1,1, Totals 16,9,50. 3-pt goals: Adams 5, Bell 4.

The Tigers converted 9-of-16 free throws for 64 percent.

Individual scoring for Whiteoak: Zander Roades 6,2,16, Sawyer Blair 4,1,13, Jonah Michael 2,1,5, Zach Igo 2,0,4, Brady Brandenburg 2,0,4, Aiden Crowe 1,1,3, Jackson Tedford 1,0,2, Totals 18,5,47. 3-pt goals: Roades 4, Blair 2.

The Wildcats made 5-of-9 free throws for 56 percent.

McClain improves to 2-0 on the season and will host conference foe Washington next Friday, Dec. 13.

Whiteoak falls to 2-3 and will next travel to Felicity Dec. 10.

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