Tigers fall in final home game to Golden Eagles
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
GREENFIELD — Many were honored and celebrated Friday night at McClain High School, but once the final buzzer sounded, it was the Madison-Plains Golden Eagles leaving with the win. MP defeated the host Tigers, 49-39.
The evening began with all winter sports seniors being honored (including lone boys basketball senior Trey Lytle) and a halftime celebration for Hall of Fame coach Rick VanMatre, along with a surprise award for PA announcer John Wend, celebrating 30 years at MHS. Karen Yeager was also named the 2011 Booster of the Year for her contributions to McClain.
"Tonight was a special night for a lot of people. For all of our senior athletes. It was special for John Wend, Karen Yeager and Rick VanMatre," MHS head coach Brent Eaton said. "It's a testament to this community that we have three wonderful people who give back.
"People who are in their 20s and 30s need to see things like that, step up and pay it forward like those three people have."
Even the varsity squad, who were led onto the court by senior team manager Matt Miller, broke out quickly with the game's first seven points with Lytle scoring first with a layup one minute into the game. His basket was followed by a three-point play by Evan Mustard, along with another layup by Mustard with 4:40 left on the first-quarter clock.
Those were the high points of the opening half for the host Tigers (2-9, 5-13), with MP going on a 13-2 run in the quarter's final 4:31, taking a lead of 13-9.
The run eventually turned into a 16-2 run as the second quarter began with a 3-pointer by junior Stephen Lemieux with 6:58 left in the first half, putting the Golden Eagles (6-6, 9-10) ahead 16-9.
"We were fatigued," Eaton said. "We had guys at the table from the four-minute mark, and there wasn't a dead ball until 30 seconds to go into the quarter, so those guys stayed there until I eventually had to call a time out.
"We were tired, and that's basically the bottom line."
Lytle took a charge for the Tigers, and 22 seconds later, Ryan Faulconer broke the run by MP with a layup while going around a MP defender, leaving 5:30 left in the quarter.
The Tigers and Golden Eagles ended the first half with MP leading by seven points at 20-13.
"When Ryan doesn't score, we struggle … that's what everybody is doing to us, it's no secret," Eaton said. "Other guys have to make shots, in order to open things up for him. We didn't shoot well at all in the first half … we missed a lot of wide-open shots in the first half.
"We just got down and couldn't come back. If we would have just made one or two here or there, not every possession. It's just a matter of making a few shots in a row. It just seemed every time we had a chance to crack into their lead, we would just make a minor error."
In the third, the Tigers cut the MP lead as low as seven points, due in large part to the third-quarter scoring by Thomas Schrader. Schrader led MHS with 15 points for the game, including nine points in the third. Schrader answered a 3-pointer by MP with one of his own at the 5:34 mark of the quarter, cutting the MP lead to seven points, 25-18. Lytle and Mustard each added two points apiece in the third, but MHS trailed 36-26 once the quarter was completed.
[[In-content Ad]]"Thomas played well, but it has to be more than Thomas. We need three or four guys to score in double figures for us to have a chance," Eaton said.
Each team scored 13 points in the final frame, as Mustard added five points to his overall total of 12 points. Schrader and Faulconer each scored four points in the final eight minutes.
In the fourth, MHS cut the MP lead as low as six points, with 56.1 left on the scoreboard, but were unable to get any closer.
Leading MP in scoring were Alex Williams with 13 points, followed by Carter Brooks with 10 and Ryne Davis with nine.
Eaton spoke about senior manager Miller and senior player Lytle.
"Matt shows up every day, doesn't miss days. He's a wonderful kid, comes from a good family and runs our clock for us in practice and just does a great job. The kids love being around him.
"Trey … you will not find a better human being than Trey Lytle. He's a good student, his mom and dad are great people, he's a great brother, a great son … Trey is a fantastic person. Trey will do really well in the world. He'll be a good community leader, with lots of positive attributes to society."
MHS has two regular-season games remaining, including one final SCOL game, which will be on Friday, Feb. 17 at Miami Trace. Their final regular-season game, also a road game, will be on Saturday, Feb. 18 when they travel to Southeastern in Ross County.
In freshman play, MHS fell 28-27. Leading the Tigers were Reid Garrison with six points and Josh Todd with five points.
In the JV game, MHS won 38-29. Leading MHS was Tyler McGuire with eight points, followed by Jeremiah Savage with six and Trevor Gossett with five.
BOX SCORE
SCORE BY QUARTERS
MP 13 07 16 13 — 49
MHS 09 04 13 13 — 39
INDIVIDUAL STATS
MP (49)
D.Glispie 1 (0) 0-0 2
S.Lemieux 2 (0) 2-2 6
B.Carter 2 (2) 0-1 10
A.Williams 6 (0) 1-2 13
R.Davis 2 (1) 2-2 9
C.Voltz 1 (0) 1-1 3
H.Butin 1 (0) 0-0 2
N.Garrett 2 (0) 0-0 4
TOTALS: 17 (3) 6-8 49
MHS (39)
T.Lytle 2 (0) 0-0 4
R.Faulconer 1 (0) 4-6 6
T.Schrader 5 (1) 2-2 15
J.Turner 1 (0) 0-0 2
E.Mustard 3 (1) 3-5 12
TOTALS: 12 (2) 9-15 39
The evening began with all winter sports seniors being honored (including lone boys basketball senior Trey Lytle) and a halftime celebration for Hall of Fame coach Rick VanMatre, along with a surprise award for PA announcer John Wend, celebrating 30 years at MHS. Karen Yeager was also named the 2011 Booster of the Year for her contributions to McClain.
"Tonight was a special night for a lot of people. For all of our senior athletes. It was special for John Wend, Karen Yeager and Rick VanMatre," MHS head coach Brent Eaton said. "It's a testament to this community that we have three wonderful people who give back.
"People who are in their 20s and 30s need to see things like that, step up and pay it forward like those three people have."
Even the varsity squad, who were led onto the court by senior team manager Matt Miller, broke out quickly with the game's first seven points with Lytle scoring first with a layup one minute into the game. His basket was followed by a three-point play by Evan Mustard, along with another layup by Mustard with 4:40 left on the first-quarter clock.
Those were the high points of the opening half for the host Tigers (2-9, 5-13), with MP going on a 13-2 run in the quarter's final 4:31, taking a lead of 13-9.
The run eventually turned into a 16-2 run as the second quarter began with a 3-pointer by junior Stephen Lemieux with 6:58 left in the first half, putting the Golden Eagles (6-6, 9-10) ahead 16-9.
"We were fatigued," Eaton said. "We had guys at the table from the four-minute mark, and there wasn't a dead ball until 30 seconds to go into the quarter, so those guys stayed there until I eventually had to call a time out.
"We were tired, and that's basically the bottom line."
Lytle took a charge for the Tigers, and 22 seconds later, Ryan Faulconer broke the run by MP with a layup while going around a MP defender, leaving 5:30 left in the quarter.
The Tigers and Golden Eagles ended the first half with MP leading by seven points at 20-13.
"When Ryan doesn't score, we struggle … that's what everybody is doing to us, it's no secret," Eaton said. "Other guys have to make shots, in order to open things up for him. We didn't shoot well at all in the first half … we missed a lot of wide-open shots in the first half.
"We just got down and couldn't come back. If we would have just made one or two here or there, not every possession. It's just a matter of making a few shots in a row. It just seemed every time we had a chance to crack into their lead, we would just make a minor error."
In the third, the Tigers cut the MP lead as low as seven points, due in large part to the third-quarter scoring by Thomas Schrader. Schrader led MHS with 15 points for the game, including nine points in the third. Schrader answered a 3-pointer by MP with one of his own at the 5:34 mark of the quarter, cutting the MP lead to seven points, 25-18. Lytle and Mustard each added two points apiece in the third, but MHS trailed 36-26 once the quarter was completed.
[[In-content Ad]]"Thomas played well, but it has to be more than Thomas. We need three or four guys to score in double figures for us to have a chance," Eaton said.
Each team scored 13 points in the final frame, as Mustard added five points to his overall total of 12 points. Schrader and Faulconer each scored four points in the final eight minutes.
In the fourth, MHS cut the MP lead as low as six points, with 56.1 left on the scoreboard, but were unable to get any closer.
Leading MP in scoring were Alex Williams with 13 points, followed by Carter Brooks with 10 and Ryne Davis with nine.
Eaton spoke about senior manager Miller and senior player Lytle.
"Matt shows up every day, doesn't miss days. He's a wonderful kid, comes from a good family and runs our clock for us in practice and just does a great job. The kids love being around him.
"Trey … you will not find a better human being than Trey Lytle. He's a good student, his mom and dad are great people, he's a great brother, a great son … Trey is a fantastic person. Trey will do really well in the world. He'll be a good community leader, with lots of positive attributes to society."
MHS has two regular-season games remaining, including one final SCOL game, which will be on Friday, Feb. 17 at Miami Trace. Their final regular-season game, also a road game, will be on Saturday, Feb. 18 when they travel to Southeastern in Ross County.
In freshman play, MHS fell 28-27. Leading the Tigers were Reid Garrison with six points and Josh Todd with five points.
In the JV game, MHS won 38-29. Leading MHS was Tyler McGuire with eight points, followed by Jeremiah Savage with six and Trevor Gossett with five.
BOX SCORE
SCORE BY QUARTERS
MP 13 07 16 13 — 49
MHS 09 04 13 13 — 39
INDIVIDUAL STATS
MP (49)
D.Glispie 1 (0) 0-0 2
S.Lemieux 2 (0) 2-2 6
B.Carter 2 (2) 0-1 10
A.Williams 6 (0) 1-2 13
R.Davis 2 (1) 2-2 9
C.Voltz 1 (0) 1-1 3
H.Butin 1 (0) 0-0 2
N.Garrett 2 (0) 0-0 4
TOTALS: 17 (3) 6-8 49
MHS (39)
T.Lytle 2 (0) 0-0 4
R.Faulconer 1 (0) 4-6 6
T.Schrader 5 (1) 2-2 15
J.Turner 1 (0) 0-0 2
E.Mustard 3 (1) 3-5 12
TOTALS: 12 (2) 9-15 39