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Blanchester can’t hold on, falls to Georgetown 68-53

Sunday, 09 December 2007

By WADE LINVILLE

Brown News Service

GEORGETOWN — The defending Southern Buckeye Conference champion Georgetown G-Men upped their league record to 3-0 Saturday night with a 68-53 win over Blanchester. With a five-point lead at halftime, the G-Men were backed by solid execution on both ends of the court in the second half to pull away for a comfortable win.

Josh Ross blocks a shot

Backed by aggressive team defense and swift shooting by senior guards Jeremy McFarland and Marc Gray in the third quarter, the G-Men outscored the Wildcats 22-6 to take a 53-32 lead entering the fourth.

“I thought, defensively, we didn’t come out very well in the first half,” said Georgetown coach Jerry Underwood. “In the second half we picked it up a little on defense and it made a difference.

“I did think we executed well on offense. We got the ball where we wanted it.”

With the loss, Blanchester falls to 0-4 on the season, while Georgetown is now 3-1.

“I thought early on we played pretty well. We were ahead 18-17 at the end of the first quarter. The big factor was Steven White got two fouls in the first minutes of the game and Kalib Starks went in and picked up three fouls. So our better inside players were hampered there in the first half,” said BHS head coach Bennie Carroll. “In the third quarter, we tried to press them a little bit and didn’t do a very good job. They hurt us. Gray hit three threes in that quarter. We were down five points until midway through the third quarter and they had a little run on us. We came out pretty well and pretty focused, but right now, we can’t withstand when another team makes any kind of run.”

Four G-Men scored in double figures for the G-Men, with senior Jeremy McFarland leading the way with 15 points.

Georgetown fans applauded the return of sophomore standout Jess Chadwell, who was sidelined in the first few weeks of play due to a broken foot. Chadwell’s playing time was limited Saturday night, but he certainly made his presence known on the court when coming off the Georgetown bench. He was the second leading scorer for the G-Men with 13 points.

Gray drained one three-pointer in the first quarter and three shots from beyond the arc in the third quarter for 12 points. The final player to score in double digits for the G-Men was senior center Dylan Kattine, who muscled in the paint for four baskets and knocked down two-of-four attempts from the charity stripe for 10 points.

“We’ve got a lot more kids contributing (than in the first game of the season) and that has helped us out a little bit,” said Underwood. “After Ripley, in the next two games we scored in the 70s and in the 60s tonight. I think (after the loss to Ripley) they boys have loosened up and are playing fine.”

Although Chadwell’s playing time was limited in Saturday’s win, Underwood was certainly happy to have another driving force back on the court.

“It’s a slow process, but it’s good to get him back out on the court to do his job,” Underwood said of Chadwell’s recovery. “We’re going to allow him to slowly progress and get him in more and more.”

Blanchester’s 6-2 forward White took the game high with 16 points battling under the basket to score 12 of his 16 in the second half. Ballinger also put together a good performance offensively for the Wildcats, draining a three-pointer, four field goals from close range and hitting three-of-four attempts from the foul line for 14 points. Blanchester guard Ballinger came through with eight of his game total 14 points in the fourth quarter as the Wildcats struggled to remain in the game.

A.J. Wiley sank five field goals and one free-throw for 11 points in the loss to Georgetown.

“Steven White had a very good game. He had 16 points going 7-7 from the field. Nash Ballinger played his best game of the year overall,” said Carroll.

The Wildcats started off on the right note, executing well on offense to hold a 12-8 lead with just over four minutes to go in the first frame. But it didn’t take long for the G-Men to find success on offense, getting the ball inside to Kattine for a score to cut the Blanchester lead to two points. After holding the Wildcats scoreless in their next trip down the court, Chadwell was fouled on a shot and sank one of two free-throws to reduce the Wildcats’ lead to one. Tight defense and nice play on the defensive boards allowed the G-Men to take over once again, and Kattine drew a foul going strong to the basket. Kattine drained one-of-two foul shots to tie the game at 12 with 2:38 to go in the first.

The Wildcats recaptured the lead as Ballinger banked in a shot to make it 14-12.

In the following minutes, McFarland connected on a shot from the side and Georgetown junior guard Calvin Cahall hit senior teammate Neil Martin with a pass inside for a score, giving the G-Men a 16-14 lead.

The Wildcats’ rallied off scores by Wiley in the final seconds to take an 18-17 lead with the first quarter in the books.

The G-Men outscored the Wildcats 36-14 in the two quarters to follow, and slowed to ball down late in the fourth quarter to hold on for the 15-point win.

Blanchester returns to action 7:30 p.m. at East Clinton in cross-county SBC action.

The BHS JV team won in overtime after Nathan Mollen nailed a trey to sent the game into overtime.

SUMMARY

BHS 18 8 6 21 — 53

GHS 17 14 22 11 — 68

Georgetown (68): McFarland 7-1-15, Chadwell 5-2-13, Gray 4-0-12, Kattine 4-2-10, Martin 3-1-7, Cahall 1-4-6, Otto 1-1-3, Farrell 1-0-2. Three-point field goals (5): Gray 4, Chadwell 1.

Blanchester (53): White 7-2-16, Ballinger 5-2-14, Wiley 5-1-11, Bolin 2-0-5, Lewis 2-0-4, Creager 0-3-3. Three-point field goals (2): Bolin 1, Ballinger 1.