By BILL LIERMANN

Sports writer

LEES CREEK — It’s been said many times in the past that when county rivals meet, you can “throw the records out the window, and let ‘em play.”

That axiom was confirmed Friday evening when Blanchester and East Clinton locked horns on the Lees Creek hardwood, and the visiting Wildcats prevailed by the slimmest of margins, 48-47.

With the win, the ‘Cats improve to 3-2 on the season, 2-1 in the Southern Buckeye Conference.

Meanwhile, the struggle continues for the Astros, who have lost three in a row and find themselves now at 1-3 overall. They remain winless in conference play, at 0-3.

Blanchester’s Travis Jackson hit the front end of a two-shot foul with 7.5 seconds to play in regulation, snapping a 47-47 tie. Following an East Clinton timeout, he missed on the second attempt and the Astros secured the loose ball, setting up a last-second shot with 3.1 seconds remaining. Nate Witkemper’s shot from the top of the circle hit the glass, caromed off the front edge of the rim, and rolled off, giving the ‘Cats the win.

“We knew it would not be easy and this is a tough place to play,” said BHS head coach Mark Short after the contest. “You’ve got to give East Clinton a lot of credit, they just keep coming at you and even though we held the lead (25-18 at halftime), we told our kids they would make a run at us in the second half.”

Jackson led the BHS scoring attack with 19, including 12 second half points. He was followed by J. C. Luncan with 15, including nine in the final period.

For the Astros, Witkemper was the leading scorer with 15 (eight in the final period), followed by Cory Huffman with 12, and Clint Snow added eight.

“I feel sorry for our kids because they made a strong effort, and really battled tonight,” remarked Astros head coach Ryan Briggs outside the EC locker room. “We really wanted this one, but we just could not get it. We want to give credit to Blanchester’s coaching staff. They work really hard and we congratulate them on their success so far this season.”

Briggs praised the hard work of Witkemper, who despite coming up short on the last-second shot, had earlier knocked down three consecutive free throws, pulling the Astros to within a single point, 44-43, with just minutes to play in regulation.

“He played outstanding tonight, and gave us a real spark, ” Briggs noted.

Another player who stepped up for the Astros was Huffman who played a solid game with six points scored in each half. Non-starter Reed Gerber also nailed a high-arching three pointer from the left corner with just under 30 seconds remaining to knot the score at 47-all, prior to Jackson’s free throw which was the final point scored in the game.

Although the Astros have tasted victory just one time so far (season’s opener versus Fairfield-Leesburg), Briggs realizes that better days lie ahead for his Astro squad, which is comprised of several junior and sophomores.

“We knew we were going to be a young team, which is still learning and our future is gonna be a bright one, ” said the third year Astro head coach.

After five games played on the season, Short is glad his squad has a winning record, but offered an interesting assessment of his team’s reaction immediately following the contest.

“Right now, they’re not really elated … they’re somewhat disappointed because we nearly let them (East Clinton) come back and take it away,” Short said. “So, I guess you could say that I’m happy because they’re not happy. It tells me that they feel that they can accomplish more.”

Blanchester held an 11-6 edge at the first quarter break, then stretched the lead to 10 points at 18-8 early in the second period. The ‘Cats took a 25-18 lead into the locker room at the half. Something that Short mentioned previously rang true for his squad when they began play in the second half.

East Clinton seized the momentum early in the third quarter and claimed the period by a count of 14-8, cutting the deficit to a single point, 33-32, at the end of three periods.

Huffman gave the Astros their only lead 34-33, with a basket at the 7:24 mark of the fourth, but the lead was short-lived, as Jackson scored on the ensuing possession. During one stretch, he scored 11 of the ’Cats 15 points as the ’Cats remained on top, 40-39, with just over 5:00 left in regulation.

Luncan dominated play on the inside, and helped Blanchester stretch the lead to 43-39, when he converted an old-fashioned three-point play on a stick-back and tacked on the free throw with 4:05 remaining. He accounted for three other field goals during the final period for the ‘Cats en route to a nine-point effort in the fourth period.

Each team will play one more game in Southern Buckeye Conference action prior to the annual Clinton County Holiday Tournament, being held on Dec. 28 and Dec. 30 at Fred Raizk Arena of Wilmington College. Blanchester goes to Williamsburg Tuesday night, while the Astros head to Georgetown to face the G-men, also on Tuesday.

In the tourney, East Clinton will face Clinton-Massie at 5:30 p.m., while Blanchester goes up against the Wilmington Hurricane, with the starting time scheduled for 8:30 p.m.

SUMMARY

BHS 11 14 8 15 — 48

EC 6 12 14 15 — 47

(48) BLANCHESTER (fg-3fg-ft-tp) Cromer 0-0-2-2, Lawson 1-0-0-1, Slocum 1-0-0-2, Lewis 1-0-0-2, Ballinger 2-1-1-6, Jackson 6-2-1-15, Luncan 6-0-3-15. TOTALS 19-3-8-48.

(47) EAST CLINTON (fg-3fg-ft-tp) Witkemper 5-1-4-15, Mercer 2-0-1-5, Huffman 4-0-4-12, Snow 4-0-0-8, Gerber 1-1-0-3, Ison 1-0-0-2, Lewis 0-0-2-2. TOTALS 17-2-11-47.

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