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McClain downs Massie in SCOL play

Friday, 04 January 2008

By SHAWN ROBINSON

Sports Writer

ADAMS TOWNSHIP — A power-outage at Clinton-Massie dimmed any chances of a Falcon comeback in a 49-32 South Central Ohio League loss to Greenfield McClain Friday.

Greg Miller

An energized Massie squad bolted to a 12-7 lead after a period and added a Logan McCormick three-pointer 30 seconds into the second quarter.

Then, everything came unplugged as Massie (2-8, 1-5) went scoreless for seven minutes.

Meanwhile, Nathan Luke, Vinny Zollo and Jeremy Webster hit three pointers to give McClain the lead with 2:58 left in the half.

“Just confidence,” McClain head coach Rick Van Matre said was the difference between the first two quarters. “We knocked down a shot or two. Then it snowballed. Our execution and patience may have been better, too.”

Zollo pumped in four more of his 12 points and Jeremy Webster added two of his game-high 18 points to carry the Tigers into the break with a 22-17 lead.

“The big thing was the energy level. We were active and not giving up penetration,” Massie head coach Brian Mudd said was the difference between the first two quarters. “Then, there was a lot of standing around. When you play a team like Greenfield McClain, you can’t get lazy. They hit some easy shots.”

The Tigers (9-2, 4-1) capitalized on Massie’s turnovers to double the lead heading into the final quarter.

“We didn’t win it at the offensive end,” Van Matre said. “The 18-8 turnover margin was the difference in the basketball game.”

Things really turned foul after the referees brought players together with 2:10 left in the third quarter to tell them to stop rough-housing. From that point forward, officials called 16 fouls — an average of one every 38 seconds. Eight of the fouls were called during a 2:45 stretch, or once every 20 seconds.

McClain hit 10 of 15 free throws in the fourth-quarter and added another three-pointer by Webster to help build its largest lead, 49-27 with 3:00 to go in the game.

“It’s something we’re going to get through,” Mudd said about his team’s tough season. “We have to do a better job and continue to stay on them. We have 10 varsity kids and we’ll find the right combination.”

Zollo also had five blocks. Luke had five assists. Lucas Polley had six rebounds.

McCormick led Massie with eight points.

McClain swept all three contests, with the reserves winning 49-42 and the freshmen winning 36-24.

The Tigers reserves went to 8-1 overall and 4-1 in the conference behind Caleb Gregory’s 17 points. Zach Uhl’s 13 points helped the Tiger freshmen remain perfect through eight total games and five in the conference.

Noah Dell led the Massie reserves (4-6, 2-3) with 12 points. Taylor Luckett paced the Massie freshmen (4-4, 2-3) with eight.

SUMMARY

GM 7 15 11 16 — 49

CM 12 5 6 9 — 32

McCLAIN (49) — Polley 2-2-6, Luke 0-2-2, Lionbarger 1-0-3, Pitzer 0-0-0, Ralph 1-1-3, Mace 0-0-0, Gregory 0-0-0, Detty 1-3-5, Webster 6-4-18, Zollo 5-1-12. TOTALS 16-13-49. 3-pointers — 4 (Webster 2, Rollo, Lionbarger). FTM-FTA 13-21, 62 percent.

CLINTON-MASSIE (32) — Evans 2-0-5, Curtsinger 0-0-0, Amburgy 1-0-2, Dell 0-0-0, Fields 0-1-1, Rhoads 2-0-4, Dunham 1-2-4, McCormick 2-2-8, Wysong 2-0-4, Cadwallader 0-0-0, Jones 1-2-4, Duggans 0-0-0, Miller 0-0-0. TOTALS 11-7-32. 3-pointers — 3 (McCormick 2, Evans). FTM-FTA 7-11, 64 percent.