By STEPHEN FORSHA

The Times-Gazette

GREENFIELD - Taking the lead after trailing by five points in the beginning stages of the opening quarter, the McClain Lady Tigers continued their early season success on Saturday afternoon, defeating Eastern Brown 49-42 in their non-league contest.

“I thought we kept after it the entire game,” McClain head coach Dennis Overstake said. “We substituted in-and-out a lot, and kept up the pace of the game.”

McClain (4-0) trailed in the early stages of the first, as EB senior Bobbi Brown hit a jump shot, followed by a 3-pointer from EB senior Ashleigh Yockey, giving the Lady Warriors a 5-0 advantage with 6:59 left in the opening quarter.

Stacked with varsity experience from a season ago, the Lady Tigers didn’t panic at the deficit, but welcomed the challenge, as junior Shelby Buck landed a layup with 6:09 left in the quarter for McClain’s first points of the game.

After EB scored two more points from junior Rachel Mullins, the Lady Tigers grasped the remainder of the quarter, with Buck nailing a jump shot, followed with two consecutive free throws from junior Kate Hammond, bringing the Lady Tigers within one-point of EB.

MHS took lead with 3:44 left in the quarter and never gave it back, with Buck dominating the remainder of the quarter, scoring the final seven points, giving MHS a four-point lead.

Hammond continued the scoring for MHS with the junior scoring a layup off a pass from Buck. Buck made the play happen by forcing an EB turnover.

The Lady Tigers kept adding to their lead with two free throws by senior Lesley Faulconer, and on the ensuing possession, senior Evann Gabriel stole the ball, and connected for two points on a layup.

Buck followed Gabriel’s basket with a converted free throw, increasing MHS’s lead to 18-7 with 6:48 left in the second quarter.

EB stopped the 16-0 scoring run by MHS with consecutive baskets from Mullins, but her points were answered with a layup from MHS junior Cortney Hyer, increasing McClain’s lead to 20-11.

EB followed McClain’s points with three straight free throws from Brown.

The Lady Warriors (0-2) continued to cut into the MHS lead after Mullins hit inside points, cutting the MHS lead to four points.

Yockey ended the first half with a 3-pointer with four seconds remaining.

Leading by four at the start of the second half, Hammond added to the MHS lead with a converted free throw, but Brown cut the MHS lead to three points.

“We missed some open shots in the second half,” Overstake said. “We didn’t get the ball high enough to the basket. We need to make some adjustments with our shooting.”

After EB cut the MHS lead down to one-point, Hyer hit a big 3-pointer with 4:24 left in the quarter, which started a 9-0 run by the Lady Tigers.

Holding onto an eight point lead, MHS allowed EB to start off the final quarter with a 3-pointer, as Yockey connected from beyond the arc.

MHS senior Lyndi Seely answered with a long-range jumper, increasing the Lady Tigers’ lead to 41-34 with 6:45 remaining in the game.

Brown cut the MHS advantage to three points with 1:00 left in the game, but Hyer nailed two free throws with 18.6 seconds remaining, making the score 47-42.

“We knew going to the line we needed one of two of the free throws and Cortney made both of them,” Overstake said.

Hammond ended the game with an wide-open layup.

The loss drops the Lady Warriors to 0-2, while MHS jumps to 4-0 overall this season.

Buck led MHS with 12 points, followed by Hyer with 11. Hammond finished with 10, going 4-of-4 from the foul line.

“We are doing an excellent job shooting foul shots,” Overstake said. “We talked and talked about taking confidence to the foul line.”

Mullins led all scorers with a game-high 18 points, followed by Brown with 13. Brown finished 5-of-6 from the free-throw line.

“We struggled with (Rachel) Mullins,” Overstake said. “She did a nice job and plays physical.”

MHS shot 74 percent from the free-throw line (14-of-19) for the game.

MHS forced 22 turnovers (MHS 10). MHS had 20 steals (zero for EB), as Gabriel lead with six steals. The Lady Tigers out rebounded EB 24-21, with junior Megan Saylor leading with six.

The Lady Tigers will take their undefeated record to Hillsboro this Saturday, as they will face their cross-county rival in an South Central Ohio League contest at the Patriot Center.

“This was a team victory and when someone struggles, someone will step up,” Overstake said. “Everybody contributed.”

In reserve action, EB defeated MHS 36-28. MHS was led by Kate Crabtree with 10 points. Emily Tatman led EB with 11.

GAME SUMMARY

SCORE BY QUARTERS

EBHS - 7 14 10 10 - 42

MHS - 11 14 14 10 - 49

INDIVIDUAL STATS

MCCLAIN (49)

L.Seely 1 2, M.Saylor 3 1-3 7, E.Gabriel 2 0-1 4, C.Hyer 3 (1) 2-2 11, P.Ellis 1-2 1, K.Hammond 3 4-4 10, S.Buck 4 4-5 12, L.Faulconer 2-2 2. TOTALS: 16 (1) 14-19 49.

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