The Lynchburg-Clay Mustangs took a road loss Tuesday night against the Miami Trace Panthers, driving home with a 64-43 loss and a 5-3, 3-1 record for the season.
Both teams were very cold from the field to begin the game.
The score was tied, 4-4 nearly five minutes and 30 seconds into the game.
At the end of the first quarter, the Panthers led, 10-8.
The Mustangs tied the game 10-10 one minute into the second quarter.
That was the final tie score of the contest.
The Panthers went on an 11-2 run to take a 21-12 lead midway through the second quarter.
Points off of turnovers was a key stat in the game.
Miami Trace had 20 steals and the Mustangs had a total of 25 turnovers. The Panthers scored 19 points off of turnovers.
The Mustangs had zero points off of turnovers. Lynchburg-Clay had five steals and the Panthers had a total of just nine turnovers for the game.
“I think the pressure just got to us and wore us out,” Lynchburg-Clay head coach Matt Carson said. “I think they were relentless most of the game with their defensive pressure. That kind of takes its toll after a while.
“There were about five or six offensive possessions early on that we’d like to have back,” Carson said. “We missed a few front ends of some one and ones. I think if we convert on those possessions, then we’re maybe single digits the rest of the way.”
The Panthers led by as many as 15 points in the second quarter.
The Mustangs scored five points in the final 11 seconds of the half to cut the Panthers’ lead to 29-19 at the half.
DeAndre Pettiford had a big third quarter, scoring 11 points for Miami Trace.
The Panthers built the lead up to 22 points on a three-point field goal from Darby Tyree.
The Mustangs found the range for eight points, including a pair of threes by McLaughlin, to cut the Panthers’ lead to 48-33 after three quarters.
Lynchburg-Clay’s Giordano hit a three-point shot to make it 48-36 with 6:48 to play in the game. That was as close as the Mustangs could get in the fourth quarter as the Panthers outscored L-C 16-10 to take the 64-43 victory.
“We’re not going to hang our heads,” Carson said. “This is a really good basketball team we played tonight. I think they are a favorite to win their league. It’s going to be a good test for us moving forward. It allows us to see where we need to get better for our conference play.”
For the Mustangs, senior Joe Giordano led with 20 points, snagging 11 rebounds.
Lynchburg-Clay will travel to Leesburg Friday night to challenge the Fairfield Lions.
Summary
Miami Trace — 10 19 19 16 — 64
Lynchburg-Clay — 8 11 14 10 — 43
MT: Pettiford 8(2)-2-24; T. Pettiford 6-1-13; Pittser 2(1)-3-10; Tyree 2 (1)-0-7; Carter 1-2-4; Leach 1-0-2; Batson 1-0-2; Creamer 1-0-2
Totals: 22(4)-8-64.
LCHS: Giordano 5(3)-1-20; McLaughlin 2(3)-5-18; Miller (1)-3; Stroop 1-2
Totals: 8(7)-6-43.
McClain takes home win
The McClain High School Tigers beat the Zane Trace High School Pioneers in a battle to the finish at home Tuesday night.
The game got off to a quick start when the Pioneers scored 2 points in the first eight seconds of the first quarter, sending McClain’s defense into frenzy. Both teams battled it out for the lead, bringing the score to 19-12 by the end of the quarter with the Tigers on top.
The Pioneers sprang into action in the second quarter, scoring 12 points against McClain’s unrelenting defense. The Tigers responded with 11 points, drawing the score to 30-24 by the half with McClain keeping the lead.
McClain’s hometown advantage ignited in the third quarter, with the Tigers scoring back-to-back points on top of a sweet 3-point shot from Matthew Barton in the last 10 seconds of the quarter.
Zane Trace’s offense tried a comeback at the top of the fourth quarter, only to be shut down by the Tigers’ powerhouse defense, with the Pioneers scoring 7 points to McClain’s 9 points.
McClain secured a home win with a final score of 47-38 when the clock ran out.
“I was proud of the guys. We made some shots, and kept grinding throughout the game,” said McClain High School head coach Jesse Mitchell.
Summary
McClain — 19 11 8 9 — 47
Zane Trace — 12 12 7 7 — 38
MHS: Duncan 3-6; Dean 1-0/1-2; Starkey 7-14; Barton 3(2)-2/5-14; Mischal 3-1/2-7; Gray 2-4
Totals: 19(2)-3/9-47
ZTHS: Pillow 4-2/3-10; Beam 4-3/4-11; Rittenhouse 2(1)-7; Johnson 1-2; Nesser 1-0/2-2; O’Dell (1)-1/2-4; Evans 1-2
Totals: 13(2)-6/11-38
