Lynchburg-Clay’s boys varsity basketball team dropped their third game in a row on Friday night when they lost the the Eastern Warriors by a score of 52-57 in a Southern Hills Athletic Conference match-up.
The Mustangs beat the Warriors in their last meeting on a buzzer beating three pointer by Eric McLaughlin, they were never that close on Friday night.
The Warriors blitzed the Lynchburg boys in the first quarter hitting three triples en route to a 12-0 quarter.
The Mustangs clawed back in the second quarter as they finally got going from the field thanks to five straight points by Damin Pierson early in the period. The Mustangs scored 12 points in the second while holding the Warriors to only seven points to trail 19-12 at halftime.
In the third quarter the Warriors were back to their old tricks as they poured in 17 points to the Mustangs 10 and extended their lead to 36-22 heading into the fourth quarter.
Lynchburg-Clay head coach Matt Carson was unable to get the Mustangs on the same page on the night and that continued in the fourth quarter.
The Warriors only outscored Lynchburg 16-15 in the fourth quarter but, many of the Mustang points came in the closing minutes of the game after both coaches had began to empty their benches.
Carson, clearly frustrated following the loss, said, “It is my job as the head coach to get them to execute and we are not executing right now. We can’t afford not to execute on the offensive end and expect good things to happen for us.”
Lynchburg-Clay celebrated military appreciation night prior to the start of the varsity game and coach Carson took the time to thank all veterans after the game. “Tonight for awhile you were not a Warrior or a Mustang everybody was there supporting the veterans. I just want to thank all of them for their service. Our athletic department and administration for putting on a good program, it is great to honor them and I know that we as a community appreciate all the sacrifices they have made.”
The Mustangs will be back at it early on Saturday morning as they travel to North Adams to take on Waverly as part of the Dave Young Classic. Carson spoke about the Waverly game following the tough loss. “We are going to have to put this behind us really quick. Sometimes after a loss like that the best thing you can do is come back and play the next morning. I believe in this group so much and I believe that we will find a way to fix some things. We didn’t play a very good basketball game but, we will keep getting better every day.”
(Box Score)
EHS: 12-7-17-16
LCHS: 0-12-10-15
Eastern: Stivers 1-3/4-5; Hamilton (2)-1/2-7; Boone 1-2; Burns 1(2)-3/4-11; Minton 1-2; Ruckel 3(1)-0/2-9; Purdy 3(1)-0/1-9
Totals: 12(6)-10/17-52
Lynchburg-Clay: Walker 1(2)-8; Pierson 2(1)-4/7-11; McLaughlin 2-4/4-8; Hilt 2-2/2-6; Conner 1-2/2-4
Totals: 8(3)-15/18-37
Reach Ryan Applegate at 937-402-2572, or on Twitter @RCApplegate89.
