On the night that Lynchburg-Clay honored Jesse Mount for 70 years of service as the scorebook keeper for the Mustangs and Lady Mustangs basketball teams the boys hung 65 points on the visiting Hillsboro Indians in a 65-42 victory.
Lynchburg-Clay head coach Matt Carson shared his personal and his staff’s gratitude to Mount for his service.
“We as coaches and players want to thank Jesse for his years of selfless service to the boys and girls basketball programs,” Carson said.
The Mustangs were led on the night by Eric McLaughlin who totaled 23 points including five three pointers and a monster put back jam late in the game.
Damin Pierson finished with 12 points and Noble Walker and Raymond Conner finished with eight and nine points respectively for the Mustangs.
Hillsboro was led by Phil MyCroft who finished with 10 points on the night to lead the Indians. Hayden Haines was next for the Indians with seven points while Ethan Watson and Caleb Crawford each netted six points.
In the first quarter the teams appeared to be evenly matched as they traded the for the first five minutes of the game and were tied at 13-all with three minutes to play. The Mustangs closed the first on a 7-0 run to claim a 20-13 lead after one.
Hillsboro opened the second quarter with an 8-0 run to take a 21-20 lead with 5:15 to play in the half. Lynchburg reclaimed the lead on a three pointer by Walker and McLaughlin hit another at the buzzer to secure a 28-23 halftime lead for the Mustangs.
Hillsboro head coach Bruce Miles pinpointed the three pointer by McLaughlin as a key point in the game for the Indians.
“The three pointer right at the end of the half that extended their lead to five was a big momentum builder for them. At halftime we talked about being able to come out in those first three minutes and cut that deficit down and it went the other direction,” Miles said.
In the second half the Mustangs were able to pull away as they quickly built a double digit lead in the third quarter and never looked back as they cruised to an easy victory.
After the game Carson talked about the play of his star senior, McLaughlin, his progression throughout his high school career.
“Eric is just fun to watch. It has been fun to watch him progress as a player from his freshman year to senior year. Every year he has added something to his game,” said Carson.
Lynchburg-Clay will be back in action on Friday when they host the West Union Dragons for their final regular season game.
Hillsboro will be back in action on Thursday when they host cross-county rivals the Fairfield Lions.
(Box Score)
LCHS: 20-8-20-17
HHS: 13-10-11-8
Lynchburg-Clay: Walker 1(2)-8; Pierson 4(1)-1/2-12; Young 2-4; McLaughlin 4(5)-23; Hilt 1(1)-5; Conner 4-1/1-9; Croy 1-2; Saylor 1-2
Totals: 18(9)-2/3-65
Hillsboro: Swayne 2-1/2-5; Scott 1(1)-5; Temple 1-2; Haines 2(1)-7; Watson 3-6; Clark 1/2-1; MyCroft 4-2/2-10; Crawford 2-2/2-6
Totals: 15(2)-6/8-42
Reach Ryan Applegate at 937-402-2572, or on Twitter @RCApplegate89.
