ADAMS TOWNSHIP — The Clinton-Massie Falcons improved their seasonal record to 5-4 Tuesday with a hard-fought 44-32 victory over visiting Greenfield McClain at Brian P. Mudd Court.

On this night, a 17-5 second quarter surge by the Falcons proved to be the difference, a marked contrast to what has happened in many of their games to date. For Falcon head coach Steve Graves it was a very good sign.

“We have really struggled in the second quarter,” said Graves. “It was great to see and the kids worked really hard and executed well.”

The two teams battled to a 9-all standoff in the opening period and, with the second quarter surge, Massie took a 26-14 advantage at halftime.

Their momentum continued into the second half and the Falcons extended the lead to 16 before McClain responded with a run which whittled the lead to 10 (32-22) late in the period. The Tigers’ comeback took a hit, though, as the period ended when Falcon non-Starter Ryan Dillion nailed a trey to beat the buzzer, giving the Falcons a double-digit lead (35-24) at the third quarter break.

Graves said Dillion has accepted his new role and has been a sparkplug in the role of sixth man.

“We were in the midst of a four-game skid and we felt Ryan was the guy we needed to come off the bench and ignite something. He has responded, accepting that that role very well. He was big in our game against Blanchester and that trey tonight came at a crucial time,” said Graves.

The season has been a struggle so far for McClain, but first-year Tigers’ head coach Mike Noszka was pleased with his team’s effort.

“Overall, we played really well,” Noszka said. “Tonight we got production from seven people and we are progressing. We let them get up by a big margin but didn’t quit and cut it to eight before that buzzer-beater. We made some crucial mistakes on offense and they capitalized, but we didn’t give up.”

Graves noted the coaching matchup with Noszka, the former longtime Wilmington Hurricane coach.

“Mike is a quality coach and we knew they would play us hard and they are physical,” Graves said. “But we needed that kind of opponent. It made us play harder and we knew we had to defend them every time they had the ball.”

Cale Wilson led the Falcons attack with 16 points (nine in the first half and seven in the second). Jerry Trout added 10 and Dillion scored nine points, including seven in the second half.

Michael Nozska led the Tiger scoring with 13, including three long-distance treys, while Andrew Potts added six for McClain.

SUMMARY

Jan 2 2024

@Brian P. Mudd Court

Clinton-Massie 44, McClain 32

M^9^5^10^8^^32

CM^9^17^9^9^^44

(32) McCLAIN (2fg-3fg-ft-tp). Nozska Jr. 2-3-0-13, Cummins 0-0-0-0, Bell 0-1-0-3, Weller 1-0-2-4, Sykes 2-0-0-4, Allison 1-0-0-2, Potts 3-0-0-6. TOTALS 9-4-2-32.

(44) CLINTON-MASSIE (2fg-3fg-ft-tp) Theetge 2-0-0-4, Dillon 3-1-0-9, Faucett 0-0-5-5, Denehey 0-0-0-0, Wilson 7-0-2-16, Trout 2-2-0-10, Leahy 0-0-0-0. TOTALS 14-3-7-44.

Bill Liermann is a stringer for AIM Media Midwest.