BLANCHESTER — The Blanchester Wildcats were able to top Lynchburg-Clay 59-45 Tuesday night thanks to some big-time runs throughout the game.

For the Wildcats, one win doesn’t satisfy head coach Mike Malott, who said, “We need to make a little bit better decisions. We got up a little there in the fourth quarter and got really loose and started to take some really ill-advised shots which allowed them some runs. Things we just need to learn as we hopefully have some success.”

Lynchburg coach Brian Callahan was not thrilled with his team’s first-quarter output. “I don’t think that we came out with the kind of effort needed for us to be successful,” he said.

With a slim 4-3 lead early, Blanchester managed to put together an 8-0 run relying on suffocating defense on all levels. Cairen Goings was finally able to break the run for the Mustangs late in the quarter, but after a couple of made free throws, Blanchester took a 15-5 lead into the second stanza.

After a free throw from the Mustangs to open the second, each team found themselves in a long scoring drought that wouldn’t end until the 4:02 mark when Goings managed to put the ball back up for an easy score.

Something about this bucket must have inspired both teams as on the following possessions, Blanchester’s Evan Malott knocked down a tough contested three, and Braedon West instantly returned the favor forcing a ‘Cats timeout with their lead cut to seven.

After another short scoring drought, a well-run play to the corner found Xander Culberson open and he knocked another big-time three down. This would be the final score of the half as Blan led 21-11.

With the shot being the difference in a double-digit lead, coach Malott knew how big it was saying, “(The shot) was really really big as we just lost one of their players defensively that’s a good shooter and gave up a three, so getting that one to get momentum back was a big swing.”

Great effort from Bryce Sipple resulted in a put-back and one situation, then a few possessions later Jansen Wymer knocked down a long three as the Cats went on a 10-2 run for a 31-13 lead. The Mustangs were finally able to clean it up late in the third and trailed 33-20 .

Ultimately though, Blanchester finished strong knocking down a couple of shots to take a 36-22 lead into the fourth.

Opening up the final quarter, Blan scored 12 of the first 14 points to all but put the game away for the Wildcats, who are now 4-6 on the season. The loss puts the Mustangs at 5-7 as they look to rebound against Eastern Brown at home Friday.

SUMMARY

Jan 9, 2024

@Blanchester High School

Blanchester 59, Lynchburg 45

L^5^6^11^23^^45

B^15^6^15^23^^59

(59) BLANCHESTER (fg-3fg-ft-tp) Sipple 4-1-10-19, Tangonan 0-0-0-0, Burress 0-0-2-2, Taylor 2-1-1-6, Wymer 4-2-5-15, Culberson 1-1-0-3, Cromer 4-0-3-11, Byrom 0-0-0-0, Malott 1-1-0-3, Bradley 0-0-0-0, TOTALS 10-6-21-59

(45) LYNCHBURG (fg-3fg-ft-tp) A. Faust 0-0-0-0, Cordrey 0-0-0-0, West 5-3-0-13, Greene 0-0-0-0, C. Bell 4-2-3-13, A. Bell 5-0-1-11, Niehaus 0-0-1-1, Burns 0-0-1-1, Clinton 1-1-0-3, E. Faust 0-0-0-0, C. Faust 0-0-0-0, Goings 2-0-0-4, Baker 0-0-0-0 TOTALS 17-5-6-45