As the snow poured down outside the Mustangs of Lynchburg-Clay were making it rain in their home gymnasium as they hit 11 three pointers on their way to beating the Paint Valley Bearcats 68-55 on Friday night.
Eric McLaughlin got things started for the Mustangs hitting a three pointer on the opening play of the game. Lynchburg-Clay jumped out to an 8-0 lead in the opening quarter and went on to take a 16-10 lead heading into the second.
The second frame saw Lynchburg-Clay put up 20 points on the backs of McLaughlin and Raymond Connor as they combined for 16 in the period, including two huge threes by McLaughlin as Paint Valley tried to make a run. Lynchburg-Clay headed to the locker room with a 36-25 advantage.
The third quarter was a shootout as both teams canned two triples in the period on their was to identical 16 point performances. Dylan Swingle of Paint Valley had his most productive quarter scoring six points as the Bearcats tried in vain to climb back into the game.
McLaughlin opened the deciding quarter the same as the first, with a three pointer, and extended the Mustang lead to 55-41. Lynchburg-Clay poured in three more triples in the fourth to pull away from the Bearcats and seal the 68-55 win.
Lynchburg-Clay had four players in double figures on the night led by McLaughlin who had 26 points, nine rebounds and four assists. Noble Walker chipped in 10 points, Damin Pierson had 15 points and seven assists and Connor who notched a double-double on the night with 14 points and 11 rebounds.
Lynchburg-Clay head coach Matt Carson touched on the all around game of McLaughlin afterwards. “Eric is a great leader for us. I thought he had an overall great game. We ask him to do so much, he has been an example to follow this year,” Carson said.
The Bearcats were led Swingle and Newland who both had 16 points in the losing effort for Paint Valley.
Carson was happy with the patience his team displayed on the offensive end. “I thought that we were very patient with the ball offensively. We did a good job of finding Eric and everybody played off of that,” said Carson.
Carson took the time to congratulate the Lynchburg-Clay Athletic Hall of Fame inductees Aric Piscus and Joe Wells after the game. “Aric and Joe are a big part of the Mustang family and it is just nice to see them get recognized for their achievements at the school,” said Carson.
(Box Score)
LCHS: 16-20-16-16
PVHS: 10-15-16-14
Lynchburg-Clay: Walker 2(2)-10; Pierson 3(3)-15; McLaughlin 5(5)-1/1-26; Connor 7-14; Smith (1)-3
Totals: 17(11)-1/1-68
Paint Valley: McFadden 3-1/1-7; McAllister (2)-6; Swingle 7-2/2-16; Newland 5(2)-16; Grubb 4-2/4-10
Totals: 19(4)-5/7-55
Reach Ryan Applegate at 937-402-2572, or on Twitter @RCApplegate89.
