GREENFIELD — The McClain Lady Tigers opened their 2018-19 season on Saturday, November 24, with a convincing and hard fought 65-32 win over Westfall in front of their home crowd.
Kyla Burchett, Jaelyn Pitzer and Bryn Karnes each finished in double figures for the Lady Tigers with totals of 13, 12 and 10 respectively to lead McClain to the win.
Maddy Stegbauer and Bri Weller were also impressive for McClain and scored nine points apiece while Kelli Uhrig and Emma Stegbauer finished with five each and Cierra Bolender finished off the scoring for the Lady Tigers with two points.
McClain started the game with a 15-0 run that was capped by a Burchett layup off of a feed from M. Stegbauer and the Lady Tigers led 26-6 at the end of one.
Both teams struggled to take care of the ball in the first quarter but McClain was able to convert on the fast break while the Lady Mustangs from Westfall could not.
Pitzer was the catalyst in the first quarter as she scored eight of her twelve points, including both of her made three pointers for the game, in the opening frame to set the tone for McClain.
Lady Tigers’ Head Coach Jarrod Haines talked about the defensive pressure his team put on Westfall after the win, “Defensively I thought we did a really good job of disrupting their offense and keeping them out of the half court set.”
Haines also credited the girls on his team for their unselfish play when he said, “I told them in the locker room that this is one of the most unselfish game I think have ever been a part of as far as making the extra pass and finding the open person. Really, really pleased.”
Score by quarters
MHS 26-11-19-9
WHS 6-8-8-10
McClain: M. Stegbauer 3(1)-9; Bolender 1-2; Weller 4-1/2-9; Pitzer 3(2)-0/3-12; Adams 0/1-0; Uhrig 1(1)-5; Burchett 6-1/4-13; Karnes 5-0/1-10; E. Stegbauer 1(1)-0/2-5
Totals: 24(5)-2/6-65
Westfall: Farmer 4-8; Mullins 0/1-0; Henry 0/1-0; Kitchen 3(1)-3/6-12; Dudgeon 3-4/7-10; Holman 1-2
Totals: 11(1)-7/13-32
Ryan Applegate is the sports editor for The Times-Gazette. Reach Ryan Applegate at 937-402-2572, or on Twitter @RCApplegate89.
