ADAMS TOWNSHIP — Clinton-Massie knocked down 10 three-pointers Wednesday night, allowing the Lady Falcons to pull away from East Clinton for a 60-49 victory at Brian P. Mudd Court.
East Clinton (6-14) trailed by just two points, 35-33, with 5:28 left in the third quarter. Over the next 4:40, Clinton-Massie (4-16) outscored the Lady Astros 12-3 to push its advantage to double digits.
“I think switching to the 1-3-1 zone defense confused (East Clinton) a little bit,” CM head coach Tim McGraw said. “Normally we start in that. We played man tonight because I thought they would come out thinking we were going to play zone. I thought that gave them a little trouble in the second half.”
In the fourth quarter, East Clinton got as close as seven, 47-40, but couldn’t get any closer.
Clinton-Massie dominated the offensive boards to create second- and third-chance opportunities. Of the Falcons’ 39 rebounds, 26 came on the offensive end.
“I thought in the second half we did a great job of crashing the boards,” Tim McGraw said. “We took a lot of good shots and I thought we shared the ball really well.”
Turnovers also played a role in the outcome. East Clinton had 26 turnovers to just 11 for Clinton-Massie.
The plus-15 advantage in turnovers allowed Massie to take 27 more field goal attempts. East Clinton had a better shooting percentage — 42.2 percent to just 31.9 percent for CM — but only had 45 shot attempts to 72 for Clinton-Massie.
Massie also had six more three-point field goals, shooting 10 for 30 compared to just 4 of 18 for the Astros.
Kenzi Avery led all scorers with 19 points. She also had five steals and four rebounds. Miranda Crawford added 14 points and seven steals for the Lady Falcons. Hannah Doss added 12 points and eight rebounds.
Kelsi Lilly led East Clinton with 18 points. Libby Evanshine added 12 points and 12 rebounds.
“We’re young and inexperienced,” EC head coach Jeff Craycraft said. “The biggest thing we learned is what happens when you have a lack of preparation. They’ll learn that as they go on. Massie just outplayed us. (McGraw) did a nice job and had them ready to go.”
Despite what has been a tough season both on and off the court, McGraw has been pleased with the continued strong effort from his team.
“They come to practice every day with a good attitude,” McGraw said. “It shows how hard they’re working regardless of our record. You have to commend those girls on the types of girls that they are to come out here and play as hard as they do being 4-16.”
The two teams will play again noon Saturday at Clinton-Massie in the Bud Phillips scholarship game.
SUMMARY
Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2020
At Clinton-Massie High School
Clinton-Massie 60, East Clinton 49
EC^12^15^11^11^^49
CM^16^17^14^13^^60
(49) EAST CLINTON (fg-3fg-ft-tp) Libby Evanshine 5-0-2-12, Katrina Bowman 1-0-0-2, Kami Whiteaker 2-1-2-7, Jozie Jones 1-0-0-2, Kelsi Lilly 6-3-3-18, Jaden Murphy 3-0-0-6, Gracie Boggs 1-0-0-2. TOTALS 19-4-7-49.
(60) CLINTON-MASSIE (fg-3fg-ft-tp) Maddie Phipps 1-0-0-2, Hannah Doss 4-4-0-12, Patience Chowning 3-3-0-9, Miranda Crawford 5-0-4-14, Kenzi Avery 8-3-0-19, McKenna Branham 2-0-0-4. TOTALS 23-10-4-60.
FIELD GOALS: EC 19/45 (Lilly 6/11, L. Evanshine 5/12); CM 23/72 (Avery 8/17, Crawford 5/7)
3 POINT FIELD GOALS: EC 4/18 (Lilly 3/6); CM 10/30 (Doss 4/17, Chowning 3/6, Avery 3/7)
FREE THROWS: EC 7/8 (Lilly 3/4); CM 4/13
REBOUNDS: EC 40 (L. Evanshine 12, Whiteaker 6); CM 39 (Phipps 8, Doss 8)
ASSISTS: EC 10; CM 12 (Chowning 3, Crawford 3)
STEALS: EC 7; CM 20 (Crawford 7, Avery 5)
BLOCKED SHOTS: EC 1 (L. Evanshine); CM 0
TURNOVERS: EC 26; CM 11
