WILMINGTON – In a battle of Clinton County rivals, Wilmington defeated Clinton-Massie 62-47 at Fred Summers Court in SBAAC American Division action.
With the win, Wilmington improves to 10-4 overall and 5-0 in the division. The Falcons fall to 7-5 on the season, 2-3 in the conference.
The Hurricane jumped out to a 23-11 first quarter lead and held a 32-21 edge at halftime. The third quarter was a close one, Wilmington claiming a 19-18 edge to make it a 51-39 contest after three quarters.
Eight different players accounted for the Hurricane scoring, with Layne Griffith leading the way with 19, including 11 in the first half.
Jeffery Mansfield followed with 16, scoring eight in each half. Matt Smith connected for a trio of three pointers for nine points.
For the Falcons, top scorer was Thomas Myers, with 15, including seven in the third quarter, while Trey Uetrecht added 11, all coming in the middle two periods.
“Wilmington is a great ball club and they have great shot selection,” Cook said. “They manage the clock very well. We just gave it up way too many times tonight. You can’t make 20 turnovers and expect to still win.
“We are a very physical team, but we did not show like that tonight. We had only three offensive rebounds. They were able to deny us second shots and simply control the tempo. Even when we made a run, late in the third quarter, we could not get it any closer than 12 points.”
Myers connected on a long bank shot from the left elbow to make it 51-39 at the third quarter horn, but Wilmington pulled away in the fourth period and took precious time off the clock.
“Right now, we’re playing a rotation of eight and it was great to get strong contributions from each of them,” said WHS head coach Mike Noszka. “They are continuing to play with confidence and it’s all about our continuity.
“Our goal has always been to be a championship team and to do that we must play four good quarters of basketball … like we did tonight. You have got to give them credit. Massie hung in there, and really made us earn it.”
Both teams return to their home floors Saturday night. Massie will be hosting Carlisle, while Wilmington will play the last game in an afternoon full of basketball at Fred Summers Court, in the Scholastic Play-by-Play Classic. Wilmington will be facing Dohn Academy. Tip-off is scheduled for 8 .pm.
Coach Noszka has also extended an offer to former Clinton-Massie head coach Brian Mudd to serve as an honorary coach, and be in attendance on the Hurricane bench. Mudd recently underwent surgery to remove a tumor and plans to attend Saturday’s game.
SUMMARY
January 26 2018
@Fred Summers Court
Wilmington 62 Clinton-Massie 47
WI 23.09.19.11…..62
CM 11.10.18.08…..47
(62) WILMINGTON (fg-3fg-ft-tp) Morris 0-0-0-0 Coomer 1-1-0-3 Gauche 2-0-0-4 Griffith 8-1-2-19 Jacobyansky 2-1-2-7 Smith 3-3-0-9 Mansfield 4-1-7-16 Taylor 2-0-0-4. TOTALS 22-7-11-62
(47) CLINTON-MASSIE (fg-3fg-ft-tp) Wolfe 0-0-0-0 Chowning 1-0-1-3 Myers 5-1-4-15 Tanner Olberding 0-0-0-0 Campbell 0-0-0-0 Uetrecht 5-0-1-11 Laake 4-1-2-11 Settlemyre 1-0-5-7. TOTALS 16-2-13-47
FIELD GOALS: CM (16-41) Myers 5-9 Laake 4-8
3 PT FIELD GOALS: CM (2-12) Myers 1-2 Laake 1-3
FREE THROWS CM (13-17) Myers 4-4 Settlemyre 5-6
REBOUNDS: CM-25 (Myers 10 Uetrecht 5 Laake 5)
ASSISTS: CM-6 (Myers 2 Uetrecht 2)
STEALS: CM-9 (Chownnig 3 Myers 2 Uetrecht 2)
BLOCKED SHOTS: CM-3 (Myers 2)
TURNOVERS: CM-20
