ADAMS TOWNSHIP — Despite a career night from sophomore Trey Uetrecht, Clinton-Massie couldn’t get over the hump in a 72-64 home loss to Chillicothe in South Central Ohio League action Friday night.
Led by Uetrecht’s game-high 30 points, the Falcons pulled to within 3 points on a couple of occasions early in the fourth quarter, but the visiting Cavaliers held off every charge.
“We gave them way too many offensive spurts,” Clinton-Massie head coach Dustin Eads said. “We dug ourselves some holes and had to expend too much energy to fight back into the game. Then we just couldn’t get that shot to fall to get us over the hump.”
It was a banner night for Uetrecht in defeat as the 6-1 forward got it going early and never cooled off. He scored 4 points in the opening frame on 2-of-4 shooting, then finished the night by missing only two more shots (9-of-11) the rest of the way.
“I would say ‘workman-like’ is a good way to describe Trey,” Eads said. “He may be a sophomore in the classroom, but not on the court. He works hard every single day and it really rubs off on his teammates.”
Clinton-Massie got off to a sluggish start, falling behind 12-3 early after a 9-0 Chillicothe spurt. The Cavaliers attacked the offensive glass and utilized a full-court press that rattled the Falcons at times. Massie committed 23 turnovers, 8 each in both the second and third quarters. Chillicothe was sloppy early, turning it over 14 times in the first half before cutting that number in half after the break.
“Our guards got a little rushed against their press and saw some things that weren’t really there,” Eads said. “But, a lot of that comes with experience. This was our third straight game against a very quality team and many times we are playing 3 or 4 guys that had no varsity experience entering this season. We’ve been in every game with a chance to win. If we just keep working and fighting hard, it will come for us.”
Chillicothe got a balanced scoring attack on the night, headlined by Brandon Maughmer with 24 points and 5 steals. Kristian Boltenhouse scored 10 of his 17 points in the second quarter and also added 7 rebounds. William Roderick chipped in with 7 points, while Matthew Benson had 5 points and 8 boards.
Nick Chowning was the only other Falcon to join Uetrecht in double figures with 12 points before fouling out. Chris Demler had 7 points and Ryan Weiss added 5.
Clinton-Massie gets back to action on Tuesday night with a road contest at county-rival Wilmington. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m.
