By Seth Murdock

WNJ Sports Writer

LEES CREEK —The East Clinton Astros had just enough fuel in the tank to pull out a 40-38 win Saturday against the Whiteoak Wildcats in a non-conference girls basketball matchup at the EC gym.

The win brings the Astros record to 6-11.

“It was a good win for us,” said East Clinton head coach Steven Gerber. “We needed one, we lost a couple there in a row.”

Maggie Carr from Whiteoak led all scorers in the game with 15 points; she had a trio of 3-pointers. Alexis Jones had 7 and Morgan Thompson had 5 for WHS.

Paige Lilly led a balanced Lady Astros attack with 9 points. Mackenzie Campbell and Bre Davis had 8 points each.

“We’re about team,” said Gerber. “Everyone that stepped on the floor contributed and I thought that everyone did a good job.”

Both teams battled in the first quarter and kept the score close. By the end of the period, the Astros were only up by 4 points.

The Astros managed to maintain the lead throughout the second quarter and played solid defense, holding the Wildcats to only 9 points. East Clinton also excelled on the offensive end, scoring 15 points and going into the second half with a 10-point advantage.

After struggling in the second quarter the Wildcats turned things around a bit in the third. The Astros were held to 6 points in the quarter and Whiteoak took advantage by getting a pair of 3-pointers from Carr. The Astros lead was down to 4 going into the fourth.

The game tightened up late in the fourth quarter with the Wildcats making a run. With a little over 10 seconds left in the game, the Wildcats pulled within and then forced a traveling violation to get the ball back with 5.1 seconds to play.

But a Lacey Peterman defensive steal helped seal the win for East Clinton in the final seconds.

“I thought the kids did a good job of finishing that out strong and we got a win,” said Gerber.

The Astros will play their next game Wednesday at home against McClain.