FAYETTEVILLE — Blanchester boys basketball coach Adam Weber and his Wildcats seem to have gotten exactly what they needed over Christmas break.
After an uneven start to the season, Blanchester seems to be finding its rhythm. The Wildcats won their fourth straight Tuesday night, beating Fayetteville 69-49.
“We’ve got a pretty good offensive team,” Weber said. “It’s a great asset to have every combination of scoring threats. This was probably the best that it has shown.”
Two stretches of the game showed the Wildcats (6-3) firing on all cylinders.
The first run started late in the first half. Blanchester led 27-23 with 2:46 left in the first half. Over the next 6:54, the Wildcats outscored the Rockets 21-4. Blanchester led 45-27 with 3:55 left in the third.
Weber made some substitutions, which allowed the Rockets to fuel their own momentum. A 15-2 Fayetteville run carried over into the fourth and pulled the Rockets within 47-42 with 7:51 left.
The five-man starting unit for Blanchester — Nick Hopkins, Dylan Miller, Quenton Miller, Jordan Stroud and JD Wiederhold — found its rhythm and surged again.
This time, it was a 21-1 run over the next 5:18 that put the Rockets away for good. Blanchester shot 57.7 percent in the second half (15 of 26) and had 11 assists on 15 baskets.
They were even hotter in the fourth quarter, making 8 of 12 from the floor (66.7 percent). Hopkins had 11 of his 17 points in the fourth to help secure the fourth straight win for Blanchester.
“Nick has been very hesitant with his offensive looks,” Weber said. “We told him to be looking for his opportunities. He hit one or two and that got him feeling pretty good about himself.
Dylan Miller led Blanchester with 18 points, five assists and four rebounds. Quenton Miller had 14 points, eight assists and four rebounds. The five starters were a minimum plus-20 in their time on the floor. Quenton Miller was a plus-38, Wiederhold was plus-33 and Stroud was plus-29.
For the game, Blanchester had 19 assists on 26 made field goals.
“That was by far their best game as far as sharing the ball,” Weber said. “There was no sucking the air out of the ball. It was going where it needed to go. There were even times that I thought we were a little bit too unselfish.”
Max Lanham led Fayetteville (1-8) with 14 points.
Blanchester returns home Friday night for another Southern Buckeye Conference National Division showdown with Bethel-Tate. Weber knows what is awaiting his team on Friday.
“I’d be lying if I said four-in-a-row isn’t a factor in what is going to be a flat-out dogfight Friday,” Weber said. “Bethel-Tate is going to be the single-biggest handful we’ve faced this year. Williamsburg was tough, but Bethel-Tate is going to be more of a physical fight.”
SUMMARY
January 3, 2017
@Fayetteville High School
Blanchester 69, Fayetteville 49
(69) BLANCHESTER (fg-3fg-ft-tp) Clayton Guy 0-0-2-2, Blake Baker 2-1-0-5, Nick Hopkins 6-2-1-15, Quenton Miller 6-2-0-14, Dylan Miller 6-4-2-18, Jacob Burden 0-0-1-1, Jordan Stroud 3-1-1-8, JD Wiederhold 3-0-0-6. TOTALS 26-10-7-69.
(49) FAYETTEVILLE (fg-3fg-ft-tp) Colin Conner 3-2-0-8, Nic Ball 1-1-0-3, Max Lanham 7-0-0-14, Luke Wiederhold 1-0-0-2, Christopher Murphy 0-0-1-1, CJ McCulley 2-2-0-6, Clayton Ramey 0-0-2-2, Zak Smyth 5-0-3-13. TOTALS 19-5-6-49.
FIELD GOALS: B 26/53 (D. Miller 6/14, Q. Miller 6/11, Hopkins 6/9, Stroud 3/8, Wiederhold 3/3); F 19/54 (Lanham 7/17, Smyth 5/9, Conner 3/6)
3 POINT FIELD GOALS: B10/24 (D. Miller 4/8, Hopkins 2/4, Q. Miller 2/4); F 5/20 (Conner 2/5, McCulley 2/5)
FREE THROWS: B 7/12; F 6/12 (Smyth 3/4)
REBOUNDS: B 40 (Wiederhold 7, Lovin 6, Hopkins 5, Stroud 5, Q. Miller 4, D. Miller 4); F 28 (Smyth 8, Lanham 3)
ASSISTS: B 19 (Q. Miller 8, D. Miller 5, Hopkins 3); F 8 (Ball 3)
STEALS: B 10 (Q. Miller 3, D. Miller 3, Hopkins 2); F 12 (Smyth 4)
BLOCKED SHOTS: B 4; F 0
TURNOVERS: B 20; F 15
