BLANCHESTER — Reading’s boys basketball team managed to stay with Blanchester’s high-powered offense for one half. More specifically, one wild second quarter.
The rest of the game was one-way traffic for the 7-1 Wildcats.
Blanchester outscored Reading 31-12 in the third quarter to turn a 13-point halftime lead into a 104-67 rout of the 1-7 Blue Devils.
Blanchester stormed out to a 26-10 lead after one quarter. Then, the teams played a second quarter straight out of a video game.
The teams combined to score 61 points in the second, with Reading edging Blanchester 32-29. The two teams made 22 of 36 shots in the period (61 percent) and 11 of 16 three-point field goals.
Reading shot nearly 70 percent in the second quarter and only trimmed three points off of its deficit.
“We were trying to make in-game adjustments on defense and learn,” BHS head coach Adam Weber said. “Third quarter, with a little time to talk about it at halftime, we ran away after that.”
After a defensive adjustment at halftime, Blanchester pulled away in the third.
Reading made just 6 of 27 shots in the second half (22 percent). Blanchester opened the half with a 17-5 run over the first 3:52 of the third quarter. The Wildcats scored 86 points in the first three quarters – nine points over its season average per game.
In the first three quarters, Blanchester made 34 of 58 shots (59 percent) – 14 more makes and 17 more attempts than Reading. Blanchester had 23 assists on those 34 made shots and finished with 26 for the game.
Hunter Bare led all scorers with 29 points, 12 rebounds, five assists and four blocks. With Brayden Sipple double-teamed during the middle two quarters, Bare, Tanner Creager and Jacksson Waialae picked up the offense.
Creager finished with 17 points and seven assists. Waialae had 17 points and nine rebounds. Weber wasn’t concerned that his leading scorer was being double-teamed.
“I’m not worried, and tonight was another perfect example,” Weber said. “Teams that want to scout and prepare, obviously the other guys can do a lot too. Nobody could hang with (Bare) on his moves to the basket. Jacksson was in rhythm, and Tanner has been steady all season.”
Despite the double-team defense against him, Sipple finished with 24 points, seven rebounds and six steals. He passed Michelle Gephart Elston to be Blanchester’s all-time leading scorer, regardless of gender.
Another Sipple milestone combined with a triple-digit number on the scoreboard was just what the doctor ordered for the Wildcats in front of their home crowd, according to Weber.
“These guys deserved it, in front of their home crowd which has supported us huge this year,” Weber said. “It was nice getting that 100-point mark – we’ve been flirting with it all season.”
The Blanchester record for points in a single game is 123, which came in a 123-81 win over Fayetteville on Nov. 27, 1963.
SUMMARY
Friday, Dec. 27, 2019
At Blanchester High School
Blanchester 104, Reading 67
R^10^32^12^13^^67
B^26^29^31^18^^104
(67) READING (fg-3fg-ft-tp) Jordan Feld 1-1-3-6, Logan Stidham 4-2-2-12, Zyon Scott 12-4-0-28, Louie Hess 3-1-0-7, Julian Bemmes 0-0-2-2, Nate Fritsch 0-0-2-2, Andre Madison 2-0-6-10. TOTALS 22-8-15-67.
(104) BLANCHESTER (fg-3fg-ft-tp) Brison Lucas 2-0-1-5, Tanner Creager 7-3-0-17, Hunter Hartman 1-0-0-2, Brayden Sipple 8-1-7-24, Jacksson Waialae 6-5-0-17, Logan Heitzman 1-0-2-4, Jay Ashcraft 3-0-0-6, Hunter Bare 12-0-5-29. TOTALS 40-9-15-104.
FIELD GOALS: R 22/57 (Scott 12/18, Stidham 4/7); B 40/73 (Bare 12/21, Sipple 8/12, Creager 7/10, Waialae 6/15)
3 POINT FIELD GOALS: R 8/20 (Scott 4/6); B 9/19 (Waialae 5/10, Creager 3/6)
FREE THROWS: R 15/23 (Madison 6/7); B 15/23 (Sipple 7/13, Bare 5/7)
REBOUNDS: R 33 (Nash 6, Bemmes 5, Madison 5); B 46 (Bare 12, Waialae 9, Sipple 7, Roy 6, Ashcraft 5)
ASSISTS: R 10 (Hess 3); B 26 (Creager 7, Bare 5, Ashcraft 4, Lucas 4, Waialae 3)
STEALS: R 4; B 14 (Sipple 6, Ashcraft 3)
BLOCKED SHOTS: R 0; B 6 (Bare 4)
TURNOVERS: R 19; B 9
