GBK Final: Wilmington 45 Massie 41

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ADAMS TOWNSHIP — It won’t go down as anything more than a rebound on the stat sheet, but KeAsia Robinson’s grab of a missed Wilmington free throw Monday helped the Lady Hurricane seal a 45-41 win over Clinton-Massie.

Following Robinson’s rebound, Katie Murphy calmly sank a pair of free throws with 8.8 seconds to go in the fourth as WHS held off a furious rally by the Lady Falcons.

“KeAsia … one of the biggest rebounds of the game,” Wilmington head coach Zach Williams said. “She’s not very big but she has a knack (for rebounds).”

Massie’s Kenzie Avery tied the game at 41-41 with a basket at 3:20. Neither team scored until the final minute.

“We hurried some things,” CM coach Hilma Crawford said of his young team down the stretch. “We had some different players out there that haven’t played together.”

Maura Drake had a stickback basket — another big offensive rebound — to put WHS on top 43-41 with 33 seconds to go.

Later, the Hurricane (3-3, 2-1) went to the free throw line with 17.2 seconds to go but missed.

That’s when Robinson came up with the rebound and the subsequent held ball went to Wilmington on the possession arrow. A few seconds later Murphy made the two free throws. WHS was 0-for-4 at the line in the fourth up to that point.

Murphy led all scorers with 18, nine of those coming in the first on a trio of 3-pointers. Drake had 13 points, 10 rebounds and 4 blocked shots.

“A huge game,” Williams said of Drake. “Some big rebounds, great finishes, great blocks. That’s one of the best games I’ve seen her play. She left it all out there.”

Sophie Huffman had 10 assists and 7 rebounds for Wilmington, set to host Washington Senior Wednesday night.

For Clinton-Massie, who trailed by as many as 11 in the first half, McKenna Branham — “played well,” Crawford said — had 15 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists. Kenzie Avery had 10 points and 10 rebounds.

“We got tired,” Williams said of his squad. “Massie plays hard, plays physical. He’s deep and can run fresh girls in. Coach Crawford’s doing a great job with those girls.”

Clinton-Massie, whose game with Goshen Wednesday has been postponed, is 0-3 but Crawford believes his team can play with anybody in the SBAAC.

“We’re getting close. We just need to find a way to win,” he said. “We’re a little out of rhythm offensively. We just have to find a way to get over the hump.”

Wilmington opened the game featuring Murphy and her long-range marksmanship. She buried two 3-pointers in short order and put Massie in a 6-0 hole.

Huffman was dynamic on defense and dealing to her teammates with great regularity on offense. The WHS point guard had just 3 first half shot attempts, making 1 off a steal, but handed out 8 assists. She assisted on Chailyn Johns’ 3-pointer as well as a Maura Drake basket to help WHS to a 25-14 lead.

Late in the first half, Huffman fed a cutting Murphy who scored on a dandy reverse layup. Murphy later closed the half with a 3 to make it 32-24.

The Lady Falcons were efficient on offense in the opening half. Both teams were actually, shooting a combined 24 for 46 from the field. McKenna Branham was hot for Massie, hitting 3 of 5 from the floor and finishing with 8 points in the opening 2 quarters. McKenna Crawford and Maddie Phipps had 4 each as CM kept things close.

Wilmington went ice cold in the third, making just 1 of 11 from the field. It didn’t get much better in the fourth, as WHS hit on 3 of 14.

Kenzie Avery led the Massie comeback with 4 points but it was the relentless play on the offensive boards that paved the way for the Lady Falcons. CM had no fewer than 6 offensive rebounds in the third period alone and closed within 2 going to the fourth.

A Murphy 3 and Huffman drive and 2 pushed the difference for WHS back to 5 and it seemed the Lady Falcons had run out of gas. But a long bench helped Massie wear down the Hurricane. A second chance 3 by Branham and an Avery 2 tied the game at 41-41 with 3:20 to play.

SUMMARY

Dec 14, 2020

@Lebanon Road gym

Wilmington 45 Clinton-Massie 41

W^21^11^14^9^^45

CM^12^12^10^7^^41

(45) WILMINGTON (fg-3fg-ft-tp) Diels 0-0-0-0 Huffman 2-0-0-4 Johns 3-1-0-7 Drake 6-0-1-13 Murphy 5-4-4-18 Noszka 1-0-0-2 Robinson 0-0-1-1 TOTALS 17-5-6-45

(41) CLINTON-MASSIE (fg-3fg-ft-tp) Crawford 3-0-1-7 Avery 5-0-0-10 Phipps 3-0-1-7 Branham 5-1-4-15 Voisey 0-0-0-0 Eades 1-0-0-2 Lay 0-0-0-0 Cranmer 0-0-0-0 Thompson 0-0-0-0 Jaramillo 0-0-0-0 TOTALS 17-1-6-41

FIELD GOALS: WHS 17/48 (Drake 6/12); CM 17/48 (Avery 5/9)

3 PT FIELD GOALS: WHS 5/19 (Murphy 4/8); CM 1/4

FREE THROWS: WHS 6/11 (Murphy 4/4); CM 6/12 (Branham 4/6)

REBOUNDS: WHS-29 (Drake 10 Huffman 7 Robinson 4 Murphy 3 Noszka 2 Johns 2); CM-37 (Avery 10 Phipps 4 Branham 4 Lay 3 Voisey 2 Eades 1 Cranmer 1 Thompson 1)

ASSISTS: WHS-12 (Huffman 10 Diels 1 Johns 1); CM-8 (Crawford 2 Branham 2 Avery 1 Voisey 1 Cranmer 1 Thompson 1)

STEALS: WHS- 5 (Noszka 2 Diels 1 Johns 1 Huffman 1); CM-4 (Crawford 2 Avery 1 Lay 1)

BLOCKED SHOTS: WHS-4 (Drake 4); CM-0

TURNOVERS: WHS 8; CM 13

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Offensive rebounds, free throws late lift Hurricane

By Mark Huber

[email protected]

Reach Mark Huber at 937-556-5765, via email [email protected] or on Twitter @wnjsports

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