Barker nets 22, Hurricane hammers West Clermont

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WILMINGTON — With 11 days to prepare, thanks to some scheduling changes, Wilmington bounced back from its first loss of the season to blast West Clemont 71-45 Saturday at Fred Summers Court Saturday.

It was all Hurricane (2-1) in this one, as it jumped out to a 14-2 lead in the first five minutes of the game and kept going from there.

“I was a little bit nervous about keeping the guys engaged. We had a little bit longer break then we would’ve liked, but our guys stayed focused that week and a half. We got better. We were very competitive in our practices,” WHS head coach Jermaine Isaac said. “We talked every day about toughness. Looking at our first two games, we didn’t feel like we were being very tough. We’re talking about being tough enough to do your job consistently, just being mentally locked in, mentally tough to respond positively to difficult situations.”

Three Hurricane reached double figures, led by Collin Barker with 22 points, 10 of them in the first half. Luke Blessing and Kellen Baltazar chipped in with 13 and 11, respectively. Baltazar buried a pair from behind the arc during Wilmington’s game-opening spurt and another to open the second half that put the Cane up 42-20.

“It was a total team effort. We had a lot of guys score today,” Isaac said. “We really wanted to get Luke Blessing going. He has not been getting a lot of shot attempts. He’s super-unselfish in our offense. We have an equal-opportunity offense. We share the basketball. He’s been doing that, and he’s been a little too unselfish. So we called a couple sets early to get him going. Collin Barker has been in foul trouble the last couple games and he finished with 22. It’s been good to see our top guys get going.”

The closest West Clermont (0-3) would get after being down 14- 2 was 14-7. Wilmington’s largest lead of the evening was 28 points, 62-34 with 5:56 left in the game and 71-43 with 1:05 to go.

Luke Sanders led the Wolves with 12 points.

WHS converted 9 of 17 three-pointers, with Baltazar and Avery Warix hitting on 3 each. Alex Lazic grabbed a team-best 9 rebounds while Cole Bernhardt had 8. Mikey Brown handed out 4 assists while Blessing and Barker had 4 steals each.

Wilmington returns to action Tuesday, Dec. 14, versus county rival Clinton-Massie in the conference opener for both squads.

SUMMARY

December 11, 2021

@Fred Summers Court

WC^7^13^14^11^^45

WIL^23^16^18^14^^71

(45) WEST CLERMONT (fg-ft-tp) Adam 4-14 1-2 9, Stahl 0-5 0-0, Sleet 0-0 0-0, Sanders 5-14 0-0 12, Carlton 2-4 3-4 7, Embry 1-1 0-0 3, Elkins 1-2 1-2 3, Bingham 2-5 1-2 5, Brock-Sanderfer 0-1 0-2 0, Hall 3-3 0-0 6, Turner 0-0 0-0 0, Hosler 0-0 0-0 0. Total 18-49 6-12 45. 3-point goals: 3-23 (Adam 0-5, Stahl 0-3, Sanders 2-8, Carlton 0-1, Embry 1-1, Elkins 0-1, Bingham 0-3, Brock-Sanderfer 0-1).

FTM-FTA 6-12 (Adam 1-2, Carlton 3-4, Elkins 1-2, Bingham 1-2, Brock-Sanderfer 0-2).

Rebounds 31 (Carlton 6).

Assists: 10 (Adam 3, Sanders 3).

Steals: 3 (Adam 1, Sanders 1, Carlton 1).

Blocks: 4 (Carlton 3).

(71) WILMINGTON (fg-ft-tp) Blessing 5-9 2-2 13, Brown 1-4 0-0 2, Baltazar 4-12 0-0 11, Bernhardt 3-8 0-0 6, Barker 8-18 4-4 22, Warix 3-4 0-1 9, Killen 0-1 0-0 0, Platt 1-2 0-0 2, Griffith 0-3 0-0 0, Lazic 3-4 0-0. Total 28-65 6-7 71. 3-point goals: 9-17 (Blessing 1-1, Baltazar 3-6, Barker 2-4, Warix 3-4, Platt 0-1, Griffith 0-1).

FTM-FTA 6-7 (Blessing 2-2, Barker 4-4, Warix 0-1).

Rebounds: 36 (Lazic 9, Bernhardt 8).

Assists: 11 (Brown 4).

Steals: 13 (Blessing 4, Barker 4).

Blocks: 2 (Bernhardt 1, Blessing 1).

Photo by Elizabeth Clark
https://www.wnewsj.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/22/2021/12/web1_BBK_wil2LukeBlessing1211ec-1.jpgPhoto by Elizabeth Clark

Photo by Elizabeth Clark
https://www.wnewsj.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/22/2021/12/web1_BBK_wilColeBernhardt1211ec-1.jpgPhoto by Elizabeth Clark

Photo by Elizabeth Clark
https://www.wnewsj.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/22/2021/12/web1_BBK_wilCollinBarker1211ec-1.jpgPhoto by Elizabeth Clark

Photo by Elizabeth Clark
https://www.wnewsj.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/22/2021/12/web1_BBK_wilLukeBlessing1211ec-1.jpgPhoto by Elizabeth Clark

Photo by Elizabeth Clark
https://www.wnewsj.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/22/2021/12/web1_BBK_wilMikeyBrown1211ec-1.jpgPhoto by Elizabeth Clark

Photo by Elizabeth Clark
https://www.wnewsj.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/22/2021/12/web1_BBK_wilShaneGriffith1211ec-1.jpgPhoto by Elizabeth Clark

By Shawn Robinson

WNJ Sports Writer

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