LEES CREEK — McClain’s Michael Noszka Jr. hit a three-pointer at the buzzer Tuesday to defeat East Clinton 46-43 at the EC gym.
East Clinton trailed 41-37 late in the fourth but rallied down the stretch. The game was tied at 43-43 with 10.8 seconds play. The Tigers had the ball and setup for the game-winning shot.
“We played extremely hard,” EC coach Clyde Snow said. “It just came down to a couple of possessions and sadly, on our end, it favored Greenfield and not us.”
It was anybody’s game from the start. Maddix Crowe had a three in the first and Peyton Lilly led EC with four as the Astros held a 9-7 lead after one.
In the second, Lilly continued his scoring onslaught with eight points, six coming on a pair of three-pointers. Jordan Bell of McClain also had two three-pointers in the second period. Wesley Potts had four points in the second as well.
In the second half, the Tigers focused their defense on Lilly and held him to just two points. Owen Sykes had five of McClain’s 10 in the third.
Xander Lake came up big for the Astros. After three in the first half, Lake poured in six points in the third as the Astros led 33-29.
“Executed our scouting report pretty well,” Snow said. “It just came down to a few possessions, possessions where they connected on a few looks and a few possessions where we didn’t execute.”
Toby Huff and Lake both had five in the fourth but East Clinton couldn’t hang on. Potts had seven in the fourth for the Tigers.
In the junior varsity game, East Clinton was defeated by McClain 45-16. The Tigers had an 11-2 run to break an 8-8 tie in the first half. Aiden Warner, Brody McCulley and Max Gulley had four points each for the Astros.
The Tigers are coached by former Wilmington High School head coach Michael Noszka Sr. Noszka Jr. is a freshman on the team.
SUMMARY
Jan 16 2024
@East Clinton High School
McClain 46, East Clinton 43
M^7^12^10^17^^46
EC^9^13^11^10^^43
(43) EAST CLINTON (fg-3fg-ft-tp) Williams 1-0-1-3 Huff 2-1-0-5 Crowe 1-1-0-3 Lilly 6-2-0-14 Lake 6-0-2-14 Warner 1-0-0-2 Arnold 1-0-0-2 TOTALS 18-4-3/4-43
(46) McCLAIN (fg-3fg-ft-tp) Noszka Jr 2-2-0-6 Bell 3-3-0-9 Weller 2-1-2-7 Sykes 4-0-1-9 Potts 6-0-1-13 Cummins 0-0-0-0 Allison 1-0-0-2 TOTALS 18-6-4/6-46
