WILMINGTON — In a mirror of their season, East Clinton was defeated by Mariemont 45-25 Saturday afternoon in a Division III Sectional tournament game at Fred Summers Court.
“When you shoot only 27 percent from the field and average over 23 turnovers a contest, you’re not gonna win many games, and today was just the way our season has been,” said East Clinton head coach Bill Bean.
The Warriors jumped out to a 14-7 first quarter lead, built the lead to 25-11 at halftime, then sealed the victory with a 16-6 margin in the third quarter.
Miller Spreen was the games high scorer with 22 points, including five treys, and had 13 first half points.
Lauren Runyon, one of five seniors in their final game, had 10 points for the Lady Astros. Abbi Reynolds, another EC senior, followed with nine points, including all seven Astro points in the first quarter.
East Clinton was victimized by graduation and the departure of former point guard Jordan Collom. During the summer, the Collom family relocated to Kentucky.
“Losing last year’s point guard really impacted us,” Bean said.
Runyon, who suffered a torn ACL and was inactive last season, was the only returning player with varsity experience. Bean, not one to make alibis or excuses, said this year was a learning experience for his squad.
“I had hoped we would win more than four games this year, but it was a tough schedule and you know how good Waynesville is every year, it was all uphill,” said Bean. “But to the kids’ credit, they did not shut down and played hard for me all year, regardless of the score.
“I want to credit our five seniors for their leadership in every game.” he said.
In addition to Reynolds and Runyon, departing Astro seniors are Megan Hadley, Cheyene Reed and Liz Schiff.
SUMMARY
Feb 17, 2024
Division III Sectional
@Wilmington High School
Mariemont 45, East Clinton 25
M^14^11^16^4^^45
EC^7^7^6^5^^25
(45) MARIEMONT (2fg-3fg-ft-tp). Patel 1-0-0-2, Spreen 3-5-1-22, Dewey 1-0-0-2, Padjen 1-0-0-2, Metze 1-0-0-2, Frye 4-1-0-11, Willet 0-0-2-2, Zandardo 0-0-1-1, Muller 0-0-1-1. TEAM TOTALS. 11-6-5-45.
(25) EAST CLINTON (2fg-3fg-ft-tp). Terrell 0-0-0-0, Arnold 0-0-0-0, Reynolds 3-1-0-9, Schiff 0-0-0-0, Hadley 0-1-1-4, Runyon 2-0-6-10, Tate 1-0-0-2, Reed 0-0-0-0, Scott 0-0-0-0, Null 0-0-0-0. TEAM TOTAL 6-2-7-25.
