WILMINGTON – With a 20-0 run, host Wilmington blew the doors off Clinton-Massie for a 58-39 Southern Buckeye Conference American Division victory Thursday at Fred Summers Court.
The Hurricane broke the last of four ties on the evening with Taylor Noszka’s three at the 1:20 mark of the third quarter. Wilmington then tallied a bucket by KeAsia Robinson, another three by Noszka, a pair of free throws, another bucket by Robinson, a three by Katie Murphy, and a pair of steals that led to two more from Elle Martin and three more from Sophie Huffman during the first half of the fourth quarter.
“We just found a rhythm. Sophie was attacking and dishing. We were hitting shots, making good decisions,” Wilmington head coach Zach Williams said.
With 3:55 left in the game, the Hurricane led 53-33.
“Sophie Huffman makes a lot go. She creates a lot of problems for everyone in this league. The Robinson girl seems to really shine against us every time we play them. It was Sophie creating and dishing on the block, and we had a hard time sliding over with our help side defense. It’s something we work on. We just let it get away from us in the fourth quarter,” CM head head coach Hilma Crawford said. “They made plays when it really counted in the fourth quarter.”
Robinson led all scorers with a career-high 20 points.
Wilmington’s 20-0 run wasn’t the first time it tried to run away with the game. The Hurricane (6-6, 4-2) scored the last eight points of the first quarter to lead 14-6.
However, Clinton-Massie scored 12 of the first 14 to start the second quarter to lead 18-16. The game was nip-and-tuck after that with three more ties and three lead changes.
“We came out early and had great energy. We started off hot. But give Massie a lot of credit, they don’t give up, they don’t stop doing what they’re doing. They played free, made some shots, and we had some errors,” Williams said. “But one thing we talk about with the girls is about peaks and valleys during the game. We’ll have those ups and downs. They didn’t hang their heads.”
Hannah Bowman lead Massie (5-8, 1-3) with 19 points.
SUMMARY
January 13, 2022
@Fred Summers Court
Wilmington 58 Clinton-Massie 39
CM^6^8^9^6^^39
W^14^13^9^22^^58
(39) CLINTON-MASSIE (fg-ft-tp) Pence 4-0-10, Roberts 1-1-3, Phipps 3-0-7, Bowman 7-3-19, Branham 0-0-0, Bayless 0-0-0, Doyle 0-0-0, Redman 0-0-0. Total 15-4-39. 3-point goals: 5 (Bowman 2, Pence 2, Phipps). FTM-FTA 4-11, 36 percent.
(58) WILMINGTON (fg-ft-tp) Robinson 8-4-20, Noszka 2-0-6, Huffman 3-0-7, Martin 4-0-8, Murphy 3-0-7, Schuster 1-2-4, Tippett 0-0-0, Diels 3-0-6, Current 0-0-0, Earley 0-0-0. Total 24-6-58. 3-point goals: 4 (Noszka 2, Huffman, Murphy). FTM-FTA 6-10, 60 percent.
