Wildcats pull away from Astros 82-58

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LEES CREEK – After 13 minutes and 40 seconds of play, 14 lead changes and eight ties, Blanchester and East Clinton were tied at 33. Then Blanchester ran away for an 82-58 victory in a matchup of cross-county rivals Thursday.

Four Wildcats reached double-figures; Alec Richardson led the way with 17. Dylan Miller, Jordan Stroud and J.D. Weiderhold finished with 13, 12 and 11, respectively.

Jonny Blair came off the bench to lead EC (4-8) with 15 points. Brian Barnes, despite being saddled with foul trouble most of the night, finished with 10.

The Wildcats (7-4) finished the final 2:20 of the second quarter with a 9-2 run to take a 42-35 lead into the intermission.

Blan continued the run into the second-half to push its lead into double-digits, 47-37 at the 6:28 mark of the third period.

The Astros briefly got to within single-digits. But the Wildcats reeled off seven straight to end the third quarter with a 60-45 cushion.

Blanchester’s advantage eventually reached 20 after a 10-0 spurt, 72-50 midway through the final period.

The East Clinton JV won a 59-56 overtime thriller. Dylan Michael’s three at the buzzer forced overtime and his three with :26.6 left in OT gave the Astros the lead for good. Cameron Connor led the Astros with 14. Brendan Jenkins chipped in with 12. Eric Patton led the Wildcats with 16.

Blanchester took the freshman contest, 40-24, behind 11 points by Ian Heeg and 10 from Jacob Miller. Zach Mitchell led the Astros with 6.

SUMMARY

Jan 7, 2016

@East Clinton HS

Blanchester 82 East Clinton 58

B 20.22.18.22…..82

E 17.18.10.13…..58

(82) BLANCHESTER (fg-ft-tp) D. Miller 5-1-13, Q. Miller 2-1-6, Richardson 7-1-17, Stroud 6-0-12, Weiderhold 5-1-11, Baker 0-0-0, Carroll 1-0-2, Coyle 1-0-2, Grogg 0-4-4, Hopkins 3-0-7, Lovin 3-2-8, Trivett 0-0-0, Total 33-10-82. 3-point goals: 6 (Richardson, D. Miller, Hopkins, Q. Miller). FTM-FTA 10-16, 63 percent.

(58) EAST CLINTON (fg-ft-tp) D.J. Luttrell 1-1-3, Barnes 4-2-10, Jenkins 3-0-7, P. Luttrell 1-0-2, Floyd 4-1-9, Irwin 0-0-0, Pence 0-0-0, Mercer 2-0-4, Blair 6-2-15, Campbell 0-0-0, Hanners 0-0-0, McCarren 3-2-8, Connor 0-0-0. Total 24-8-58. 3-point goals: 2 (Jenkins, Blair). FTM-FTA 8-12, 67 percent.

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Blanchestser’s Nick Hopkins (14) eyes a three-pointer Thursday night while East Clinton head coach Tony Berlin implores his defense. The Wildcats won the game 82-58.
http://aimmedianetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/22/2016/01/web1_BBK_blhopkins_ecberlin1.jpgBlanchestser’s Nick Hopkins (14) eyes a three-pointer Thursday night while East Clinton head coach Tony Berlin implores his defense. The Wildcats won the game 82-58. Elizabeth Clark | News Journal

By Shawn Robinson

WNJ Sports Writer

Shawn covers high school sports for the News Journal. Follow him on Twitter @twinzdad01.

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