MOWRYSTOWN — As is the norm, the stands were packed Saturday night as East Clinton visited Whiteoak. A young, but talented Whiteoak team used a fast start to withstand a strong second half from the Astros and posted a 52-40 victory.
Despite the loss, there were some positives for the Astros. They were able to convert on a perfect 9 for 9 from the free throw line. Coach Tony Berlin pointed out a couple other improvements from his team.
“We cut down on turnovers. We were able to run some things and make some good passes in the second half. The effort has been there the last two nights. It’s something we can build on.” said Berlin.
Offensive woes plagued the Astros early as it was 11-0 WHS before Colton Vadnais hit two free throws to put the Astros on the board. A Gunner Neanover three kept the Astros close, but a big first for Wildcat Bradley Ashbaugh staked his team to an 18-11 lead after one.
The second quarter proved to be the Astros undoing. EC managed just six points in the frame, and WHS, behind the hot hand of Carson Emery, had doubled up on the Astros at 34-17 at the intermission.
Both teams were scoreless through the opening three minutes of the second half, but at that point the Astro offense started clicking. With some slick passing from Quinten Tolle and Vadnais among others, the Astros put up their best all-around quarter in quite a while. The defense created several turnovers and with the improved offense, highlighted by a baseline drive for a reverse layup by Vadnais, they cut the deficit to 10 entering the fourth quarter.
A Neanover bucket cut the lead to single digits for the first time since the early going, but it was as close as the Astros would get. A couple threes by Dylan Peterman came in the final minutes, but it was too little too late to put any real pressure on the Wildcats.
The Astros were led by Vadnais with 10 points, while the bulk of the Wildcat offense came from Emery (17 points) and Ashbaugh (13 points).
WHS moved to 6-9 with the win, while the Astros fell to 1-14. East Clinton returns to action Tuesday as they travel to Georgetown to face the G-Men.
In the junior varsity game Saturday night, East Clinton was defeated 40-22. Trent Garen led the Astros with eight points.
SUMMARY
Jan 25, 2020
@Whiteoak High School
Whiteoak 52 East Clinton 40
WO^18^16^8^10^^52
EC^11^6^15^8^^40
(52) WHITEOAK (fg-3fg-ft-tp) Ashbaugh 5-1-2-13 Bailey 4-0-1-9 Smery 7-2-1-17 Temple 2-1-0-5 Hughes 1-0-1-3 Yeager 1-0-3-5 TOTALS 20-4-8/14-52
(40) EAST CLINTON (fg-3fg-ft-tp) Smith 3-0-2-8 Collom 1-0-0-2 Runyon 1-0-0-2 Tolle 0-0-2-2 Peterman 2-2-0-6 Neanover 3-1-1-8 Hall 1-0-0-2 Vadnais 3-0-4-10 TOTALS 14-3-9/9-40
