WILLIAMSBURG — Early foul trouble and a cold shooting night spelled doom for the East Clinton Astros Friday night, as they fell to Williamsburg 51-38.
East Clinton (2-3 overall, 1-1 in SBC National) was forced to play the final 10:40 of the first half with JT McCarren on the bench in foul trouble. McCarren, coming off of back-to-back games with more than 30 points, finished with just nine points.
Even with the early foul trouble, East Clinton’s defense stymied Williamsburg in the first half. The game was tied at 19 with 1:50 left in the half.
Williamsburg (3-3, 2-0) scored the final six points of the first half to take a 25-19 lead into the intermission. Having survived the early foul problems only down six, EC head coach Tony Berlin felt his team was ready for a strong second half.
“We felt good about where we were at halftime,” Berlin said. “We just couldn’t get anything going.”
The Astros struggled offensively in the second half. EC made just 3 of 24 field goal attempts in the half, including 0 of 9 from three-point range.
Meanwhile, Williamsburg knocked down 10 of 26 from the floor and outrebounded East Clinton 27-12 in the second half.
McCarren’s nine points led the Astros. Brendan Jenkins added seven points. Wyatt Floyd had six points, eight rebounds and three assists.
Berlin praised the efforts of Logan Kelly off the bench (four points, four rebounds) as well as some of his reserve players who were forced into action due to foul trouble.
Two-time defending co-champions of the National Division, Williamsburg was led by Nate Bogan who had 20 points and six rebounds. Drew McKibben added 14 points and six rebounds.
“(Williamsburg) is a very good team,” Berlin said. “I’ve known Dan (McKibben, Williamsburg head coach) for a good while. He’s a good coach and has done a nice job with this team.”
East Clinton hosts Felicity Saturday night in another National Division game.
SUMMARY
Dec. 15, 2017
@ Williamsburg High School
Williamsburg 51, East Clinton 38
E 08.11.06.13…..38
W 11.14.13.13…..51
(38) EAST CLINTON (fg-3fg-ft-tp) Brendan Jenkins 2-1-2-7, JT McCarren 2-0-5-9, Alex Pence 1-0-0-2, Zach Mitchell 1-0-6-8, Wyatt Floyd 1-1-3-6, Logan Kelly 1-0-2-4, Matt Mitchell 0-0-2-2. TOTALS 8-2-20-38.
(51) WILLIAMSBURG (fg-3fg-ft-tp) Trent Kreimer 1-0-1-3, Cameron Hart 1-0-0-2, Kayden Reed 1-0-1-3, Nate Bogan 5-3-7-20, Jacob Wells 4-0-1-9, Drew McKibben 5-1-3-14. TOTALS 17-4-13-51.
FIELD GOALS: EC 8/40; W 17/48 (Bogan 5/11, McKibben 5/9)
3 POINT FIELD GOALS: EC 2/14; W 4/19 (Bogan 3/6)
FREE THROWS: EC 20/27 (Mitchell 6/6, McCarren 5/9); W 13/25 (Bogan 7/14)
REBOUNDS: EC 28 (Floyd 8, Kelly 4, Michael 3); W 42 (Wells 9, McKibben 6, Kreimer 6, Bogan 6)
ASSISTS: EC 5 (Floyd 3); W 5
STEALS: EC 5 (Mitchell 2); W 4 (Bogan 3)
BLOCKED SHOTS: EC 0; W 1 (Wells)
TURNOVERS: EC 10; W 12
