MOUNT ORAB — After a tight first quarter, the Madeira Mustangs used strong transition and half-court offense to pull away from East Clinton 66-43 at Western Brown High School.
The season ends for the Astros at 11-12. Madeira, now 16-7, will play Clark Montessori in the Division III sectional final 4:30 p.m. Saturday at WBHS.
“That was one of those games where we shot the ball extremely well in warmups,” EC head coach Tony Berlin said. “Our energy was great. Sometimes it just doesn’t carry over.
“We’ve had a good year. I’m proud of the kids.”
East Clinton shot just 35 percent over the first three quarters, including just 4 of 17 from three-point range in those quarters.
It was a tight first quarter. A 10-0 Mustang run midway through the quarter provided the separation after one. Madeira led 13-7.
Madeira gradually stretched the lead in the second and third quarters. The Mustangs shot 54 percent from the floor through three quarters.
East Clinton had no answer for Jack Cravaack. The 6-5 center, who is committed to play tight end at Purdue, was a beast underneath. He scored 14 points on 7 of 9 shooting and didn’t play much of the fourth quarter.
“We didn’t have any answer for him inside,” Berlin said. “We tried to front, we tried a big man, we tried to give help.”
Adam Wieczorek led the Mustangs with 15 points. Madeira led by as many as 33 points and committed just three turnovers.
Freshman Branson Smith came off the bench to score 12 to lead the Astros. Wyatt Floyd added eight points while JT McCarren had six, both playing in their final game at East Clinton.
In fact, seven Astros suited up for the final time. In addition to Floyd and McCarren, Brendan Jenkins, Alex Pence, Dylan Michael, Jacob Olds and Logan Kelly all wrapped up their Astro careers.
“They’ve meant everything,” Berlin said. “I came when they were entering their freshman year. To see where they ended up, with their work ethic … you always get close to kids.
“It’s hard to see them go.”
SUMMARY
Feb. 27, 2017
@ Western Brown High School
Division III Sectional Boys Basketball
Madeira 66, East Clinton 43
E 07.07.11.18…..43
M 13.17.18.18…..66
(43) EAST CLINTON (fg-3fg-ft-tp) Branson Smith 4-4-0-12, JT McCarren 3-0-0-6, Alex Pence 2-0-0-4, Dylan Peterman 1-1-0-3, Wyatt Floyd 3-1-1-8, Gunner Neanover 1-1-0-3, Logan Kelly 0-0-1-1, Matt Mitchell 1-1-0-3, Aiden Henson 1-1-0-3. TOTALS 16-9-2-43.
(66) MADEIRA (fg-3fg-ft-tp) Mark Manfredi 3-0-0-6, Adam Wieczorek 5-1-4-15, Eric Hoeffel 2-2-0-6, Kyle Johnson 4-0-3-11, Cameron Finke 0-0-1-1, Pete Bishop 1-0-0-2, Sam Solinski 3-0-0-6, Steven Noung 1-0-0-2, James Lytle 1-0-1-3, Jack Cravaack 7-0-0-14. TOTALS 27-3-9-66.
FIELD GOALS: EC 16/42 (Smith 4/8, McCarren 3/4); M 27/52 (Cravaack 7/9, Wieczorek 5/9, Johnson 4/7)
3 POINT FIELD GOALS: 9/26 (Smith 4/8); M 3/12 (Hoeffel 2/4)
FREE THROWS: 2/5; M 9/13 (Wieczorek 4/6, Johnson 3/3)
TURNOVERS: EC 12; M 3
