LEES CREEK – Hillsboro’s D.J. Brown and East Clinton’s Wyatt Floyd gave everybody their money’s worth when the Indians and Astros battled for their first South Central Ohio League win Friday.
Brown poured in 30 points to spoil Floyd’s 31-point effort and carry Hillsboro to a thrilling 66-61 victory.
The game was tied at 57 – the last of 10 ties – with 1:17 left. Hillsboro (1-2, 1-1) hit 9-of-10 free throws down the stretch to secure the victory.
The Astros (1-2, 0-2) pulled to within 62-61 on Floyd’s old-fashioned 3-point play with 15 seconds left in the game.
They had a chance to knot the game at 64 after Hillsboro’s Marshall Ward dropped in a pair of free throws 5 seconds later.
EC missed the front end of a 1-and-1 and Matthew Ryan scored the final 2 of his 15 points at the charity stripe to seal the victory.
“We gave up way too many points,” EC head coach Tony Berlin said. “We gave up another 17 offensive rebounds tonight. We gave up 20 points in the fourth quarter, which is unacceptable.
“These kids are adapting to a new coach. We’ll get there. The effort they’re giving me right now is great. They’re making strides.”
At the outset, it looked like it would be the D.J. Brown-Brian Barnes show. The first of the 10 ties came at 11-11 after Brown drained 3 of his 12 first quarter points. Barnes responded quickly with his 9th and 10th points of the quarter to retie the game. Brown’s final points of the quarter put Hillsboro up 20-18.
EC led 28-25 with 1:48 to go before the break. A Hillsboro 14-4 run gave the Indians a 39-32 advantage at the 5:40 mark of the third quarter. Barnes, who finished the game with 12 points, and Floyd combined to score the next seven points in 80 seconds to knot the game at 39-39.
In the JV game, Josh Keets scored 17 points to lead Hillsboro to a 48-42 victory. Cameron Conner had 16 for the Astros.
Hillsboro also took the freshman contest, 48-28, behind Mason Swayne’s 14 points. Zach Mitchell had 12 for the Astros.
SUMMARY
Dec 4, 2015
@East Clinton High School
Hillsboro 66 East Clinton 61
H 18.17.11.20…..66
E 20.12.16.13…..61
(66) HILLSBORO (fg-ft-tp)– Ward 2-2-6, Kibler 2-0-5, Brown 10-7-30, Mycroft 1-5-7, Ryan 5-3-15, Deatley 0-0-0, Reed 1-0-3, Anderson 0-0-0, Keets 0-0-0, Total 21-17-66. 3-point goals: 7 (Brown 3, Ryan 2, Kibler, Reed). FTM-FTA 17-23, 74 percent.
(61) EAST CLINTON (fg-ft-tp) D.J. Luttrell 1-0-2, Barnes 6-0-12, Jenkins 1-3-5, Blair 1-0-3, Floyd 12-5-31, Moskal 1-0-2, Mercer 0-0-0, P. Luttrell 0-0-0, Campbell 0-0-0, McCarren 0-2-2, Irvin 1-2-4, Total 23-12-61. 3-point goals: 3 (Floyd 2, Blair). FTM-FTA 12-15, 80 percent.
