ADAMS TOWNSHIP – Clinton-Massie closed out an undefeated home slate with a 53-49 Senior Night victory over a feisty Batavia squad in SBAAC American Division basketball.
The Bulldogs (6-14, 1-8) led most of the night until Massie (15-3, 8-1) reeled off five straight points with 2:27 left in the game and took the lead for good.
“It was win, and it was an ugly win, but we’ll take it,” CM head coach Todd Cook said. “Batavia is a team you take for granted because of its record, but they work hard. They can hit some shots from the outside. They have no size on the inside right now, but they do a good job.
“We came out slow. That sometimes happens with the (Senior Night) festivities. We never really did get in the swing of things too much. Once we started creating some turnovers, we got a little bit better. We had some shots early but didn’t knock them down. Overall, it was a good win for us.”
Zach Chowning buried a three and Brendan Lamb turned a Daulton Wolfe steal into two more to put Massie up 50-45 with 46 seconds left in the game.
After a Batavia put-back with 31 seconds left, Massie went to the line but missed the front end of a one-and-one. Wolfe was there for the rebound. Batavia quickly fouled him and he made both ends of the one-and-one.
Massie missed another one-and-one with 19.1 seconds left. The Bulldogs pulled down the rebound, got fouled and went to the line where they nailed a pair of free throws to make it 52-49.
Batavia stole the inbounds pass and had a chance to at least tie, but went for two and missed.
Senior Drew Settlemyre yanked down the rebound, got fouled, went to the line and hit the first of the double-bonus to seal the game.
“This is a special group of kids who accomplished some good things,” Cook said about his six seniors. “They’re great athletes. They work hard.”
Settlemyre and classmate Griffin Laake led all scorers with 16 points each.
“That’s what they did at Goshen Tuesday night,” Cook said about Settlemyre and Laake. “With the absence of Thomas (Myers) inside, they said everyone needs to step up. We don’t need 18 points out of one person. And Griffin and Drew really put the team on their shoulders at Goshen. Those two came out and played determined tonight.”
Jason Griffin and Austin Hart led the Bulldogs with eight points each.
Massie’s JV squad won 45-33 behind Austin Faucett’s 18 points. Canaan Sheets had seven points for Batavia.
SUMMARY
February 8, 2019
@Lebanon Road gym
Clinton-Massie 53 Batavia 49
BA 13.07.17.12…..49
CM 12.10.13.18…..53
(49) BATAVIA (fg-ft-tp) Watson 2-0-5, Griffin 4-0-8, Evans 2-0-6, Hart 4-0-8, Witt 3-0-6, Richardson 3-0-7, Applegate 0-4-4, Wiscomb 0-2-2, Heckard 0-0-0, Berger 1-0-3. Total 19-6-49. 3-point goals: 5 (Evans 2, Watson, Richardson, Berger). FTM-FTA 6-15, 40 percent.
(53) CLINTON-MASSIE (fg-ft-tp) Wolfe 2-3-8, Chowning 4-0-10, Laake 6-2-16, Voss 0-0-0, Settlemyre 7-1-16, Lamb 1-1-3, Faucett 0-0-0, Olberding 0-0-0, Baker 0-0-0. Total 20-7-53. 3-point goals: 6 (Laake 2, Chowning 2, Settlemyre, Wolfe). FTM-FTA 7-12, 58 percent.
