LEES CREEK — The East Clinton Astros welcomed the Washington Blue Lions for an SCOL match-up on a cold and flurry-filled Friday night.
Washington hit 10 three-point field goals and had five players in double figures in scoring as they beat the Astros, 69-55.
For the Blue Lions, sophomore Evan Upthegrove led with 15 points. He hit three three-pointers.
Senior Jarett Patton scored 14 (one three) and fellow seniors Kenny Upthegrove and Griffin Shaw each scored 13 points. Both players hit three threes.
Sophomore Richard Burns Jr. scored 10 points.
For the Astros, junior Wyatt Floyd was the game’s leading scorer with 23 points. He hit all three of his team’s three-point baskets.
Junior J.T. McCarren added 20 points.
In their post-game comments, neither head coach was pleased with his team’s defensive effort.
“We had two guys that we had to guard tonight, for the most part, Floyd and McCarren,” Bartruff said. “We didn’t do a very good job of that. (East Clinton) scored 55 points and (Floyd and McCarren) had 43 of those. We didn’t do a good job, in that sense.
“I didn’t feel like we played with much intensity,” Bartruff said. “We had some guys tonight, I felt like, who allowed situations in the game to dictate their effort. And that can’t happen. We have to be tougher than that.
“In transition, I thought we did some nice things,” Bartruff said. “We turned them over a few times. I thought, overall, our defensive effort just wasn’t what it needs to be.
“We have to get better, defensively,” Bartruff said.
“First of all, let me say that Shannon is a very good coach,” East Clinton head coach Tony Berlin said. “His kids play hard for him.
“He had five players in double figures tonight, which is even scoring,” Berlin said. “That shows that they share the ball well.
“I wasn’t too pleased with the way we played on the defensive end,” Berlin said. “We played Hillsboro Tuesday night and I was pretty pleased with the way our defense was going. We gave up 10 threes tonight. Our rotations were slow and, giving up 69 points, we’re not going to beat very many teams when we do that.
“We have to get better and work on our weaknesses and try to get them fixed,” Berlin said. “My kids do play hard, but, in the end, it’s all about the defense. We have to hold teams to around 50 points, but, we didn’t do that tonight.”
The lead changed hands three times in the early going.
The Astros led 7-6 with 4:20 to play in the first quarter. Unfortunately for East Clinton, they would trail the remainder of the ball game.
The Blue Lions led 14-9 at the end of one period of action.
With just under six minutes to play in the second quarter, the Astros pulled to within two points, 19-17.
They would come no closer on this night.
The Blue Lions led by 11 on back-to-back threes by Shaw, 30-19.
Floyd hit a three at the buzzer to cut Washington’s lead to 34-27 at the half.
Washington led by as many as 15 points in the third quarter. East Clinton got within seven points at one point in the third.
The Blue Lions’ lead fluctuated between 10 to 15 points as the teams continued the back-and-forth play in the fourth quarter. There were no serious runs for either side.
The Blue Lions (3-0 overall, 2-0 SCOL) are off tonight and host McClain Tuesday at 6 p.m.
East Clinton (2-2 overall, 1-1 SCOL) plays at Greeneview tonight and travels to Wilmington on Tuesday.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
W 14 20 18 17 — 69
EC 11 16 14 14 — 55
WASHINGTON — Dillon Steward 0-0-0; Jarett Patton 4 (1)-3-14; Evan Upthegrove 3 (3)-0-15; Kory Proby 2-0-4; Kenny Upthegrove 2 (3)-0-13; Griffin Shaw 2 (3)-0-13; Richard Burns Jr. 5-0-10. TOTALS — 18 (10)-3-69. Free throw shooting: 3 of 7 for 43 percent. Three-point field goals: E. Upthegrove, 3; K. Upthegrove, 3; Shaw, 3; Patton. Field goal shooting: 28 of 52 for 54 percent. Turnovers: 10.
EAST CLINTON — Brendon Jenkins 0-0-0; J.T. McCarren 10-0-20; Alex Pence 3-0-6; Zach Mitchell 0-0-0; Wyatt Floyd 3 (3)-8-23; Cameron Conner 3-0-6; Jacob Olds 0-0-0; Matt Mitchell 0-0-0. TOTALS — 19 (3)-8-55. Free throw shooting: 8 of 9 for 89 percent. Three-point field goals: Floyd, 3. Field goal shooting: 22 of 49 for 45 percent. Turnovers: 18.
Blue Lions win j-v game over Astros
The Washington Blue Lion j-v team picked up its first win of the season Friday, 47-32.
Washington’s Ross Matthews was the game’s leading scorer with 14 points. He hit two three-point field goals.
Miguel O’Flaherty scored 13 and Levi Ludwick scored 10, including two three-point buckets.
Eli Lynch had four points, Gabe Arazo scored three (a three-point field goal), Trevor Rarick had two and George Reno scored one.
For the Astros, Matt Mitchell led with nine points.
Zach Mitchell and Trenton Shoemaker both scored seven points (Mitchell had one three); Seth Garrison hit a three-point basket and a trio of players, Aidan Henson, Austin Arellano and Jaren Evans, each scored two.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
W 7 6 16 18 — 47
EC 10 13 5 4 — 32
