WASHINGTON — On a very cold first Friday of 2017, the Washington Blue Lions welcomed the Clinton-Massie Falcons for an SCOL game to begin play in the new year.
The Blue Lions overcame a very cold-shooting first quarter and rally from an 11-point deficit to post a 46-45 victory.
Washington improves to 5-4 overall, 4-1 in the SCOL.
The Falcons fall to 1-8 overall, 0-5 in the league.
Washington was led in scoring by junior Evan Upthegrove with 13 points. He hit two of his team’s five three-point field goals.
Sophomore Dillon Steward scored nine (with one three-pointer), and seniors Jarett Patton and Griffin Shaw each scored eight. Shaw had two threes in the contest.
Falcons’ senior Nick Chowning was the game’s high scorer with 17 points. He hit three of Clinton-Massie four treys on the night and went 8 of 8 from the free throw line.
Senior Christopher Demler had nine points for the Falcons and sophomore Thomas Myers scored seven.
The shooting was off for both teams Friday.
Unofficially, the Blue Lions hit 17 of 54 shots for 31 percent.
Clinton-Massie was 14 of 44 for 32 percent.
The difference may have come down to turnovers as the Falcons had (again, unofficially) 17 to 8 for the Blue Lions.
“In the first quarter, we were 2 of 13,” Washington head coach Shannon Bartruff said. “Some of (low field goal shooting) had to do with their length. Some of that had to do with our shot selection at times. We missed a lot of layups throughout the game. I’ll have to watch the film. I don’t know if that was because they were contesting them and altering them, or because we were rushing (the shots).
“We took a few bad threes throughout the game,” Bartruff said. “If we just make one more pass, or attack a bad close-out, we could get our feet in the paint.
“We gutted this one out,” Bartruff said. “We got down early; we weren’t making many shots. A lot of times, when kids aren’t making shots, it affects their effort. But, we battled through it and kept competing.
“We just have to keep getting better,” Bartruff said. “On bad shooting nights, we have to be able to grind it out. Their record is deceptive. They have nice size, they have two or three kids that can handle the ball. They hurt us on the offense glass in the first half. I thought we did a little bit better job rebounding in the second half.”
Washington scored the first bucket of the game, that coming from Evan Upthegrove.
The Falcons then went on a 9-0 run thanks to a pair of threes from Chowning.
A three by Steward was answered by a two-point bucket by the Falcons, leaving the visitors with an 11-5 lead at the end of the first quarter.
The Falcons increased their lead to 17-6 with 5:28 to play in the first half.
Washington outscored Clinton-Massie 14-3 the remainder of the second quarter to tie the game at the half, 20-20.
The Falcons, who shot 72 percent from the foul line, sank four free throws to start the second half, taking a 24-20 lead.
Shaw hit a three and Steward had a steal and a bucket to give the Blue Lions a 25-24 lead.
Washington increased its lead to as many as eight points at 36-28.
A nifty 7-0 run by the Falcons cut the margin to 36-35 at the end of three quarters of play.
The Falcons took the lead with the first score of the fourth quarter.
Washington took a four-point lead, only to see Clinton-Massie tie the game, 40-40 with 5:15 to play.
Shaw hit a three and Chowning responded in kind, knotting the game at 43-43.
Another basket by the Falcons was followed by a basket by Shaw, tying the game, 45-45.
Kenny Upthegrove made one of two free throws with 25.9 seconds to play.
Shaw blocked a lay-up attempt, but the Falcons retained possession.
First the Falcons, then the Blue Lions turned the ball over, with Massie calling a time out with 13 seconds to play.
The Falcons did get a shot off, but it was no good, leaving the final, Washington 46, Clinton-Massie 45.
The Blue Lions are back in action this afternoon at home.
Washington’s j-v team will host Waverly’s j-v at 4 p.m. with the Blue Lion varsity team playing Dublin Jerome after that.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
W 5 15 16 10 — 46
C-M 11 9 15 10 — 45
WASHINGTON — Dillon Steward 3 (1)-0-9; Jarett Patton 3-2-8; Evan Upthegrove 2 (2)-3-13; Kory Proby 2-0-4; Kenny Upthegrove 1-1-3; Griffin Shaw 1 (2)-0-8; Blaise Tayese 0-0-0; Richard Burns Jr. 0-1-1. TOTALS — 12 (5)-7-46. Free throw shooting: 7 of 11 for 64 percent. Three-point field goals: E. Upthegrove, 2; Shaw, 2; Steward. Field goal shooting: 17 of 54 for 31 percent. Turnovers: 8.
CLINTON-MASSIE — Christopher Demler 3-3-9; Daulton Wolfe 0-0-0; Nick Chowning 0 (3)-8-17; Thomas Myers 3-1-7; Griffin Cook 0 (1)-0-3; Noah Greathouse 3-0-6; Bailey Leforge 1-1-3; Trey Uetrecht 0-0-0; Griffin Laake 0-0-0. TOTALS — 10 (4)-13-45. Free throw shooting: 13 of 18 for 72 percent. Three-point field goals: N. Chowning, 3; Cook. Field goal shooting: 14 of 44 for 32 percent. Turnovers: 17.
