WILMINGTON — The undefeated season continued Tuesday night for the Wilmington boys basketball team with a 63-27 victory over visiting Miami Trace in South Central Ohio League action at Fred Summers Court.
Wilmington is now 13-0 overall (9-0 in the SCOL) while the Panthers fall to 8-6 and 4-4 in conference action.
Jeffrey Mansfield was the Hurricane’s top scorer with 18 points, all coming in the final three quarters. He also pulled down six rebounds and had three steals.
WHS head coach Mike Noszka had plenty of praise for the sophomore, whom he called one of the hardest players in the gymnasium each day of the season.
“Jeffrey consistently is one of the top three players who gives it all in practice every single day. He just keeps getting better and I was glad to see his effort rewarded tonight,” said Noszka
Although sluggish at the start, Wilmington jumped out to a 12-5 first quarter lead. Chris Wolary keyed the Hurricane’s offense with six of the 12 points.
With a 21-4 margin in the second quarter, the Hurricane took 33-9 advantage into the locker room at intermission.
In the third quarter, an 18-7 run by Wilmington extended the lead to 51-16 going into the final period.
Although the score does not reflect it, Nozska also gave accolades to Miami Trace for causing his team some problems during the first half.
“They really made us grind it tonight and forced us to do things we should not be doing,” Noszka said. “I’m not pleased with the high number of turnovers … 20 is just unacceptable and we have to do a better job controlling the basketball. What we have to work on immediately is our offensive execution. It was lacking at times tonight.”
Wilmington dominated the boards, winning the rebounding battle, 40-16.
Jarron Cumberland had season-low 12 points for the Hurricane including a pair of thunder-dunks, pleasing to the WHS fans. He also pulled down eight rebounds, including six offensive boards.
Matt Creditt came off the bench to add nine points and eight rebounds, including four on the offensive glass.
Dylan Beaugard had a solid game with eight points, seven rebounds, five assists and three steals for the ‘Cane.
For Miami Trace, top scorer was Tyrae Pettiford with 10 points, followed by DeAndre Pettiford with six points.
“We just shot the ball poorly tonight,” Miami Trace head coach Rob Pittser said. “It was very bad in the first half (21 percent) and it did not get much better in the second half (24 percent). We were able to convert just one three-pointer in the first half and then committed too many fouls and put them (Wilmington) at the line. They hit their free throws, but we struggled (three of 11 attempts).”
Pittser said that he felt his team had to keep the spread at no more than 10 points to have any hopes of possibly winning, or keeping it within striking distance.
“We’re staring at a 20 point deficit by halftime. You can’t put yourself that far behind and expect to comeback, against a team as good as Wilmington. They’re so strong and so deep.
“It makes it tough to fall behind like we did and expect to have any chance of cutting that margin in the second half.”
The Panthers continue SCOL play when they host Hillsboro Friday with the freshman game starting at 4:45 p.m.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
MT 5 4 7 11 — 27
W 12 21 18 12 — 63
MIAMI TRACE (fg-3fg-ft-tp) D. Pettiford 2-1-1-6 T. Pettiford 4-0-2-10 Creamer 0-0-0-0 Leach 1-0-0-2 Pittser 1-1-0-3 Carter 0-0-0-0 McDonald 0-0-0-0 Herbert 0-0-0-0 Bryant 0-0-0-0 Batson 1-1-0-3 Card 1-1-0-3 Tyree 0-0-0-0 Connell 0-0-0-0. TOTALS 10-4-3-27. Field goal shooting: 3 of 11 for 27 percent. Three-point field goals: D. Pettiford, Pittser, Batson, Card. Combined field goal shooting: 10 of 46 for 21 percent. Three-point field goal shooting: 4 of 25 for 16 percent. Rebounds: 16 (5 offensive). Assists: 8. Steals: 8. Blocks: 1. Turnovers: 15.
WILMINGTON (fg-3fg-ft-tp) Stewart 0-0-4-4 Miller 0-0-0-0 Beaugard 3-0-2-8 Jar. Cumberland 5-1-1-12 Wolary 4-0-0-8 Morris 2-0-0-4 Gauche 0-0-0-0 Griffith 0-0-0-0 Wright 0-0-0-0 Smith 0-0-0-0 Creditt 3-1-2-8 Mansfield 7-0-4-18. TOTALS 24-2-13-63. Free throw shooting: 13 of 20 for 65 percent. Three-point field goals: Cumberland, Creditt. Combined field goal shooting: 24 of 45 for 53 percent. Three-point field goal shooting: 2 of 7 for 28 percent. Rebounds: 40 (11 offensive). Assists: 12. Steals: 8. Blocks: 3. Turnovers: 16.
