Junior High Boys Basketball B-Team Moves Win Streak To Six Games With Victory Over Warriors (02/22/14)

(By Coach Jason Craig)

Clarion’s Junior High Boys Basketball B-Team traveled to Moniteau, to take on the Warriors on Friday, riding a 5 game winning streak. Just like many of our recent games, this was a battle from start to finish. The game would not be decided in regulation. It took an overtime period for the Bobcats to extend their streak to 6 games.

The game got off to a very fast start as both teams’ offenses were clicking and at the end of the period, the Warriors held a slim 10-9 lead. Jacob Burns and Drew Wrhen each had 4 points in the quarter. Archer Mills netted 4 points in the second quarter as Clarion outscored Moniteau 6-4 to take a narrow 15-14 lead into the break.

The second half began the same way as the first half, with a lot of scoring. Gavin Brinkley led the way in the third quarter with 7 points to help Clarion win the quarter 12-10. The Bobcats had a 27-24 point lead going in to the final quarter.  Moniteau battled back to win the fourth, 7-4 and tie the game at 31.

To overtime we went. The Warriors scored first and took a 2-point lead. Harrison Porter answered that with a free throw. Then, in the final seconds, Brinkley took a pass from Mills and made a short jump shot, with 3 seconds left in the game, to secure the 34-33 win.

We have played in several close games lately, but this was the most exciting one. Our boys showed a lot of growth and maturity, because they did not panic. I think I was more nervous than the players were. It is so important for them to keep winning these close games. It shows them that they are never out of a game and they need to keep battling. Not once did they get caught up in the moment, they just kept playing basketball.

I was very pleased with the way we were able to score today. We traditionally get off to slow starts. However, today we had the offense working and scored a season high 34 points….and we needed every one of them.

Gavin Brinkley exploded with a game high 12 points. Other scorers for Clarion were Mills with 9, Burns and Wrhen with 4, Conner Nichols and Clay McElravy with 2 points and Porter with 1.

For Moniteau, Hutchinson had 9, Hoffman 8, Fitzingo, Matthews and McFadden each had 4 while Nagy and Wallace netted 2 each.

Clarion improves to 6-3 on the season and hosts 3 games next week: Monday – Cranberry, Wednesday – Redbank Valley, Friday – Clarion-Limestone.

(Thanks to Coach Craig for this article. Keep plalying tough, guys!!!!)