Mustangs fall to Southeastern in sectional championship

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The Lynchburg-Clay Mustangs ended their tournament run in their first contest Friday night, taking a 3-point loss to the Southeastern Panthers in the Division III Sectional Championship at Waverly.

The Mustangs shot 4 for 7 from the freethrow line for 57 percent, while the Panthers made 13 of 14 for 93 percent.

Eric McLaughlin led the Lynchburg boys with 27 points.

After a brief Mustang lead in the first quarter, Southeastern jumped ahead, finishing out the first quarter ahead by 2 at 17-15. The Panthers kept the lead for the rest of the game. Giordano and Eric McLaughlin were LC’s sole scorers in the period with 8 and 7 points respectively.

Southeastern outscored the Mustangs by 2 points again in the second quarter, improving their lead to 4 points despite a hard-fought quarter from Lynchburg. Brian Lampkin led scoring for the Mustangs in the second quarter with 5 points, while Giordano made 4 and McLaughlin took a two.

By the half, the score was 30-26 with the Panthers ahead.

McLaughlin put up three 3-point shots for Lynchburg in the third quarter, leading scoring for both teams. Austin Hilt threw in another long three and Giordano made a 2-point shot for a 14-point Mustang gain in the period. Southeastern was able to put up 17 points for the quarter, though, widening the gap to a 7-point lead at 47-40.

The Panthers led by as many as 9 points near the beginning of the final quarter, although Lynchburg trimmed the lead to as little as 1 point later on. The Mustangs put up 22 points in the final period between McLaughlin, Giordano, Hilt, Lampkin and AJ Stroop, while keeping Southeastern at 18 points for the quarter – but it wasn’t enough for a comeback.

Southeastern drove home with a 3-point lead and a shot at the district semifinal with a final score of 65-62.

“They just ended up stretching the lead,” said Lynchburg-Clay head coach Matt Carson. “We had a couple dead possessions, and they held onto it there at the end. We knew coming in they were going to be a patient basketball team. We were able to bother them a little bit with our press early on, but it ended up that they made some adjustments, we tried to make some adjustments, and we just didn’t get a few shots to fall.”

Summary

Southeastern — 17 13 17 18 — 65

Lynchburg-Clay — 15 11 14 22 — 62

SHS: Bodary 7-3/4-17; Steele (1)-3; Hartman 1(3)4/4-15; Ruby 1-2/4-4; Smith 1(1)-5; Benson 4(3)-4/12-21

Totals: 14(8)-13/14-65

LCHS: McLaughlin 5(5)-2/2-27; Hilt 1(1)-5; Giordano 9-2/5-20; Lampkin 1(2)-8; Stroop 1-2

Totals: 13(8)-4/7-62

Reach David Wright at 937-402-2570, or on Twitter @DavidWrighter.

http://aimmedianetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/33/2017/02/web1_joeg-1.jpg

Joe Giordano tries a flying 2-pointer during Friday’s sectional championship matchup against Northeastern High School at Waverly.
http://aimmedianetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/33/2017/02/web1_joeg2-1.jpgJoe Giordano tries a flying 2-pointer during Friday’s sectional championship matchup against Northeastern High School at Waverly. David Wright | The Times-Gazette
Southeastern takes the win at 65-62 in tourney matchup

By David Wright

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