by JOHN HOWLEY / sportingpumpkin.com
WILLIAMSPORT — Amanda-Clearcreek bounced back from an eight-point deficit in the third quarter to beat host Westfall 66-57 Tuesday night.
Clayton Rhyne led the way with a game-high 27 — 12 coming in the latter part of the third after the Mustangs had gone up eight. By the end of the third, the Aces were back on top 48-45.
“He started to play more within himself in the second half,” AC coach Jamie Justus said. “The first quarter I felt he was pressing little bit just trying to do a little too much at times, then once he settled down the other players fed off that, too.
“After that it was pretty balanced scoring. We got contributions from Cade Young, Peyton Cassley had big buckets down the stretch, Tayvon Miller hit a big three, Nate Hunter chipped in some points, it was Tucker Shamblin’s first varsity action and I think he chipped in 10 points off the bench. It was a collective effort from the guys.”
A fairly even first quarter ended with the Aces up 14-12 and the game was tied at the half 28-28.
Young had 11 for the Aces while Shamblin put in 10 and Miller and Cassley each had six.
Casey Cline had a big second half for the Mustangs scoring 17 of his team-high 22 after the break. Trevor Wolfe, Ashton Nunemaker and Seth Gifford each had seven for Westfall.
The Aces had a big advantage in the rebounding battle grabbing 42 to Westfall’s 20.
“We’ve got some size and we’re physical. We take great pride in the weight room. We talked about that before the game that we had to make it a physical basketball game and we had to dominate the offensive and defensive boards,” Justus said.
Rhyne led the Aces with 10 rebounds and Young had eight.
Cline led the Mustangs with seven rebounds.
The Aces return to action Saturday night hosting Liberty Union. The Mustangs return to the hardwood on the 10th hosting Southeastern.
Justus said Tuesday’s win will be a big help as the Aces begin league play.
“It’s a big confidence booster because we’ve got some experience back, but we’ve got some young guys and some new guys,” he said. “Johnnie Weaver, for instance, is a new player this year and came in and gave us some great energy off the bench. I saw a lot of good things, a lot of positive and some things we’ve got to clean up.
“They’ve got some of the best guard play we’ll probably see all season and it’s a good test for the style of play we’re going to see in our league. That’s a very well coached basketball team we beat tonight and I’m very proud of the guys.”
Westfall was a 36-27 winner in the JV game.
Brydan Gall led the Mustangs with 14 points. Holbrook had 14 as well, to lead the Aces.
Amanda-Clearcreek 66, Westfall 57
Amanda-Clearcreek — Clayton Rhyne 9-8-27, Johnnie Weaver 0-2-2, Tucker Shamblin 4-0-10, Tayvon Miller 2-1-6, Hunter Matheny 1-2-4, Peyton Cassley 2-2-6, Cade Young 5-1-11. Three-point goals — Rhyne, Shamblin (2), Miller. Total — 23-47 16-21 66.
Westfall — Casey Cline 10-1-22, Blaec Bugher 1-0-3, Brody Clark 2-0-5, Trevor Wolfe 3-0-7, Ashton Nunemaker 2-1-7, Tyler Shipley 3-0-6, Seth Gifford 3-1-7. Three-point goals — Cline, Bugher, Clark, Wolfe, Nunemaker (2). Total — 24-60 3-9 57.
Quarter scores 1 2 3 4 F
Amanda-Clearcreek 14 14 20 18 66
Westfall 12 16 17 12 57
