by JOHN HOWLEY / sportingpumpkin.com
AMANDA — Logan Elm turned the tide of the ballgame over a six-minute stretch in the second half to grab a 43-35 win at Amanda-Clearcreek Tuesday night.
The Aces were up 20-19 at halftime and extended the lead to 27-22 three minutes into the third.
The Braves made their comeback from outside the arc as Ne’miah Waugh, Brody Sabine and Tyler Speas each sunk a three to put the Braves up 31-27 entering the fourth.
The final period started in a similar fashion to how the third ended with Carson Summers and Speas each knocking downs threes to give LE a 37-27 lead.
“We were struggling offensively to get going,” LE coach Nate Dropsey said. “Finally, during that stretch, I feel like Ne’miah got more aggressive offensively. Brody Sabine played with a lot of confidence, especially during that stretch.
“Tyler Speas stepped up and made a three from the corner. Once we see it go in, that helps us.”
Brody Elder finally stopped the Braves run when he hit two free throws with 6:18 left.
Sabine answered with an LE basket, which was matched by Elder and Sabine hit again to keep LE up 10 with five minutes to go.
AC’s Colton Westhoven and Maddox Cupp each scored to make it a six-point game with 2:43 left, but those were the final buckets for the Aces.
The Braves final points came on a pair of free throws from Summers with eight seconds left.
“They’re a very well-coached and very disciplined basketball team. They went on a run there and we weren’t able to weather the storm,” AC coach Jamie Justus said. “Defensively, it was the attention to detail.”
Waugh came into the game averaging 15.4 points per game but was held to seven by the Aces.
“Amanda did a great job on Ne’miah. I felt like they really made it hard on him,” Dropsey said. “They did a great job of jabbing early, making sure they were in help and had guys willing to take charges.
“We had guys like Tyler and Brody step up and made a couple threes and Carson Summers had a three as well. I thought Cam Redd did a really good job in the first half of going to the boards, getting some second chance opportunities and finishing a couple layups in there.”
Sabine was the Braves’ leading scorer with 15 points while Summers had nine and Speas had eight.
Westhoven led the Aces (1-17, 0-10) with 10, Taylon Conrad had nine and Cupp and Elder each had seven.
“The effort, for the most part, was great. It was much better than the first time we played them,” Justus said, alluding to a 50-22 loss. “I’m proud of the guys. They worked their butts off tonight and that’s all we can ask for.”
The Braves (7-10, 4-6) have now won three straight with Bloom-Carroll on the schedule for Saturday.
“These last four games – we dropped a tough one with 12 seconds left to Hamilton Township and then we’ve got on a little bit of a run here against (Chillicothe), obviously against Circleville and now Amanda,” Dropsey said. “We’ve got a big one Saturday with Bloom. We talk about trying to get better every single day and every practice leading up to that. Bloom-Carroll is a really nice basketball team, and we feel like our guys are going to come in and compete as hard as they can.”
Logan Elm 30, Circleville 28
Logan Elm — Camden Redd 2-0-4, Tyler Speas 3-0-8, Carson Summers 3-2-9, Brody Sabine 6-1-15, Ne’miah Waugh 2-2-7. Three-point goals — Speas (2), Summers, Sabine (2), Waugh. Total — 16-45 5-6 43.
Amanda-Clearcreek — Taylon Conrad 3-1-9, Colton Westhoven 4-2-10, Nick Holland 1-0-2, Maddox Cupp 2-3-7, Brody Elder 2-2-7. Three-point goals — Conrad (2), Elder. Total — 12-8-35.
Quarter scores 1 2 3 4 F
Logan Elm 11 8 12 12 43
Amanda-Clearcreek 15 5 7 8 35
