McClintic's 31, fast offensive pace leads SW past Minford, 68-58

5 days ago 2

SOUTH WEBSTER — Friday evening's SOC III opener between the South Webster Jeeps and the Minford Falcons boys basketball programs at South Webster High School had terrific energy well before tip-off.

After all, the festivities in between the junior varsity and varsity basketball contests honored South Webster's 2006 OHSAA Division IV State Championship team — a wonderfully assembled celebration that had a wholesome feel to it in front of a near capacity crowd between two conference rivals.

When the celebration was finished, however, it was a familiar name that proceeded to tear it up — and make one of South Webster's most dedicated sports families proud.

Brycin McClintic, the nephew of 2005-06 state championship player and current South Webster head baseball coach Ryan McClintic, was, as the kids say, 'on a heater' from the word go as the senior scored 10 of the Jeeps' first 12 points and ultimately ripped the cords for a career-high 31 points in South Webster's 68-58 victory over the Minford Falcons' boys basketball program, moving South Webster to 7-1 to complete what was an excellent celebration of basketball on the Jeeps side.

For Norm Persin, starting off 1-0 in SOC III competition and meeting the challenge against a Minford program that continues to play better than its record indicates was pleasing.

"Anytime we play an SOC contest, defend home court, and get a win, it's big," Persin said. "It's been a huge rivalry contest between us and Minford over the last couple of years, vying for the championship and everything. They had a great tournament run last year, and we did as well. It's become a really good game, and it was a good game tonight."

Getting going after knocking down a pair of technical free throws to begin the game, McClintic ultimately fired on all cylinders from the outset, scoring 10 points inside the first three-and-a-half minutes of the contest as the senior set the tone by getting to his spots precisely and decisively.

With 3:44 remaining in the opening quarter, McClintic's 10 points and four straight tallies from fellow senior Cole Bennett had South Webster ahead by a 16-5 margin. McClintic ultimately added in a three-pointer as the guard finished with 13 of his 31 points in the opening frame to help the Jeeps take a 23-14 advantage to begin the game.

"Brycin was exceptional," Persin said. "When he got the technical free throws to begin the game, and hit them both, that gave him some confidence and got him going."

Minford, however, proved to be pesky. Despite South Webster leading by as many as 13 in the first quarter and 12 (33-21) late in the second, the guard play of Ashton Reeder and Colby Mullins kept the Falcons hanging around.

Reeder, who finished with a team-high 15 points, scored 10 of those in the opening half while Mullins scored six of his 12 tallies in the second quarter of action as the duo combined to hit four first half three-pointers. Reeder scored five straight points to end the half as Minford cut the South Webster lead down to a 35-29 margin at the halftime break.

"We were up and down a little bit with our things, but I have to give Minford credit — they shot the ball extremely well," Persin said. "It didn't matter what defense we were in, they were making shots. That kept them hanging around and we were able to make enough plays to hang in there."

On four separate occasions throughout the second half, Minford was able to cut the margin down to single digits, but at every stop, South Webster answered with precision, executing well and playing at a fast pace in both its transition game as well as in its halfcourt offense, particularly when weaving.

"What we're looking to do with that — we're not exactly looking to take time off of the clock," Persin said. "We're trying to score off of that action. It opens us lanes for our guards. We did a pretty good job with that."

Up by a 38-32 margin after a Colt Donahoe and-one, South Webster went on a 14-6 run that was spirited by McClintic and the hustle play of Hunter Barnard and Brayden Barnard. Hunter Barnard, who scored eight of his 10 points in the second half, hit two third quarter treys and proved to be a pest at different times defensively when Minford attempted to set up its halfcourt offense, while Brayden Barnard battled against a taller Falcon frontline that featured Donahoe and Wyatt Dyer.

Minford answered South Webster's 14-6 spurt with a 12-5 run of its own to cut the deficit to 57-50 after buckets by Donahoe and Dyer down low, but a 9-2 run by the Jeeps was again spearheaded by McClintic, who after hitting a third-quarter ending three-pointer to give South Webster a 55-43 advantage after three quarters of play, began the fourth by scoring inside, finding Caden Johnson on a kickout pass for a wide open three, and knocking down a pair of free throws.

Hunter Barnard then followed that sequence by scoring on a runout basket following an inbound pass, and Cole Bennett, who played well all game long in various areas while scoring all 10 of his points in the opening half of competition, found freshman Easton Large up ahead to put South Webster's lead to a 66-53 margin which proved to be too much for Minford to make up.

"Cole played extremely well tonight," Persin said. "He hit a three that got him going, made some great plays on both ends of the floor and played tough around the basket. He had a good game. Brayden Barnard was an animal for us on the glass. He really rebounded the ball well. And in every game that we play, Easton's going to get better. He's highly skilled as a freshman and he's still learning the game."

ADDITIONAL

Along with the contest, South Webster honored its 2006 OHSAA Division IV State Championship team. Members of the team included Nick Aldridge and Brigham Waginger who both played at Western Carolina, current South Webster baseball head coach Ryan McClintic, former South Webster boys basketball head coach and current South Webster Superintendent Marc Kreischer who was the head coach of the team, former South Webster assistant and head coach Brenton Cole, and former South Webster head coach and current South Webster assistant Ryan Fenton.

A full list of players in number order are below:

4 — Brad Howard

5 — Ivan Njunjic

10 — Jordan Lower

12 — Nick Bowman

13 — Brigham Waginger

21 — Zach Flinders

22 — Ryan McClintic

24 — Nick Aldridge

30 — Kyle Phipps

32 — Josh Campbell

40 — Ryan Fenton