Derrick Webb

Derrick is SOSA's chief content coordinator and has worked for the Chillicothe Gazette, the Portsmouth Daily Times and Eleven Warriors. He's a 15-time award-winning journalist, a self-proclaimed baseball purist, a suffering Bengals fan and has never met a stranger.

Etienne’s buzzer-beater lifts Lynchburg to win at McClain

The Mustangs even their record at 5-5.

Derrick Webb, Staff Writer

Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by OhioHealth.

GREENFIELD — There wasn’t exact science to the final play of Wednesday’s matchup between Lynchburg-Clay and McClain.

Lynchburg-Clay’s Jade Massey led the Mustangs in scoring with 17 points on Wednesday.
CREDIT: *Derrick Webb/SOSA*

Instead, according to Mustangs guard Macy Etienne, the ball “just went in” the basket.

With the game tied at 40-40 in the waning seconds and overtime looking like it was all but a sure thing, Etienne gathered a rebound near the free throw line and threw up a prayer.

That prayer was answered as time ran out just before Lynchburg celebrated a gritty road win in dramatic fashion.

“McClain is a physical team and they always battle. We talked about that in practice yesterday and even today,” Lynchburg-Clay coach Whitney Lewis said. “We wanted to come in here and make sure our mind was right for that physicality. We did a really great job of adapting to that as the game went on. We battled through it and the shots fell when they needed to.”

While Etienne played the hero role, teammate Jade Massey paced the Mustangs (5-5) offensively all night long.

The junior shot out of the gates with seven points in the first quarter before ending the night with a game-high 17. She set the pace early and continued to score in critical moments down the stretch.

“I look to drive more than I do to shoot,” Massey said. “When the ball goes in, it makes it a lot easier for me. If I miss, my head isn’t in it. But if it goes in, like it was tonight, it’s so much easier.”

Tale of the tape

Massey scored her first bucket of the evening with 4:14 left in the first quarter, which followed a game-opening 3 from Etienne to put the Mustangs ahead 5-2.

Bry Price and Ella Barry then added baskets for a 9-2 advantage before Massey scored twice more, including a 3-pointer, to put the Mustangs ahead 14-5 after the opening eight minutes.

Etienne made it a 16-5 game with a jumper at the 7:09 mark in the second before Price scored with 5:51 remaining to put LC ahead 18-9.

However, that’s when McClain (3-6) began to figure things out.

PHOTOS: Images from Lynchburg-Clay’s win over McClain

Behind buckets from Kaitlyn Jett and Luca Matesic, as well as a pair of free throws from Payton Pryor, the Tigers went on a half-ending 7-0 run to grab momentum and cut the deficit to 18-16.

“We had some foul trouble early in the first half and had two of our starters on the bench with two fouls, but we were able to battle through that,” Lewis said. “We had a really great first quarter and then, offensively, kind of came out of that in the second. But like I said, we fought through it and made the shots when we needed to.”

In the third, after Massey scored to make it 20-17, McClain’s Haylee Havens got a putback to fall before Pryor scored at the 4:34 mark to give the Tigers their first lead of the night at 21-20.

Lynchburg, however, had an answer.

Massey logged another bucket with 3:46 left before Etienne dialed long distance at the 3:03 mark to make it a 25-21 advantage. Price then scored with 2:06 left, which was followed by a pair of free throws from Addison West, to cap a 9-0 run and put the Mustangs ahead 29-21.

But McClain still wasn’t finished pestering LC’s defense.

After cutting the deficit to 29-25 after three quarters, Jett and Lilly Barnes paired up to force a 29-29 tie. McClain then took back the lead at 31-29 with a pair of freebies from Matesic.

Later, with 2:55 to go, the Tigers went ahead 38-35. That advantage lasted until the 2:03 mark when Massey tied the game with a putback bucket.

Down the stretch, Massey and Havens traded fastbreak buckets to make it a 40-40 tally. But the Mustangs had the ball last and, after two attempts ricocheted off the rim, the ball fell to Etienne and she did the rest, sending the Mustangs home with a victory.

“I saw Bry [Price under the basket] and she was struggling a bit [after an offensive rebound],” Etienne said. “I said, ‘Bry,’ and she threw it to me. I didn’t really even have it in my hands. I just kind of threw it up and it went in.”

Stat book

Massey led all scorers with 17 points alongside seven rebounds while Etienne added 10 points , four rebounds and four assists. Price also helped out, ending the evening with nine points and a team-high 10 rebounds.

“That’s what’s neat about our team, anybody can step up and score for us at any time,” Lewis said. “Any role that we need, somebody is going to step up and fill that. We really showed that tonight. We were really aggressive on the defensive side of the basketball as well, which helped a ton.”

For the Tigers, Pryor led the way with 12 points, nine boards and two assists. Jett followed with eight points while Havens added seven of her own.

What’s on tap

Both teams will now be out of commission until after Christmas. McClain returns to action on Dec. 28, hosting Adena, while the Mustangs host Vinton County that same evening.

“It’s a huge win for these girls at the buzzer and huge for momentum heading into the break. I think I saw them jump as high as I have all season long after that buzzer-beater,” Lewis said, with a smile. “This will definitely be on the highlight film later on.”

BOX SCORE

Lynchburg-Clay: 14-4-11-13 — 42

McClain: 5-11-9-15 — 40

Lynchburg-Clay: 17-44 FG, 5-8 FT, 3-12 3pt., 29 rebounds (Price 10), 20 turnovers, 8 assists (Etienne 4). Scoring: Massey 17, Etienne 10, Price 9, West 4, Barry 2.

McClain: 14-40 FG, 10-14 FT, 2-11 3pt., 18 rebounds (Pryor 9), 19 turnovers, 5 assists (Pryor 2). Scoring: Pryor 12, Jett 8, Havens 7, Barnes 6, Matesic 4, Eikenberry 3.