Who's the real Tigers? McClain vs. Waverly in Sectional dual

[GoIrish34]

No just listened and know the quality of coach VanMetre that he can take any type of player and make them winners. Waverly up 10 and couldn't pull it out.

[pmow3]

Great season Waverly. You guys will be a force next year. Good luck to Mcclain the rest of the way.

[Burg_Grad_77]

So, I take it that McClain won.

What was the score?

[GoIrish34]

McClain 42 Tigers 39

[Hitchbone64]

So, I take it that McClain won.

What was the score?

From another thread, it looks like the 42-39 win was in OT, with GM coming back from a 10 point deficit. My Waverly connections cannot be happy.

Congrats to GM and VanMetre. He figures out how to get it done.

[Burg_Grad_77]

Wow!

Very low scoring game.

33 all at the end of regulation and 42-39 final.

Sounds like a Burg game. lol

[smurray]

First of all let me start out by congratulating the Greenfield McClain Tigers for doing what they needed to do to win.

Another strange game for Waverly after jumping out to a 13-6 lead after one.
The orange and black come out in the 2nd quarter much like they did at Burg and only score 4 points but unlike at Burg Waverly was still ahead at the break 17-14.
A good 3rd quarter for Waverly saw them outscore McClain 12-5 to put them ahead 29-19 after 3 periods of play.

Then the 4th quarter that had Waverly fans scratching their heads.
The only way McClain was going to come back was by nailing threes and that's what Waverly let them do by sitting back in a zone. Their 3's were wide open as they nailed 3 in the period to aide the comeback. If that wasn't strange enough you have 6'7" Lundin sitting on the bench most of the quarter.

Waverly was still up 8 (32-25) with 4:01 to play but saw that lead evaporate and McClain took the lead at 33-32 with 1:32 to play in regulation. Roback tied it with 1:09 to play when he hit 1 of 2 from the line to set up a McClain last 2nd shot that missed. They actually got an offensive rebound for a 2nd chance but missed it as well.

OT was back and forth several lead changes in the last 2 minutes:
37-36 Waverly 1:51 (Martin 2-2)
38-37 McClain 1:20 (Polley 2-2)
39-38 Waverly .58 (Martin bucket)
40-39 McClain .35 (Detty 2-2)

Here's where it gets interesting and the officials take over the game.
The officiating had been pretty good all game but then they just took the game out of the players hands.
Martin drives the lane for Waverly, goes up for the shot and is mugged but no call.
Waverly is forced to foul and Detty hits 1-2 to put McClain up 41-39 with .09 seconds to play.
After Martin is called for double dribble on a questionable call Ralph hits 1-2 from the line with 2.4 seconds to play to put McClain up 42-39.
Waverly calls timeout to draw up one last shot.
Kretzer takes the ball from the official and passes it to Roback who is also out of bounds. Kretzer takes off down court and is hit by a perfect 3/4 court pass from Roback. Kretzer takes a couple dribbles and goes up for a buzzer beater from behind the arc and is mugged but no call once again. I realize he would have to step to the line and knock down all 3 foul shots but come on guys in stripes, let the kids decide this thing. The officials totally fell apart in the last few seconds.

We in Waverly all agree, the game shouldn't have been that close and we should have beat McClain in regulation but we didn't.

Polley lead McClain with 18 (3 treys - one in OT)
Detty added 10, Ralph 7 (2 treys in the 4th)
Beatty 3 (trey in the 4th)
Gregory 2
Matracia 2
McClain hit 6 FT's in OT

Waverly was lead by Martin with 17 (all 6 Tiger points in OT)
Roback added 12, Kretzer 5, Remy 3, Lundin 2
Waverly hit 2 FT's in OT

The orange & black need to keep their heads up, get in the weight room and gym in the off season to improve. This was a decent season with a young team but it could have been allot better. Work, work, work to get better.

[socman]

Congrats Waverly on a great season. You guys were streaky all season long and had some great highs as well as some low lows. You are very young and the SOC will be yours to lose next season. The Chillicothe win ranks up there with the Burg win a few seasons back as one of the top wins in school history. Congrats again!

[bookem13]

As said earlier, you have to give McClain credit for finding a way to win...but wow, this one definitely should have been ours for the taking. Waverly resorted to what we usually do offensively when somebody gets in our grill. We try to turn the game into a one-on-one take 'em contest, and that's not where we're effective. Greenfield pushed us, banged us, and played the kind of smash-mouth defense that has made Rick successful for decades (and also the way I love to see it played). They (GM) shot atrociously in the first half, and we should have buried them. Instead, we score 4 points in the second quarter, they hang around...shots start falling, and you know the D is still going to be there.

The exciting thing is this is still a very young group who I'm sure learned a lot last night. They need to get in the weight room! We have to be stronger with the basketball and start setting some screens with authority. All in all, it was a very entertaining season and I look forward to next year.

[toast]

Heart breaking loss last night for Waverly but all-in-all a very nice season. When the season began hardly anyone thought this team could win 13 games. They did and some very big wins at that! Next year holds a lot of promise and expectation will be higher as nearly all return.

For this group of kids even more important than practicing basketball will be spending time in the weight room and putting on muscle. We need to play stronger and more physical to be able to win the big games on a consistent bases.

Coach Robertson and his staff did a great job. Let's keep them around for a long time. Can't wait till next year!

[Crazy Legs]

sounds like the coach needs to work work work too.

[crazymidgets]

Ok well this game pretty much summed up the season, strange!
I think anyone who knows bball knew what Greenfield was gonna do pressure the wings to not allow entry passes into the post and guess what thats exactly what they did surprise nope. The surprise came in we had a 6'3 kid with a 5'11 kid denying the entry and we didnt set one high screen for martin so he could post up underneath that was just not good, as big of a height advantage Waverly had and ran no sets for it WOW. The only time Martin touched the ball was when he brought the ball up court what a shame, and likewise with Victor they didnt pound the ball down at all, even when he was in the game. Played right into Greenfields hands.
The game showed at times how good this team could play big leads and then it showed how out of whack the team could get in just a heartbeat. The 1-3-1 zone I hate it with a passion but it did throw them off for a couple of minutes but Vanmeter adjusted and before we could react he had the momentum swung back to Greenfield.
The officials what can you say about this crew we have had them for 4 games this yr and they just have an axe to grind with us, the mugging Martin took in the fourth quarter was uncalled for but we saw it in the piketon game they did also, when he was hit at halfcourt and almost knocked unconsious and no foul called.
They didnt cost us the game we had big leads and failed to close the door but these guys should never do another Waverly game, Martin did double dribble but he was hacked the whole length of the court should have been a foul called at halfcourt when he got knocked five feet but the bald ref I wont mention his name would not blow his whistle against Greenfield, 2 waverly players with position go up for a rebound a greenfield player comes flying in and he calls the foul on the Waverly player, Kretzer gets drilled knocked out of bounds no call, Kretzer catches a pass is standing there Greenfield player comes running in bumps him hard traveling on Waverly this guy has major issues with us, I believe he is the one who t'd up Travis earlier in the season when he was talkng to one of our players. One of the directives for this yr given to the Refs was to not allow handchecking well this group didnt get it. Ok I have vented on this crew whats done is done and now we have to support the other Pike County Schools.
To the players you gave 100% and Im proud of you, you played with class and passion look forward to watching you next year.

[mkhhg20]

Why hasn't Zollo been mentioned? Is he still at McClain?

[etta09]

You'll find out Thursday the the REAL Tigers are actually from Marietta.

[MoonTang]

Why hasn't Zollo been mentioned? Is he still at McClain?

Zollo is in Kentucky....somewhere around Florence, Ky.
Last I heard his stats didn't match what he had done at McClain.

Maybe another blogger can share more on him.
Or,
let's just forget about him....like McClain has.

[gymratt]

Was at this game and can I just say WOW. Whenn Waverly had about a 3 point lead around halftime, I leaned over to the person next to me and sai, "If Waverly starts taking advantage of their size or McClain starts making their shots, either one of them will pull away. Neither one is playing well on offense." Boy was I right...kinda. Waverly in the third quarter finally came to the realization that they had ALL the size and pushed the lead to around 13 at one point and finished the 3rd with a 10 point lead. I felt like they let off in the 4th and packed in their zone that they are known for and as soon as McClain started hitting shots and the pressure D started getting to the tigers, it was a game again.

McClain won with heart, hustle, and determination against a team that was clearly superior size and skill wise. That is the true signature of great kids. I will take will over skill any day of the week. IMO Waverly thought the game was over and started looking ahead and it cost them the game. Waverly was out hustled and out coached IMO. Congrats to both teams on a great game. One of the most entertaining games I've seen this season.

Play of the game:
Harrison Martin has the ball for Waverly and is being guarded tightly by a McClain Defender. He stutters left crosses right and dribbles behind his back to the left. The McClain defender falls to the ground in a heap with two broken ankles lol. Martin then goes left. Elevates over another McClain defender, who also falls down and makes then basket. I almost fell out of my seat I was laughing so hard. Looked like an And 1 mixtape tour play.

[hbk2016]

Who were the officials for this game?

[toast]

Neither team playing well on offense? To a large degree that was a result of the excellent defense being played by both teams. Greenfield is as good defensively as any team Waverly has played this year. And that's saying a lot. Waverly's not too shabby on defense themselves and played well also minus a couple of breakdowns. Few teams have put up big offensive numbers on them all season.

Waverly was not out coached. Sometimes game plans work and sometimes they don't. Waverly's game plan worked well for 3 quarters. Greenfield stepped up and hit some big shots in the 4th and hit several big foul shots late in the game.

The Waverly kids who come back gained a bunch of experience this season and from this game. They'll be ready to go next year!

[smurray]

hbk123,
Chad Jenkins, Doug Davis, Pinkerman (or something like that).
I can say Mr. Davis did a nice job.

[hbk2016]

Enough said on that crew. Have watched that go on all year.