If defense wins championships, the McDonald County High School boys basketball team showed it was a championship-caliber team in a 66-23 win over Seneca on Jan. 15 at MCHS.
McDonald County scored the game's first five points and never trailed. The Mustangs led 16-2 at the end of the first quarter and stretched the lead to 23-2 early in the second quarter before Seneca scored its second basket of the game.
McDonald County led 36-13 at halftime. Seneca cut the lead to 40-20 midway through the third quarter, but McDonald County scored the final 18 points of the third quarter for a 58-20 lead at the end of the period.
"We finally got two in a row," said coach Brandon Joines. "It is very rare when we get a game where we kind of get a chance to enjoy the moment. Tonight we got to enjoy the moment. Homecoming night and got a clean sweep against Seneca -- a conference rival and a neighboring school district. It just feels good. Tonight was a team effort. When I got to get some of the bench cleared, it just felt good. They stepped right in and had no problem. Hopefully, we can keep rolling because the next one is a big game in the conference. I couldn't be more proud of the defensive effort. Everything started at that end of the court because once that kept happening and we held them to two points for a quarter and half, it was a fun game to play."
Eli McClain led the 11 players who scored for McDonald County with 14 points. Pierce Harmon added 11 points, followed by Teddy Reedybacon and Sterling Woods with eight points each, Dalton McClain seven, Cross Dowd five, Irael Marcos four, Cole Martin three and Garrett Gricks, Jackson Clarkson and Weston Gordon two each.
McDonald County added a 52-43 win in the junior varsity game behind 14 points from Dalton McClain. Rounding out the scoring for the Mustangs were Colton Ruddick with eight points, Destyn Dowd with seven, Isaac Behm five, Devin Swanson, Josh Pacheco and Levi Malone four each and Jaxson Harrell, Toby Moore and Weston Gordon two each.
The McDonald county freshman made it a clean sweep with a 57-28 win. Scoring was unavailable.
McDonald County improved to 4-9 for the season by winning its second consecutive game and the third out of its last four.
The Mustangs next travel to Lamar on Sept. 21.
Prior to the game, Tyler Sprenkle and Rylee Bradley were crowned king and queen of the Mustangs' 2021 basketball homecoming.
Providence Academy
Trailing Providence Academy 44-40 early in the third quarter, McDonald County went on an 11-0 run to take a 51-44 lead, a lead it would not relinquish on the way to a 78-68 win on Jan. 12 at MCHS.
Providence took a 19-16 lead at the end of the first quarter on Corban Mora's thunderous dunk to beat the buzzer.
McDonald County battled back in the second quarter to take its first lead midway through the period since scoring the opening basket of the game on Reedybacon's short jumper that made the score 26-24.
McDonald County led 35-31 late in the quarter before the Patriots scored the final four points of the period to tie the game at 35-35 at halftime.
McDonald County led 62-53 after three quarters, but Providence closed to 69-65 midway through the period before a pair of free throws by Reedybacon and a steal and layup by Woods sealed the McDonald County win.
"The first half we started out a little different than we normally would," Joines said. "We had some good moments, but we needed a spark and when we changed things up, we got that spark. Eli McClain again had an outstanding performance up top on defense. He did a good job on offense passing the ball and took smart shots. He was all over the place. That's what we need. He is a guy that can be an energy spark who generates things for us and it doesn't have to be scoring. His defense and energy and effort are what we need. Sterling Woods also played an outstanding game on both ends of the floor. It was a great team win."
Woods finished with a career-high 19 points to lead McDonald county. Reedybacon added 18 points, and McClain was the third Mustang in double figures with 10 points. Harmon added nine points, followed by Gricks with eight, Cross Dowd and Martin six each and Clarkson two.
Providence avoided a sweep with a 58-54 win in the junior varsity game.
McDonald County was led by Destyn Dowd with 29 points. Rounding out the scoring for the Mustangs were Ruddick with six points, Behm and Moore four each, Dalton McClain, Harrell and Gordon three each, and Pacheco two.
