Springfield cruises over Mineral Ridge

February 2, 2019 at 12:06a.m.

after hot-shooting start at home

NEW MIDDLETOWN

The Springfield boys basketball team needed overtime before securing an 88-84 road win over Mineral Ridge on Jan. 5.

After jumping out to a 17-0 lead against the Rams on Friday night, the Tigers all but guaranteed that their second meeting wouldn’t need an extra session.

Drew Clark scored a game-high 20 points, Shane Eynon added 19 and Clay Medvec 16 to pace Springfield to a 72-49 win over Mineral Ridge in the Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference.

“We held them to 14 points in the first half so at halftime, coach [Steve] French told us to just keep playing tough defense,” Clark said. “Our last game against Western Reserve, we came out in the third period and turned the ball over three times on our first four possessions. We didn’t want a repeat of that tonight.

“There’s still a long way to go, but the goal has always been to win our league and then be ready for tournament play.”

Two 3-pointers each by Medvec and Clark in the opening period staked the Tigers (14-2, 10-2) to the early 17-0 advantage as they built a 21-2 lead after the first eight minutes of action.

Both Medvec and Clark nailed four buckets from beyond the arc.

“Our game plan was to play tough defense and stop their good shooters,” Medvec said. “We shot really well to start the game, made our shots and that helped to set the tone of the game.”

Buckets by Koby and Jordan Zupko, and Triston Weiss to open the second period cut the Rams’ (11-8, 8-6) deficit to 21-8, but a 7-0 run by the Tigers opened a 28-8 margin. It was 35-14 at the break.

“We’re an effort-based team. If it’s there, then we’re a confident group but if it’s not there then it’s not so good,” French said. “Getting out to the early lead like we did tonight really helped us. We have great offensive balance with Drew, Shane and Clay. When you add other guys who contribute eight, 10 and 12 points, then that’s a pretty good combination.

“The 3’s by Clay and Drew tonight opened up the inside for Shane and he had an excellent game inside for us tonight.”

Triples by Medvec and Clark staked Springfield to a 45-20 lead a little over three minutes into the second half, but a triple by Koby Zupko helped the Rams close on a 13-12 run to cut the Tigers’ lead to 59-33 with eight minutes remaining.

Eynon scored six of his 19 points in the period.

“They have some excellent defenders, but tonight I felt like I was the bigger body inside,” Eynon said. “It’s easy for me inside when you have good shooters around you. Our loss to Sebring was a wake-up call and we know that we cannot afford to slip up the rest of the way. We cannot afford any more losses.”

Six points by Joe Rozzi and four each from Koby Zupko and Weiss in the final session helped the Rams outscore the Tigers 16-13, but it was too little, too late as Springfield improved to 7-1 at home.

Mineral Ridge fell for the third straight outing.

“We came out flat in the first half and didn’t match their intensity,” Rams head coach Steven Hughes said. “Coach French’s teams are always fundamentally sound and in the right place.

“We have three games left and have to get through them. We’ll use them as a springboard to prepare for tournament play.”

Koby Zupko led Mineral Ridge with 15 points and Joe Rozzi had 11.