Eynon’s big night leads Springfield past Mineral Ridge

Senior comes up big in overtime for Springfield

By BOB ETTINGER

sports@vindy.com

MINERAL RIDGE

Springfield senior Shane Eynon knew the moment and what the Tigers needed, so he handed it to them in an 88-84 victory over Mineral Ridge on the road in Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference action on Friday night.

“I’m the only senior,” Eynon said. “I feel like I have to have a leadership role. If the team is having an off night I try and carry the team and if I’m having an off night, the team carries me. We have to have each other’s backs.”

Eynon scored on a putback, knocked down a free throw and fought for rebounds in the midst of an 8-0 spurt early in overtime as the Tigers (9-0, 5-0) pulled away for an 85-77 lead with 1:05 remaining in the extra period.

Eynon finished with a career-high 32 points.

“After the first half, I just kept going,” Eynon said. “Thirty-two is a lot for me.”

That performance was exactly what Springfield needed.

“(Eynon) is our only senior,” French said. “He really stepped up. I think that’s the best game I’ve seen him play in the two years I’ve been here. He really stepped up tonight when we needed him.”

The Rams (6-3, 2-3) cut the deficit to three, 85-82, with 8.2 seconds left on a 3-pointer from Oscar Governor and again, 87-84, on two Jordan Zupko free throws, with 3.6 seconds to play, but each time the Tigers made a free throw to keep Mineral Ridge at bay.

“It’s hard (to get so close and have to foul),” Mineral Ridge coach Stephen Hughes said. “If you’re playing that hard, you want to see things go a certain way. When the other teams hits it foul shots, it’s hard, but the kids fought the entire game. From the opening tip to the final horn in overtime, the kids played their butts off.”

Eynon’s putback had given Springfield a 72-66 lead with 3:22 to play in regulation, but Zupko scored five straight points as the Rams went on a 9-0 stretch to go up, 75-72, with 1:13 remaining in regulation.

“I don’t think it was anything we did well or anything Springfield did wrong,” Hughes said. “We stepped it up on defense and got a couple of steals. We weren’t able to do that in the first half and it was frustrating. It was nice when we started to do that. The opportunities were there and we got some and ones.”

Drew Clark’s triple knotted the score, 75-75, with 1:01 left in the fourth, where it stayed until the extra period.

“We didn’t panic,” French said. “Emotionally, we kind of outlasted them. We stayed together and played under control. Shane Eynon had a lot to do with that. We did enough to pull it out in the end.”

Clark netted 24 points and Evan Ohlin had 23 for the Tigers.

Zupko led the Rams with 23 points and Governor and Dakota Ragazzine each chipped in with 22.