EATON – One of many things that basketball players can practice on their own is the “Free Throw”, an undefended shot from fifteen feet that is subject only to self-imposed pressure and lack of good shooting mechanics. Eaton’s Eagles learned a lesson the hard way Tuesday night in their home gymnasium as they missed an almost incredible 22 foul shots, opening the door for a scrappy fourth-quarter comeback by Greenville’s Green Wave as the visitors claimed a 51-48 non-league victory.
The Eagles got off to a quick start as they connected on their first six attempts from the floor, scoring the first ten points of the game and eventually holding a 16-9 lead at the end of the first quarter. Greenville responded in the second stanza by switching to a 1-3-1 zone and pressuring Eaton into nine turnovers, allowing the Wave to score twelve straight points and take their first lead of the evening at 21-16.
The Eagles scored the final five tallies of the half, sending both teams to the locker rooms at intermission tied at 21-21. As a harbinger of things to come, neither squad had much success at the foul line as Eaton was 3 of 12 while the Wave were 2 of 8.
Greenville came back out in the third quarter playing man-to-man defense, which Eaton exploited by outscoring the Wave 15-6 to claim a 36-27 lead entering the final quarter. The Eagles were able to get to the basket multiple times, connecting on 4 of 8 from the field, including two three-pointers, while the Wave could convert only 2 of 10 from the floor. However, Eaton could only knock down five of fourteen from the “charity stripe,” allowing the Wave to stay within striking distance with one quarter left in regulation.
Reverting back to the pressure defense that worked so well in the second quarter, Greenville fought back to cut the deficit to 38-34 with 5:30 remaining on a David Conway layup, rocking Eaton back on their heels. Following a huge three-pointer by Junior Michael McMahon, Senior Johnny Barr came alive, dominating the boards at both ends of the court as the Wave took their first lead of the second half at 44-43 with 1:50 left.
Barr converted two free throws with 41 seconds showing to expand the lead to 46-43, later following up with a thunderous dunk to make it 48-43 at the :30 mark. McMahon made three clutch foul shots in the final 18 seconds to ice the come-from-behind win as the Wave improved to 2-6 on the season, somewhat making up for a heartbreaking loss a few days earlier to Fairborn.
McMahon led Coach Matt Hamilton’s Wave with 16 points (six in the final quarter), Barr finished with 14, including eleven in the final period, and Senior David Conway came off the bench for 10 with five in the last few minutes of the contest. McMahon and Barr both made three of four foul shots in the final two minutes to preserve the Wave’s lead.
Evan Seider, a 6’3” sophomore, paced the Eagles with 16 points as the Purple and Gold remained winless on the year through seven games.
Unofficially, Greenville was 17-44 from the field, 4 of 9 from beyond the arc, while Eaton was 16-32 and 6 of 14 from long distance. Both teams were evenly matched in other areas with the Wave winning the battle of the boards 24-22, committing 16 turnovers to the Eagles 17.
In an example of “charity begins at home,” Eaton presented the Wave with a late Christmas present as they made only 10 of 32 foul shots while the Green and White made clutch shots in the final minutes, ending with 11 of 22 for the night. Eaton entered the contest shooting only 40.9% from the foul line for the season and continued to most likely put gray hairs on the heads of the Eagles’ coaching staff.
In the earlier Junior Varsity game, Greenville fell behind 17-0 before rallying to trail by only 50-43 with a little over two minutes left in regulation before Eaton went on a 10-2 run to close out a 60-45 win. Sophomore Logan Inman paced the Wave attack with 23 points.
Greenville returns to action Friday night with a MVL encounter at Piqua, while Eaton entertains Middletown Madison the same evening in SWBL play.
BOX SCORE:
GREENVILLE 51, EATON 48
GREENVILLE – M. McMahon 16, J. Barr 14, D. Conway 10, G. Denham 4, L. Thorp 3, E. Flatter 2, I. Kerg 2 – TOTALS 14 11-22 4 51
EATON – E. Seider 16, N. Schmidt 9, G. Downs 7, C. Geoit 7, A Beachler 5, F. Jerdon 4 – TOTALS 8 10-33 8 48
3-POINTERS
Greenville 4 (M. McMahon 3, L. Thorp 1)
Eaton 6 (N. Schmidt 2, G. Downs 1, C. Geoit 1, A. Beachler 1, E. Seider 1)
SCORE by QUARTERS
09-12-06-24 51 Greenville
16-05-15-12 48 Eaton
