UNION CITY – The Mississinawa Valley Blackhawks won the battle of the Stateline downing the Union City Indians 57-36 in non-conference varsity boys basketball action with a starting lineup of one freshman and four sophomores.
“It all started last week in the Tri-Village game,” said first-year MV coach Jeff Vaughn. “I know the score didn’t reflect it, but I saw my guys start to grow up in that game. They carried it on through Saturday, and they grew up Saturday night. Covington at their place is a big win (54-44). Right now, it’s all mentality, telling these kids we must play hard every night regardless of who your opponent is, and they are growing up.”
The Blackhawks bolted out to an early 11-2 lead midway through the opening quarter and coasted to a 16-12 lead with one period in the book.
Mississinawa Valley sophomore Cing Scott led the Hawks with ten second-quarter points, including his second triple of the first half to push the MV’s lead to 30-22 at the break.
A Scott reverse layup at 7:08 in the third quarter gave Mississinawa Valley a double-digit 32-22 advantage, followed by a Scott layup off a fast break at 6:21, upping the home team’s lead to 34-22.
The Hawks took the third 17-8, with Scott scoring five baskets for 10 points, sending the game to the final period, with MV leading 47-30.
“We executed well,” Coach Vaughn said. “Defensively, the second half, we played really well.”
Mississinawa stretched its lead to 55-30 in the opening three minutes of the fourth, bringing wholesale substitutions from the Hawks bench on its way to a 21-point win.
“We have a couple of seniors that don’t get to play a whole lot, but I was glad to get them in,” Vaughn stated. “We had a lot of bench players in, and we didn’t lose a lead. When I put them in, the lead was 20, and I told them the lead needs to stay at 20, not that I want to run the score up, but that is a true reflection of your bench when you don’t give up easy points.”
“These guys work hard every day in practice, and they deserve that time,” Vaughn added. “I’m glad we had a game like that that we could do that.”
Scott led Mississinawa Valley and all scorers with a game-high 25 points.
“What can you say about Cing tonight,” said Coach Vaughn. “He was phenomenal. When he plays like that, we’re pretty good. Ben did a nice job. Connor Hardy made a couple. A good team effort, but when Cing can put the team on his back, we’re so much better.”
“He’s getting better each game,” Vaughn continued. “He’s still going to make mistakes because he is a sophomore, but people will turn some heads when they see that box score. I’m happy for him because I know it’s not easy with a new coach and the transition. I’m a little bit different than what they’ve been used to, but I give these kids a lot of credit that they are accepting it, and they are starting to build trust in the process we want to do.”
BOXSCORE:
MISSISSINAWA VALLEY 57, UNION CITY 36
Mississinawa Valley – C. Scott 25, B. Hamilton 10, A. Amspaugh 6, C. McGlothlin 5, C. Hanes 4, C. Hardy 4, J. Beanblossom 1 – TOTALS 19 10-17 3 57
Union City – J. Cowper 12, L. Nieto 6, T. Spence 6, A. Vaughn 4, B. Huggins 3, C. Lutz 2, C. Hartman 2, K. Mills 1 – TOTALS 11 2-6 4 36
3-POINTERS
Mississinawa Valley 3 (C. Scott 2, C. McGlothlin 1)
Union City 4 (Nieto 2, Huggins 1, Spence 1)
SCORE by QUARTERS
16-14-17-10 57 Mississinawa Valley
12-10-08-06 36 Union City
