UNION CITY – Two young varsity teams matched up on the Mississinawa Valley Blackhawks court and the Hawks defeated the visiting Ansonia Tigers 48-40 in Tuesday night WOAC action.
The Hawks scoring on the night came from the starting five of one freshman and four sophomores. Ansonia’s points came from two freshmen, two sophomores, one junior, and one senior.
“I have to remind myself every day of the big picture here,” said Mississinawa Valley coach Jeff Vaughn. “I want to win games, but we have guys for three years here, and we have to build this foundation right now. Hopefully, we are a Tri-Village of the league by the time these guys are juniors and seniors. They are growing up; they have two games under their belt. Tonight was a huge step because we finished the game, battled adversity, and came back and got the ‘W.’”
“We’re young,” said Ansonia coach Tony Overton. “I’m not going to play that card and consistently make excuses.”
Mississinawa Valley won the battle at the charity stripe, going 12-16 to 4-7 for the Tigers. Meanwhile, Ansonia was taking the night beyond the arc, knocking down six 3-pointers to two by MV. The eight-point victory came in the fourth quarter, with the Blackhawks taking the final period 11-3.
Mississinawa rolled out to an early first-quarter 9-2 lead before Ansonia roared back to close the gap to three, 15-12, after one period of play, with the Hawks Caden Hanes accounting for six points.
The Blackhawks opened second-quarter play on an 8-2 run to lead 23-14, but once again, Ansonia battled back with the help of a 10-0 run capped off with a Bennett Lehman four-play before the teams settled on a 28-26 MV lead with the teams headed to the break. Lehman, Cooper Riffle, and Ben Barnt each drilled triples for Ansonia. Cing Scott and Ben Hamilton led MV with four points each in the period.
Ansonia’s Bennett Lehman paced the Tigers with seven third-quarter points, including his third trey of the night, giving Ansonia a 30-28 lead before Austin Amspaugh went to the line, going 2-2, knotting the score at 30-30. Ansonia earned an 11-9 third-period advantage, sending the game to the fourth, and the conference matchup tied at 37-37.
“We got down two, and we battled back and had a big possession,” said Coach Vaughn. “Our defensive effort was really good.”
Mississinawa Valley put the game away in the fourth with 6’6” freshman Ben Hamilton hitting for five points to give the Hawks an eight-point win.
“Ben Hamilton went two or three possessions, got offensive rebounds and a put-back,” Vaughn noted. “Those were breathers, those were huge. “We were in attack mode, and sometimes we need to be in slow mode, but Ben was there to get the rebound and put them back in. That was huge for us.”
“Overall, it was a great team effort,” Coach Vaughn added. “Three guys in double figures. I am so happy for these kids that they closed out the game because I think we were getting a little tight and me as well.”
“Our shot selection was poor that fourth quarter, and that is a lot of juggling lineups trying to figure out who we can play,” Overton stated. “Outside of that, I was pleased with our effort. The kids fought hard, and our defense is holding teams to right around 40. If we can clean up our offense and be smarter I think we are going to be just fine.”
Ansonia sophomore Bennett Lehman led all scorers with a game-high 15 points. Three Blackhawks hit double figures, led by Scott with 14 points, Hanes with 12 points, and Hamilton with 11 points.
The Hawks’ points came from the starting five of one freshman and four sophomores. Two freshmen, two sophomores, one junior, and one senior accounted for Ansonia’s scoring.
BOXSCORE:
MISSISSINAWA VALLEY 48, ANSONIA 40
MISSISSINAWA VALLEY – C. Scott 14, C. Hanes 12, B. Hamilton 11, A. Amspaugh 7, C. Hardy 4 – TOTALS 15 12-16 2 48
ANSONIA – B. Lehman 15, Carson Tobe 8, G. Coppess 6, C. Riffle 5, B. Barnt 4, J. Schmitmeyer 2 – TOTALS 9 4-7 6 40
3-POINTERS
Mississinawa Valley 2 (C. Hanes 1, C. Scott 1)
Ansonia 6 (B. Lehman 15, C. Riffle 1, B. Barnt 1, G. Cooper 1)
SCORE by QUARTERS
15-13-09-11 48 Mississinawa Valley
12-14-11-03 40 Ansonia
