West Clermont entered a non-conference tilt with Winton Woods on Tuesday, December 4 unranked in the coaches poll. By the time the final whistle blew, the Wolves proved that to be a mistake.
The Wolves rallied from two deficits to knock of the Warriors 48-45 in front of a home crowd, improving to 2-0 on the season with the win. Head coach Craig Mazzaro said the team didn’t come out of the gate strong.
“We got off to a very slow start,” Mazzaro said. “We knew there was going to be a little adversity in this one. We got back into it.”
West Clermont led 10-9 at one point in the first quarter. Winton Woods finished the period on a 14-3 run to take a 21-13 lead after one quarter.
The Wolves trailed by as many as 15 points in the second period before things started to click. Ismail Ismail hit a basket just before halftime to draw the team within three. The squad trailed 30-25 at the break.
“We were down [15], things weren’t going real well,” Mazzaro said. “Once we started executing and doing some things, we got it down going into the fourth quarter, and anything can happen.”
West Clermont allowed 15 total points in the second half. The Wolves trailed 38-34 entering the final period, and out-scored the Warriors 14-8 to take home the three-point win. Rebounding and defense were big factors in the team’s play, according to Mazzaro.
“We got some nice stops on defense, which was key,” Mazzaro said. “We got a couple nice steals and finished some shots. At the end, we got a couple free throws and some big rebounds. We didn’t give them second and third shots.”
John Aicholtz led all scorers with 17 points. He also collected seven rebounds. Jackson Ames had nine points and 11 boards for West Clermont. D.J. Vianello added seven points, three assists and three rebounds. Donte Turner Jr. had four assists.
Aaron Ward led Winton Woods with 13 points and seven rebounds. Rashaun Brown tallied 10 points and was the only other Warrior in double-figures.
West Clermont returned to the court three days later and kept that winning momentum, knocking off Walnut Hills 54-46 to open Eastern Cincinnati Conference play. West Clermont scored just two points in the second quarter, but a strong fourth period saw the team turn a 33-33 tie into an eight-point win.
Gavin Pitts scored 13 points for the Wolves. Aicholtz also recorded 13, while Vinaello added 12.
West Clermont travels north to take on ECC rival Milford on Friday, December 14 at 7:30 p.m. The team returns home to host Withrow on December 18.