Clermont County’s two Eastern Cincinnati Conference squads went toe-to-toe in front of a packed house that included a special guest on Friday, January 24.
West Clermont used a 22-point outburst in the third quarter to pull out a 51-45 win over Milford, running the Wolves’ season record to 13-3 overall and 8-2 in the ECC.
They did so in front of a loud and large Milford student section that included OHSAA commissioner Jerry Snodgrass, who took in the action in the midst of a sea of white ‘Mr. Snodgrass Fan Club’ t-shirts.
West Clermont’s students represented too, and the give-and-take on and off the court made for a great atmosphere, according to West Clermont head coach Craig Mazzaro.
“It was probably the best atmosphere we’ve been in all year,” Mazzaro said. “They had a great student body, we did too. It was a great high school basketball game.”
West Clermont trailed by two (11-9) after one quarter and by three (22-19) at halftime. Things went the Wolves way in a big way in the third period, as West Clermont out-scored Milford 22-12. That proved to be the difference, as Milford held an 11-10 advantage in the fourth period.
Milford had a chance late, according to head coach Joe Cambron.
“We had it to three, had a wide-open shot in the corner from a good shooter, and he missed,” Cambron said. “They’re good, and we played really well. First game all year where Jack Liles played like the Jack Liles we were expecting. We just didn’t have that second scorer.”
Liles led all scorers with 20 points. No other Milford Eagle had more than six (Parker Davis). On the other end of the court, West Clermont had three players finish in double-figures, led by Donte Turner Jr.’s 11 point game. Teammate D.J. Vianello finished with 10, as did Joey Hummeldorf off the bench.
Six-foot, 11-inch forward Jackson Ames, who had 15 points and 14 rebounds against Milford in the first meeting between the two teams, was held to just four points and five rebounds in this one.
“We defended their two best players really well,” Cambron said. “They didn’t dominate the game. Two other kids scored more than they normally do. We gambled with them having to make shots, and they made shots.”
West Clermont shot 15 of 36 from the field (41.7 percent). Milford connected on 17 of 41 tries (41.5 percent). Both teams shot over 40 percent from beyond the three-point line, and both teams made nine three-point shots. West Clermont took 18 free-throws, making 12. Milford took just three foul shots and made two.
Defensively, West Clermont held Milford under 50 points. Only two teams have scored more than 50 against the Wolves this season: St. Xavier (61) and Indian Hill (53).
“Our defense has been there for us every single game this year,” Mazzaro said. “Every guy plays, we hold teams to 20s, 30s, 40s and give ourselves a chance to win. They hit some nice shots too.”
Three teams were unable to score at least 30 points against the Wolves this season. Turpin managed just 27 points on Tuesday, January 21, but the Spartans picked up a 27-24 win in that contest.
That loss gave Turpin the series sweep against the Wolves. Entering play on January 28, West Clermont sat one game behind the Spartans with four league games remaining.
“We messed up against Turpin the other night,” Mazzaro said. “It was there for the taking and we didn’t take it. Now, we have to get help. We can’t worry about it, we have to take care of our games.”
West Clermont’s next league contest is scheduled for Friday, January 31 against Withrow. Milford is off until a February 4 against Taft. The Eagles have a home league game scheduled for Friday, February 7 against Loveland.