Behind The Box Score

The New Albany student section came to Hilliard Bradley wearing camouflage. A war is what they were prepared for, and a war is what they got. It was a defensive battle last night in Jaguar Gym, and New Albany came out on top 51-35, thanks to a stellar 2nd half effort, giving up only 11 points in the final 16 minutes. The Eagles (2-0, 1-0 OCC Capital) were led by Scott McDonald, scoring a game-high 19 points. His height and solid post presence gave Bradley trouble in the paint, something that the Jags (1-1, 0-1 OCC Capital) were worried about coming into the game.

Hilliard Bradley led for most of the first quarter, powered once again by junior guard Jake Forrest, who in the first frame had been in on 13 of the 15 points scored by the Jags, with 5 points and 4 assists. The second quarter was a power struggle, with the lead changing hands often. With one minute left in the half, the scored was tied at 24-24. A few turnovers and bad shots put the Jags in a deep hole heading to the locker rooms that they would never recover from.

The second half opened with much more defense from the Eagles, pushing the score to 36-24 with 5:15 in the third, capping off a 14-3 run that lasted over 5 minutes. A main key against Thomas Worthington was the transition game, but never really got started against a New Albany team that has given up less than 40 points in its first two games they’ve played in, the other being a 63-39 win over Olentangy Liberty. In the fourth quarter, the Jaguars cut the lead to 8, but their lack of size proved to be costly in the final few minutes of the game, as they couldn’t get the key rebounds over the taller Eagles. Leading the scoring for Bradley was Marquis Copeland, scoring 10 and adding two threes. Friday, Hilliard Bradley visits Franklin Heights in OCC-Capital play, while New Albany plays Watkins Memorial.

(From dispatch.com)

New Albany 51, Hilliard Bradley 35

New Albany         10 20 11 10 — 51
Hilliard Bradley   15   9   7   4 —  35

NA: McDonald 8-3-19, Meckley 0-1-1, Krebs 6-2-16, Mayle 1-5-7, Smotrich 1-2-4, Sosh 1-2-4. 3-point goals: Krebs 2. Totals: 17-15-51.
HB: Bell 3-0-6, Copeland 4-0-10, Tieman 3-1-8, Forrest 3-3-9, Williams 1-0-2. 3-point goals: Copeland 2, Tieman. Totals: 14-4-35.