UPDATED: Miners top Bulldogs for seventh place at GCI

Union (Dugger) forward Michael Talpas (20) tries to deny Linton-Stockton's Jacob Tibbett (21) position under the basket during the seventh-place game at the Greene County Invitational Saturday morning. Miner forward Stefan Sparks also is pictured. (By B.J. Hargis/Greene County Daily World). [Click to enlarge] [Order this photo]

On Saturday, the Miners limited Union (Dugger) to just 33 percent shooting as Linton-Stockton captured seventh place with a 53-42 victory over the Bulldogs.

"I thought our defense was better," said Linton-Stockton boys basketball coach Darren Clayton, whose Miners improved to 2-8. "I take my hat off to Jacob Tibbett. He is probably our best defensive player.

"When he is in the game, we just play with more intensity at that end of the floor. I am going to have to find a way to get him on the floor more. But we had a good team effort defensively"

The Bulldogs, who slipped to 1-8 with their sixth consecutive loss, trailed just 25-23 at intermission, but Linton-Stockton opened the second half with a 8-0 run to take a 33-23 lead with four minutes and 44 seconds to play in the third quarter.

Linton-Stockton never trailed in the final 26 minutes, but Union (Dugger) kept it interesting. The Bulldogs, who hit 14 of 42 field goal attempts, battled back to trail 37-33 after three quarters.

They got as close as three points -- 41-38 -- on a three-point play by Blane Boyd at the 3:31 mark of the fourth quarter.

But Union (Dugger) made eight of its 15 turnovers during the final eight minutes. Linton-Stockton closed out the game with an 11-4 run.

"The kids are really playing hard," said Union (Dugger) coach Clarence Johnson. "We got behind midway in the first quarter and it kind of became a hump game from there.

"We were right in game, but just came up a play or two short. You have to tip your hat to Linton-Stockton. It seemed like they come up with every loose ball."

It was a game of spurts as the Miners scored seven of the final eight points to win for the 16th time in the past 25 games against the Bulldogs.

"We are still trying to put together 32 minutes of basketball," said Clayton. "We were a lot closer to doing that today."

The Miners used six consecutive points -- a 3-pointer and an old-fashioned three-point play by Chase Rhoten -- to take the lead for good at 12-6 in the final two minutes of the first quarter.

Rhoten led the Miners with 18 points, 11 coming in the first half. Center Jordan Tharp added 12 on 6-for-9 shooting. Tharp (six) and Rhoten (five) combined for 11 rebounds as the Miners had a 32-22 advantage in that category.

Caleb Stuppy had four points, all in the fourth quarter. Keith Cunningham scored five points, all coming in the final eight minutes. He made two foul shots and then his steal and lay-up, his only basket, put the Miners ahead 46-38 with 1:50 to play.

"We had several kids step up and make big plays. You can go right down the list and name something good that everybody did, even those kids that did not get to play in the second half," said Clayton.

"Keith had a big steal late, which was just one of several big defensive plays. "When they cut it from eight back to four, we had some kids step up. (Evan) Magni did a nice job on (B.J.) Howard."

Clayton added that any victory is big, especially when you are 1-8.

"This was good for our morale," he said.

Boyd hit three 3-pointers and topped Union (Dugger) with 16 points. Logan Chesterfield made 6 of 8 foul shots and finished with 10. Howard had six rebounds, one more than Boyd, but finished with eight points, half of his average.

The Bulldogs will host Shakamak Friday before playing at New Harmony Saturday, Jan. 17 in a 2 p.m. JV start.

The Miners will host Vincennes Rivet Friday.

Saturday

Greene County Invitational

At White River Valley

Seventh-place game

UNION (DUGGER) (42) -- B.J. Howard 3-14 1-1 8, Trent Collins 0-2 0-0, Michael Talpas 3-6 0-1 6, Blane Boyd 5-11 3-6 16, Fred Brust 1-2 0-0 2, Logan Chesterfield 2-7 6-8 10. Totals 14-42 10-16 42.

LINTON-STOCKTON (53) -- Stefan Sparks 2-5 0-0 4, Jordan Tharp 6-9 0-1 12, Keith Cunningham 1-4 3-4 5, Evan Magni 4-10 0-0 8, Chase Rhoten 5-9 7-8 18, Ross Gentry 0-1 0-0 0, Jacob Tibbett 1-2 0-0 2, J.D. Fish 0-3 0-0 0, Caleb Stuppy 2-3 0-0 4. Totals 21-46 10-13 53.

Union (Dugger) 9 14 10 9 -- 42

Linton-Stockton 14 11 12 16 -- 53

3-point shooting -- Union (Dugger) 4-15 (Boyd 3-7, B. Howard 1-6, Chesterfield 0-2), Linton-Stockton 1-8 (Rhoten 1-2, Cunningham 0-2, Magni 0-4). Fouls -- Union (Dugger) 12, Linton-Stockton 15. Fouled out -- None. Rebounds -- Union (Dugger) 22 (B. Howard 6, Boyd 5), Linton-Stockton 32 (Tharp 6, Fish 5, Rhoten 5). Assists -- Union (Dugger) 10 (Chesterfield 6), Linton-Stockton 10 (Magni 4). Steals -- Union (Dugger) 7 (B. Howard 3, Boyd 2 ), Linton-Stockton 9 (Rhoten 4). Turnovers -- Union (Dugger) 14 (Chesterfield 5), Linton-Stockton 15 (Magni 3. Blocks -- None.