UPDATED: Miners drop hoops opener to North Knox

Linton-Stockton senior Chase Rhoten tries to get a shot off as North Knox's Richard Gugliotta and the Miners' Blake Eaton watch. (By Rick Curl/Greene County Daily World). [Order this photo]

The sixth year of his tenure began with a 60-47 loss at the hands of the North Knox Warriors Saturday night at home.

But despite watching his team struggle through a 10-0 run that bridged the final two quarters, and virtually secured a win for the Warriors, Clayton remained optimistic about his team's chances for success later in the season.

"We did some good things and can take a lot of positives out of here," Clayton said. "We had a lot of kids play in their first varsity game and make some mistakes along the way.

"We did some good things too, along the way. We're going to try and build on what we did right and come back on Monday and work on what we did wrong to get ready for a couple of games next weekend."

The Miners were paced by their lone experienced -- and lone senior player -- Chase Rhoten.

The 6-0 point guard ended the night with 10 points to lead the Miners. That total included connecting on 2 of 3 shots from the field (1 of 2 from 3-point land) and 5 of 6 from the free throw line.

"The freshmen kids played well at times," Clayton said. "But our leaders, Caleb (Stuppy) and Chase had their moments as well.

"We just have to get more consistent."

Rhoten also hauled in five rebounds, joining freshman Dess Fougerousse to lead the team in both categories. Fougerousse finished the night 4 of 11 from the field and 2 for 3 from the stripe.

It was all part of what Clayton says was a good showing from his inexperienced players. A group that included junior Stephen Franklin.

The 5-9 forward finished the night with four points, three rebounds and one blocked shot. And 6-2 junior Tim Scott who finished with nine points on 3 of 7 shooting from the field.

"I thought we got a nice game out of Scott on the offensive end," Clayton said. "He needs to continue to work on his defense, but we got a nice game from him on offense."

Right out of the gate the Miners struggled, missing chances to score on their first five possessions.

It was a stretch that included three turnovers and two missed field goals, all the while the Warriors were building an 8-0 lead.

The string was finally snapped when Rhoten connected on a pair of free throws on back-to-back possessions narrow the gap to 10-3.

The Miners finally showed signs of life defensively in the second quarter when they limited the Warriors to just nine points on their way to evening things 27-27 at the half.

It was a stretch that included a 9-0 run that trimmed the margin from where it stood at the first stop --18-10 -- to 20-19.

After North Knox junior Richard Gugliotta (who led all scorers and rebounders with 16 points and 12 boards) grabbed an offensive rebound and scored on a missed free throw by Evan Hill, Rhoten, Stuppy and Gunnar Passen all were successful from beyond the arc.

"Defense is where it's at," Clayton said. "We made the run and our defense only gave up nine points in the second quarter.

"That's what got us back in the game and that's what got us tied at halftime."

But the latter stages of the third quarter proved to more than the revitalized Linton-Stockton defense could handle.

The Miners wrestled the lead away from the visitors from Knox County with less than 40 seconds gone in the third quarter at 29-28 when Passen nailed his only field goal (a 3-pointer) of the night.

From there, the lead changed hands seven times before a trey from Hill gave North Knox the lead for the last time at 40-38.

It sparked what would turn out to be a 10-0 run that spilled over to the final stanza as Jonathan Blann, Jack McKinnon and Brolin Summers all combined to push the margin to 47-38.

"We like to hold teams to 45 and we were close at 47," North Knox coach Aaron Hall said. "I'm really happy for my guys and my hat's off to Linton, they played a great game.

"They're going to be a tough team for years to come and (anybody who plays them) is going to have their work cut out for them."

The run finally was halted when freshman Austin Karazsia connected at the 6:56 mark of the fourth quarter.

"We had a few mental breakdowns and some things that we'll get better at as the season progresses," Clayton said. "We didn't expect to play the best game of the season tonight and now we know where we're at."

North Knox prevailed in the junior varsity contest 41-36 despite 12 points from Luke Jerrells, nine from Clayton French, six each from Ben Brown and Brandon Flater and three from Jesse Houchin for Linton-Stockton.

The Miners return to action Friday night when they host Owen Valley in a 6 p.m. contest before traveling to Bloomfield for a 6 p.m. contest on Saturday night.

Saturday

NORTH KNOX (60) -- Brolin Summers 3-12 4-4 12, Evan Hill 3-9 1-2 8, Ryan Reedy 1-1 0-0 2, Jack McKinnon 2-3 0-2 4, John Gregg 0-0 0-0 0, Richard Gugliotta 6-18 2-2 16, Jonathan Blann 1-4 3-3 5, Tyler Sanders 5-6 1-3 13. Totals 21-51 11-16 60.

LINTON-STOCKTON (47) -- Caleb Stuppy 2-8 0-1 5, Gunnar Passen 1-3 0-0 3, Brandon Flater 0-0 0-0 0, Chase Rhoten 2-3 5-6 10, Austin Karazsia 3-7 0-0 6, Stephen Franklin 2-5 0-1 4, Clayton French 0-0 0-0 0, Tim Scott 3-7 3-4 9, Dess Fougerousse 4-11 2-3 10, Blake Eaton 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 17-44 10-15 47.

3-point shooting -- North Knox 7-17 (Gugliotta 2-5, Summers 2-4, Sanders 2-3, Hill 1-4, Blann 0-1). Linton-Stockton 5-15 (Scott 2-4, Stuppy 1-4, Passen 1-3, Rhoten 1-2, Franklin 0-2). Fouls -- North Knox 15, Linton-Stockton 20. Fouled out -- Rhoten. Rebounds -- North Knox 28 (Gugliotta 12), Linton-Stockton 23 (Fougerousse 5, Rhoten 5). Steals -- North Knox 5 (Blann 2), Linton-Stockton 2 (Rhoten 2). Blocks -- North Knox 0, Linton-Stockton 1 (Franklin 1). Turnovers -- North Knox 11, Linton-Stockton 14.