Miner comeback falls short against Patriots

Linton-Stockton's Clayton French tries to drive past a host of Owen Valley defenders Friday night at Linton. (By B.J. Hargis/Greene County Daily World).

After digging a 12-point deficit at halftime, Linton-Stockton battled back to within one point, but never took the lead as the visiting Owen Valley Patriots held on to defeat the Miners 59-51 in a non-conference high school boys basketball game Friday night.

Linton-Stockton (0-2) fell behind 34-22 at intermission, but closed the gap to 42-37 entering the fourth period.

"We had cut seven points off the lead in the third quarter," said Linton-Stockton Coach Darren Clayton. "We knew if we did that in the fourth quarter, we were going to win.

"I was really pleased with our effort."

Blake Eaton's only basket brought the Miners to within 42-39 with six minutes and 41 seconds remaining.

A defensive rebound by Dess Fougerousse led to a lay-up by Caleb Stuppy, who had 11 points, as the Miners clawed within one point -- 42-41 at the 6:14 mark.

A hoop in the paint by Fougerousse, who had six points, and the fifth of six 3-pointers by Chase Rhoten, who paced the Miners with 21 points, closed the gap to 48-46 with just under four minutes to play.

Less than a minute later, the teams traded hoops with another two-pointer by Fougerousse, assisted by Gunnar Passen, leaving the Miners staring at a 50-48 hole.

The Patriots (1-1) outscored the Miners 9-3 (another trey by Rhoten) over the final 2 1/2 minutes to secure the victory.

"We showed a great deal of improvement from game one to game two," said Clayton. "If we continue to do that, we are going to be all right.

"We got down, but the kids never gave up. We did a good job of getting back into the game in the second half and got it within one possession several times, but could never get it tied or take the lead.

"We will continue to get better. We had 18 turnovers tonight, which is too many. If we give this kind of effort, good things are going to happen for this team."

Cody Vest made two treys and led the Patriots with 23 points. Ethan Hoadley made three from long distance and finished with 15 points.

In the junior varsity battle, Owen Valley prevailed 51-29. Brandon Flater had nine points for the Miners and Ben Boyd added eight.

The Miners will open play in the Southwestern Indiana Athletic Conference tonight when they travel to Bloomfield to face the Cardinals. The junior varsity contest is set to begin at 6 p.m.

"The kids will come out and play hard again tomorrow night against Bloomfield," said Clayton.

OWEN VALLEY (59) -- Cody Vest 8 5-6 23, Sean Hollows 3 0-0 6, Aaron White 3 0-0 6, Jarrod Gilstrap 1 0-0 3, Woody Worland 2 2-2 6, Ethan Hoadley 6 0-0 15, Jansen Hight 0-0 0-0 0, Brice Stratton 0 0-0 0, Kaleb Oldham 0 0-0 0, David Ray 0 0-0 0 Totals 23 7-9 59.

LINTON-STOCKTON (51) -- Caleb Stuppy 5 0-0 11, Gunnar Passen 1 0-0 3, Chase Rhoten 6 3-4 21, Austin Karazsia 2 0-2 4, Stephen Franklin 2 0-0 4, Dess Fougerousse 3 0-0 6, Blake Eaton 1 0-1 2, Clayton French 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 3-7 51.

Owen Valley 15 19 8 17 -- 59

Linton-Stockton 12 10 15 14 -- 51

3-pointers -- Owen Valley 6 (Hoadley 3, Vest 2, Gilstrap), Linton-Stockton 8 (Rhoten 6, Passen Stuppy).