SEBRING FINDS THEIR FIRST LEAGUE WIN
By Matt Maher
MINERAL RIDGE, OH – The Rams hosted the Trojans Friday night in a matchup that didn’t fail to entertain. Both sides showed some great skill rebounding and several players shined bright in the 65-61 victory for Sebring. Without a conference win or a large fan showing, Sebring had “underdog” written all over them but the fantastic play of Kaleb Rowles, Dustin Black and Colby Kliffmueller gave the Trojans the boost they needed to get past the energetic Rams.
Mineral Ridge came out red hot in the first quarter scoring 11-4 in the first 5 minutes but Sebring turned on the ignition and sped back into this game with the quarter ending 19-18 in favor of Mineral Ridge. Sebring had only two players score in this frame with one being Black who put up 5 points and Kliffmueller who put up the other 13! Kliffmueller found three 2’s, two 3’s and went 1-for-2 at the line, he used his tall size of 6’4” and surprising speed to help wake up his team. Ridge showed more of a team effort on the ball with five guys adding to their total including Blake Basista who scored 5 and Chase Moore who led his team with 7 points including two made 2’s and three made free throws including an and-1.
Sebring continued their energetic play in the 2nd quarter with another 18 point showing to the Rams 16. Kliffmueller sat back in the scoring department with 4 points but became more of a playmaker, aiding Black in his 5 points and Rowles with his 9. Kaleb Rowles found two 2’s, a 3 and went 2-for-3 from the line all on the same trip after being fouled after taking a shot from beyond the arc. Mineral Ridge was met with better defense but that didn’t stop Derrick Hester from hitting two 3’s and Jack Geddes from going 2-for2 from the line.
Mineral Ridge played another tight quarter coming out of halftime but were able to outscore Sebring 15-13. Rowles continued to roll with 6 more points on the night including two 2’s and going 2-for4 from the stripe. Black and Kliffmueller both added two points and Reece Runyon joined the party with 3 after checking into the game.
The 4th quarter was close with both teams trading 1 point leads throughout but it would be the fouls that would be the Rams undoing as they found themselves down late and in need of a possession but with no shot clock the fouls had to come quick and early and with Black receiving the majority of the fouls, the plan didn’t work well for Ridge and Sebring scored 16 more points the Mineral Ridges 11. Black went 4-for-6 from the line while Rowles went 2-for-2 as well as adding 7 more points from the field and Joel Seals finally got on the board with a made free throw that would ultimately put this game to rest.
Despite good offense and an aggressive defense the Rams just couldn’t stop the Trojans from marching into their first conference win of the season. Chase Moore of Ridge scored an impressive 20 points for his team leading by a dominant example while Colby Kliffmueller had 21, Dustin black had 15 and Kaleb Rowles found 24 points leading all scorers! Sebring (5-10, 1-7) will be back at home on January 23rd when they take on Jackson-Milton at 7:00Pm while Mineral Ridge (4-9, 2-6) have a quick turnaround when they host Niles at 7:00PM on January 20th.
