FREDERICKTOWN — It’s not every day that a high school boys basketball team only scores 32 points. It’s even rarer when the team that does so wins the game. Tuesday night saw just such an event, as visiting Clear Fork defeated Fredericktown, 32-26.
The game started slowly. Both teams played some serious defense, and held the opposition from mounting an offensive push. At the end of the first quarter, Clear Fork had managed just two points; Fredericktown came in with five points.
The second quarter saw more offensive action, but it was still limited. Clear Fork managed to gain a 9-7 lead with 3:50 left in the half. A shot by Fredericktown’s Thomas Hinkle tied the game at 9 with 2:09 left in the half, but Clear Fork finished on a 6-0 run to take a 15-9 lead into the locker room.
The second half saw Clear Fork score two quick baskets and build a 10-point lead, but Fredericktown chipped away at that lead over the next few minutes, and with just over 5:00 left, it was back to a one-point game. Free throws were the name of the game at that point, and Clear Fork hit six in the final four minutes while holding Fredericktown to three points over the final five minutes.
“Our defense was all right,” said Clear Fork head coach Steve Bechtel. “We gave up too many open shots; we were just lucky Fredericktown didn’t knock them down tonight. We only scored 32 points — that shows a lot about their defense, we have to give them respect for that. I think we just held on. We talked to our kids about doing a better job down the stretch. We didn’t execute down the stretch, we just barely held on.
“It’s a big win for us,” continued Bechtel. “Every win is great. We are .500 going into the new year. It’s always nice to get a win going into the new year and leading up to the next games. This is a rivalry. We live right down the road, and the kids see each other a lot during the year in different sports. It’s a big rivalry, but I think rivalries are made out of respect. We had that respect for them and they had that respect for us.”
Clear Fork was led by Heath Freeman, who scored 10 points. Logan Slavinski added eight points and Kalen Tackett chipped in seven. Fredericktown saw two players put out the majority of their offense. Hinkle led all scorers on the evening with 11 points and Curtis Ruhl had eight.
In junior varsity play, Clear Fork edged Fredericktown, 38-36. The Colts were led by Bastian Hanitsch, who scored 10 points.
Clear Fork plays Ohio Cardinal Conference foe West Holmes in an away game Saturday at 6 p.m., while Fredericktown will play at Mansfield Christian.
