Statesmen Stave Off Eagles for 67-58 Victory

Article presented by Rathkamp Financial …

New Hope Christian Academy may have posted a 9-point victory, but their win over visiting Ross County Christian Academy was anything but a runaway.

The Eagles overcame a 7-0 deficit on a 14-0 run in the first period and looked like they couldn’t be caught when they jumped ahead 24-13 at 5:54 in the second period. The Statesmen whittled away and cut the margin to 33-32 on a three-pointer by Nate Ames at the buzzer.

New Hope came out more aggressively to open the second half led by Seth Leist who tallied 9 of his 19-points in the third period to get the home team a 47-42 lead through three quarters.

The Eagles made a run late as Nathaniel Clevenger pulled RCCA within 55-54 with 3:37 remaining and 58-56 with 1:51 left, but that would be the closest the Eagles could get.

Ames led all scorers with 23-points. Both teams had three players each scoring in double figures for the night. Ames performance was complimented by Leist’s 19-points and Judson Pollock’s 11. RCCA was paced by Jayden Beverly’s 17-points followed by Nathaniel Clevenger’s 15 and 11 more from Isaac Kellough.

“A lot of ebbs and flows in that game for sure” Statesmen Coach Shane Roese said after the game. “I thought we came out strong like we wanted to, then I think they (RCCA) just responded. We missed some shots and in that first quarter, too, we had seven turnovers and were impatient – we just made some bad decisions.” That all changed following some halftime adjustments.

Roese said mixing three freshmen with a pair of seniors in the lineup, New Hope is finding its chemistry. “I thought we did a much better job in the second half, sharing the basketball, trusting one another. And then we locked down on the defensive end to get that lead… but then they made that run.”

Eagles Coach Matt Jude was proud of his team’s effort in battling back. “We haven’t been in too many close games as a group… We didn’t really have too many close games last year, so this was a good experience for us,” said Jude. “They were playing hard until the end.”

New Hope shot better from the field, hitting 23-of-58 (40%) field goals and 7-of-24 (29%) from beyond the arc while RCCA was 21-of-64 (33%) and 5-22 (23%) on three’s. Both squads missed 5-free throws each with the Statesmen making 14-of-19 and the Eagles hitting 11-of-16.

Ross County Christian Academy (2-2) will host Miller this Thursday night at the Ohio University-Chillicothe Shoemaker Center. New Hope Christian Academy (2-2) has a road match at High Street Christian, a team they played in the state championship final four.

Catch the game podcast and post-game interviews below.