Eight players were in the scoring mix for McDonald County in a 49-37 victory over East Newton to spoil homecoming for the Patriots Friday night.
Leading 20-19 at the half, McDonald County would never give up its advantage the rest of the game, and took full control in the fourth quarter with runs of 9-2 and 10-5.
Michael Bridenstine, Daniel Gomez and Charlie Bridenstine led the Mustangs with 13, 12 and 11 points, respectively, and having eight players on the scoresheet was good news to McDonald County head coach Mike Austin.
“We don’t see that very often, but it is something that we like,” Austin said. “We had three players in double figures, and Daniel Gomez hit some big 3s for us in the first half. He is automatic from the foul line, too. I think guys just stepped up tonight. We talked about crashing the party, and that was our goal tonight to come out here and dominate and we were able to do it.”
Austin also praised the play of junior forward Justin Jones, who came off the bench to provide some energy.
“(Jones) just gets after it, and I thought our defensive intensity picked up there in the third and fourth quarters,” said Austin, whose team has now won two games in a row and improves to 7-14 on the season. “We didn’t allow East Newton to get good looks at the basket, and when they did shoot it we were able to get the rebounds. On the offensive end, we took care of the ball, worked it and were patient, and were able to get the ball into our big guys.”
The Mustangs were able to take control of the game in the fourth quarter by going inside to Charlie Bridenstine, who used his 6-foot-5 frame to score seven of the team’s first nine points of the quarter. That surge put McDonald County ahead 39-29 with 2:13 left to play. East Newton would manage only eight points the rest of the way.
“We go through periods where we just need to be more consistent,” said East Newton head coach Barry Yocom. “We have competed with nearly everybody on our schedule, but we have not done it consistently and that is what happened tonight. We missed a lot of easy shots, and we missed free throws. I was telling the boys that for us to win basketball games, the room for error is very small. We can’t do those things and except to win games.”
Broyles led four players on the scoring sheet for East Newton with 17 points.
The Patriots, 6-12 on the season, will have a stiff challenge Tuesday night as they play host to Big 8 Conference rival Seneca. The Patriots will be trying to snap a six-game losing skid.
