FROSTBURG — Owen McGeady kept Mountain Ridge ahead in the first half, and Ian Duncan removed all doubt with a late-game surge.
McGeady exploded for 15 points before halftime to help the Miners overcome a 3 for 11 start at the foul line to lead 33-25 at the half. Duncan ended the third quarter with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer, and he hit two in a row to begin the fourth to push their advantage over 20.
Behind that duo’s perimeter shooting and Mountain Ridge’s dominance on the glass, the second-seeded Miners cruised past seventh-seeded Clear Spring, 68-47, on Friday in the Class 1A West Region I quarterfinals.
“At this point, you win and move on. It wasn’t our prettiest game, but we fought through and battled,” Mountain Ridge head coach Tim Nightengale said. “I know tomorrow we’re going to be working a lot on free throws.”
Mountain Ridge improved to 13-9 and has won five in a row and 13 of its last 16 games.
While Clear Spring finishes with a 3-20 record, the Blazers showed signs of improvement late in the season, losing competitive games to the Miners (74-62) and Allegany (73-63) to close the regular season.
However, the Blazers had little answer for Mountain Ridge’s size once the Frostburg side enforced its will on the glass with Cameron Breighner (10 points) and Eli Sibley (eight).
Mountain Ridge outscored Clear Spring, 35-22, in the second half.
“We came out in the first half and played pretty well,” Clear Spring head coach Mike Mackey said. “They’re a very aggressive team, a big team. … We were trying to switch on a lot of their screens, and we did well in the first half. They just kind of wore us down.
“I know we didn’t win many ball games this year, but I’m proud of our team. They didn’t quit all year long. A lot of heart.”
Clear Spring trailed 19-10 after the first quarter but made it a 26-23 game with 1:47 left in the half after a pair of free throws by Jakob Hull.
McGeady then caught fire, hitting consecutive triples — the latter over a double team in the corner — for an eight-point Miners cushion at intermission.
Clear Spring had success early driving through the Mountain Ridge defense, but the Miners forced the Blazers into long, contested perimeter jump shots in the third quarter, which allowed them to build a 51-34 edge.
“We were getting beat off the drive in the first half quite a bit,” Nightengale said. “We were focusing on trying to stop the drive, keep them out of the paint and force them to shoot perimeter shots. They did what we asked them to do in the third quarter.”
McGeady, who finished with a game-high 20 points and a five triples, passed the torch to Duncan, and his personal 9-0 run spanning the third and fourth quarters put Clear Spring away for good.
“We’re well-rounded,” Nightengale said. “We’re fortunate to have that. Another team can’t just shut down one player and shut us down.”
Duncan finished in double figures with 11 points, and John Delaney added eight.
Wyatt Albowicz and Isaac Gaylor were the high scorers for Clear Spring with 12 and 11 points, respectively.
Mountain Ridge now turns to the region semifinals, where it’ll host third-seeded Allegany (11-12), an 84-32 winner over Hancock in its playoff opener Friday, on Tuesday at 6 p.m.
The two Allegany County rivals split a pair of regular-season meetings, though both were waged with the Campers’ leading scorer Chris Manherz in the line-up. Manherz is out for the year with a broken wrist.
Despite the difference in personnel, Nightengale doesn’t see a difference on how his team will prepare.
“It’s unfortunate that Manherz got hurt and is out, but they have other players on the team who can put the ball in the basket and can do a good job,” he said. “We’ve got to prepare to play and be effective Tuesday night, and play our best game yet.”