FROSTBURG — No. 4 Mountain Ridge made its first eight shots and never looked back, cruising to a 74-41 rout of Chestnut Ridge on Friday in the Coal Mine.
“I’m really pleased with how hard the boys played tonight,” Mountain Ridge head coach Tim Nightengale said. “We had 11 players that went in there tonight, we played hard, we were aggressive, played with good intensity. We shot the ball well tonight and played as a team.”
The Miners (4-1) converted their first five shots from the field, and AJ Lauder went 3 for 3 at the line to open the night on a 16-4 run.
“The ball was going in the rim,” Nightengale said. “When the ball’s going in the rim, everything kind of falls in place. Our shots were falling, I think we made our first five or six shots tonight. Shooting good shots, but we’ve been working on executing our offense and we’re making good reads and good cuts and getting the ball into the hands of open players.”
On the other side, the Lions (2-9) were held scoreless for over five-and-a-half minutes in the first quarter.
“Mountain Ridge, they’re a good team, they move the ball well,” Chestnut Ridge head coach Chad Jones said. “They play together as a team. They have a lot of big, strong guys that can rotate the ball and get to the hoop.”
Cameron Breighner scored eight of the Miners’ 27 points in the first period and finished with a game-high 29 along with three steals and a block.
“Cam’s a great player, he’s been a great leader for the team,” Nightengale said. “He’s working hard in practice, he’s pushing other players. Tonight, he’s getting into a rhythm and finding good quality shots.”
Mountain Ridge led 27-9 after one, 44-21 at the break and 64-31 heading to the fourth.
The Miners shot 15 of 28 (54%) from the field and 5 of 9 (56%) from deep.
The Lions went 7 of 26 (27%) from the field and 1 of 7 (14%) from deep.
“Give credit to their defense, they were in our face the entire time,” Jones said. “They were giving up minimal good shots for us, and we were just trying to create. It was tough, they had a really good defensive plan for us.”
John Delaney scored 10 points with three assists and a steal while Kris Washington scored nine and Carter Clites added eight points for Mountain Ridge.
“They were shooting with confidence,” Jones said. “They came in ready to play, ready to put the ball in the hoop. They shot some transition 3s that went in and their confidence just soared from there.”
Washington and Clites each added three assists and a steal.
Wyatt DiShong and Caden Hinson led Chestnut Ridge with 12 points each.
The Miners won the junior varsity game 42-32 led by Sawyer Elliott and Jasper Crissman’s 12 points each.
Ethan Moyer led the Lions with 10 points.
Mountain Ridge heads to McConnellsburg on Wednesday at 7:15 p.m.
The Spartans (7-0) beat Fort Hill last season 63-52 and finished 25-2.
“McConnellsburg’s solid, they’re undefeated right now,” Nightengale said. “They’re a tough Pennsylvania school. It’s gonna be a tall task for us going up there, playing on their home floor. But we’re ready for the challenge.”