Tartans open season with win

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Michael Hamilton

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PORTSMOUTH – The East Tartans picked up a win on the road in their season opener, as they defeated the Notre Dame Titans 62-45. The Tartans took total control of the game in the second half, to come out victorious over the Titans Friday evening at Notre Dame High School.

The Tartans began the game very aggressive, and quickly found themselves in foul trouble. Zane Scott racked up two fouls in the first minute of the game, as the team would finish the first quarter with seven team fouls.

Notre Dame capitalized on East’s fouling issues, and gained a 14-10 lead at the end of the first quarter.

“I thought we kind of started out sluggish,” East coach Adam Bailey said. “We got into some major foul trouble in the first quarter, and the first half.”

The Tartans played a lot of the first half with four starters on the bench, due to their foul problems. As a result, Bailey was forced to rely on his bench to keep his team in the game.

“Our kids that came off the bench, I think we got some great minutes from all of them,” Bailey said. “We played 11 kids tonight. We were running nine and 10 kids out there, and staying fresh.”

The second quarter would end up setting the tone of the remainder of the game. Notre Dame would lose its lead a few minutes into the period, until Sam Kayser tied the game at 17 each with 5:00 remaining in the half.

Another four lead changes would occur in the final five minutes of the half, until the Tartans eventually took a four point lead, 28-24, at the half.

“We responded well, especially coming out in the second half,” Bailey said. “I was pleased with our effort.”

East’s depth continued to show in the second half. The Tartans lead increased to 11 points late in the the third quarter, but would be knocked back down to a nine point lead, 45-36, as time expired in the period.

The Tartans controlled every aspect of the game in the fourth quarter. Notre Dame was limited to only nine points in the fourth, while East nearly doubled Notre Dame’s offensive production in the period.

In the end, the Tartans would finish off the Titans by 17 points.

“I think we wore them down,” Bailey said. “They were getting tired, and we had a few kids hit some big shots.”

Akia Brown led the Tartans in scoring, putting up 25 points on the night. Blaine Scott had a big night for East as well, scoring 11 points, 10 of which came in the second half.

The Titans were led by Hattachai Buttayotee Friday evening. Buttayotee put up 17 points, and made several tough shots in an attempt to keep Notre Dame in the game.

Trevon Turner added nine points to the Titan cause, and was the second highest scorer on the night for Notre Dame.

Notre Dame will be in action again on Thursday, December 10th as they take on Greenup County (KY) in the Buckeye Elite Invitational at Portsmouth High School. Tipoff for that game is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

The East Tartans will travel to meet the Western Indians on Friday. Tipoff for the Tartans and Indians is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

Reach Michael Hamilton at 740-353-3101, ext 1931 or on Twitter @MikeHamilton82.

Box Score

1 2 3 4 Final
Notre Dame 14 10 12 9 45
East 10 18 17 17 62

Individual Statistics

Notre Dame – Buttayotee 6-5-17, Turner 1-7-9, Sparks 3-2-8, Johnson 2-1-6, Kayser 2-0-5

East – Brown 8-8-25. B. Scott 5-1-11, Douthat 3-1-9, Lowe 2-0-6, Z. Scott 1-0-3, Burton 0-3-3, Hatcher 1-0-2

3-point field goals – Notre Dame 2 (Johnson, Kayser) East 7 (Douthat 2, Lowe 2, Shope, Brown, Z. Scott)

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