Logan's Jarron Glick (5) shields himself from a Poca defender in the first half of Logan's 80-76 win over Nitro Friday night at the Willie Akers Arena (Photo by Boothe Davis/Captured by the Moment Photography).
Bill Lusk | WVOW Sports
LOGAN All five starters scored in double-figures as Class AAA No. 8 Logan won its ninth game of the year with an 80-76 win over No. 9 Nitro on Friday at the Willie Akers Arena.
Logan improved to 9-8 on the year and 5-3 in the Cardinal Conference. Nitro dropped to 7-7 and 3-5 in Cardinal Conference play.
Scottie Browning led all Logan players with 16 points and six assists while Jarron Glick finished with 15, Julius Clancy 14 and Cole Blankenship and McCormick Ilderton each had 13 points for Logan.
Browning scored 12 of his 16 points in the first half to help Logan to a 37-33 halftime lead while Clancy and Glick combined to score 16 of Logan’s 25 points in the third quarter. Glick had nine on 4 of 4 shooting from the field in third while scored seven and was a perfect 3 of 3 from the field that saw Logan lead by as many 11 points.
Nitro pulled to within four points on three occasions, including the final margin, but was unable to overcome the double digit deficit.
Derek Lowe led Nitro with a game-high 22 points, Ashton Crouch had 20 points while Derick Woodrum finished with 15 and Landon Poniatowski posted a double-double finishing with 11 points and 14 rebounds for Nitro.
In the game’s opening eight minutes, Logan and Nitro exchanged the lead six times before settling for a 19-19 tie after one quarter of play. The tie would be the fourth and final tie of the evening.
The lead would change hands four more times in the first 4:30 of the second quarter before an 11-2 run by Logan gave them a 34-27 lead with 2:00 to play before halftime on Glick’s 3-pointer. Nitro cut the deficit to four points, 37-33, on a Sean Legros layup with 0:45 to play in the first half.
Nitro, who trailed by as many seven points in the first half, continued to cut into the halftime deficit, drawing to within three points on a couple of occasions to start the third quarter.
After a Lowe basket brought Nitro to within three, 43-40, with 5:37 to play in the third quarter, Logan embarked on a 10-2 run, with Glick scoring five of the team’s 10 points during the run, that was capped off by Ilderton’s old fashioned 3-point play to give Logan it’s biggest lead, 53-42, with 3:08 remaining in the third.
Logan led by 10 points, 62-52, after three quarters. It appeared that Logan had the momentum and would run away from Nitro, however, the visitors wouldn’t quit and closed the gap to within four points, 69-65, on Woodrum’s basket with 2:17 to play in the fourth.
Poniatowski made one of two free throws with 1:13 left to pull Nitro within six, 74-68, but Logan made 6 of 7 free throw attempts in the final 55 seconds to seal the win.
Both teams shot 50% from the field with Nitro making 25 of its 50 field goal attempts and Logan connecting on 30 of its 60 attempts. Logan made 9 of 22 3-pointers while Nitro made just 4 of 17 from beyond the arc.
Nitro was able to keep the game close by getting to the foul line. Nitro knocked down 22 of 29 from the foul line and was 15 for 19 in the first half. Logan made 11 of its 15 attempts from the foul line and was 7 of 9 in the fourth quarter.
Nitro, who has lost three straight and four of its last five games, will host Wayne on Tuesday while Logan will host sectional rival and AAA No. 5 Scott on Friday.
Logan 80, Nitro 76
Nitro (7-7)
Poniatowski 5-6 1-3 11, Lowe 7-13 6-7 22, Lovejoy 0-4 0-0 0, Crouch 6-14 8-10 20, Woodrum 4-8 6-7 15, Robbins 1-1 0-0 2, Legros 1-1 1-2 3, Stephens 1-2 0-0 3, Smith 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 25-50 22-29 76.
Logan (9-8)
Clancy 5-8 2-2 14, Browning, S. 6-14 2-3 16, Blankenship 5-11 1-2 13, Glick 6-12 0-0 15, Ilderton 4-5 5-5 13, Browning, D. 1-4 1-2 3, Miller 3-4 0-0 6, Workman 0-1 0-1 0, Berry 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 30-60 11-15 80.
Nitro 19 14 19 24- 76
Logan 19 18 25 18- 80
3-Point Field Goals_Nitro 4-17 (Lowe 2-5, Lovejoy 0-2, Crouch 0-2, Woodrum 1-5, Stephens 1-2, Smith 0-1), Logan 9-22 (Clancy 2-3, Browning, S. 2-5, Blankenship 2-5, Glick 3-4, Browning, D. 0-3, Workman 0-1, Berry 0-1). Fouled Out_None. Rebounds_Nitro 29 (Poniatowski 14), Logan 26 (Miller 5). Assists_Nitro 7 (Poniatowski 4), Logan 13 (Browning, S. 6). Total Fouls_Nitro 16, Logan 14. Technicals_None.