The Outlook

Urbana led 27-22 at the half and led by only seven points heading into the final period with a 43-36 lead. That's when the visitors' defensive pressure picked up and Shawnee's offense got impatient and out of sorts. Urbana (10-1, 5-0) outscored Shawnee 22-4 to record the 25-point advantage. One key was that Urbana capitalized on ten points off of out-of-bounds plays underneath their own basket, when Shawnee continued to play man-to-man defense.
 
For Shawnee (8-4, 5-1) they were led by their outstanding 6'3” junior guard, Jaelin Williams, with 17 hard-earned points. Derek Tincher netted twelve points and hauled in seven rebounds for the Braves, as well. Williams is currently 4th in the CBC in points scored per game at 17.1, and Tincher is second in rebounding per game while hauling in 9.7.
 
Urbana had plenty of contributors, with center Zach Stillings leading the way, who worked for 23 points and 10 rebounds.
Junior guard Tristan Singer scored a career-high 21 points on 7 of  9 from the field and a perfect 5 for 5 at the charity stripe. Senior brother, Karl Singer added 13 points to the affair. Unselfish guard play by Connor Johns with seven assists, and Joe Wright with six assists, were key to the Climbers victory. Wright is leading the league in assists per game at 4.6, while Johns is ranked third with 4.1assists a game. Stillings is third in the CBC in scoring at 18.2 a game, while he ranks fourth in rebounds at 8.4 per game.
UPDATE: Since this game was played last Tuesday, each team has since played two games, with each squad winning both of their contests. Shawnee defeated Kenton Ridge on Friday 59-38,and defeated West Liberty-Salem 53-52 on Saturday.
 
In the KR game, Williams was a beast with 24 points and 17 rebounds. Tincher was tough, too, with 22 points and nine boards. Against WL-S, Williams continued to stay hot with 20 points and nine rebounds, while freshman guard Jaden Greenwood pitched in with 13 points. Tincher hit for 10 marks and nine boards. For the Tigers, Landon Hormann had 17 points and hauled in 10 boards, while Ross Hickenbottom tallied 16 points.
 
Urbana returned home on Friday and defeated a scrappy Ben Logan team 62-54. Then they traveled to North College Hill on Saturday and recorded a 59-47 win over the perennial Cincinnati power. Against Ben Logan, Stillings lit it up for 26 points, while sophomore Alex Niswonger recorded 12 points and Karl Singer had ten.
 
Stillings recorded a career-high 31 points against NCH, while Joe Wright hit double-digits by notching 13 points. Stillings has totaled 104 points in his last four games. Urbana has now won 10 consecutive contests.