ONEIDA — Clay County built an early cushion and held on down the stretch for a 67-59 win over Oneida Baptist on Monday in a 49th District matchup.
The victory improves the Tigers to 9-5 overall and 1-1 in district play while Oneida Baptist drops to 3-7 on the season and 0-1 against district opponents.
Clay County set the tone early, edging ahead 16-14 at the end of the first quarter before taking control with a strong second period. The Tigers outscored Oneida Baptist 17-5 in the quarter to take a 33-19 lead into halftime.
The Tigers continued to build separation in the third quarter, stretching the margin to 55-39 entering the fourth. Oneida Baptist mounted a late push, but Clay County did enough to close out the win.
Aiden Wagers led the Tigers with 22 points, while Jacob Rogers added 17. Adon Grubb finished with 12 points to give Clay County three players in double figures.
Oneida Baptist was paced by Skyler Roberts, who led all scorers with 24 points. Tommy Branstutter added 13 for the Mountaineers.
Despite the win, Clay County coach Michael Jones said his team still has areas to clean up moving forward.
“Tonight we were lackadaisical for too many stretches,” he said. “We had four different times where we got a good lead and looked like we were going to stretch it on out, but then we would go into a lull on both ends of the floor. I’m not sure if it’s the fact we’ve played 10 straight games on the road with minimal practices, or what, but it’s my job to correct it. I have to do a better job at getting us mentally ready.”
