Scott Boston scores 22 points, leads Sebring boys basketball past Mineral Ridge

SEBRING — Sebring won its second consecutive game and recorded its first league win in two seasons as the Trojans posted a 66-56 Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference boys basketball triumph over the visiting Mineral Ridge Rams Tuesday night.

After locking up the 10-point victory, members of the Trojans’ team ran across the court and celebrated their first league win with members of the Sebring student body and pep band for nearly five minutes.

“We got the monkey off our back,” said Sebring coach Lee Knepp. “I’m proud of our effort.”

The Trojans are now 3-5 overall and 1-3 in the MVAC.

“They gave us a good game and they’re always going to be tough at their place,” said Mineral Ridge coach Eric Harper of the Trojans. “They played hard and made shots, and at the end of the day, that’s what it's all about.”

Leading the Trojans’ offensive outburst was senior Scott Boston, who took game-scoring honors with 22 points, including some incredible scores on twisting layups to go along with four of Sebring’s eight 3-pointers on the night.

“I’ve been struggling [scoring] all season and this was just a good game — I just put it all aside and just let it go,” said Boston. “It feels great. We struggled last year and I feel like this year we’re more of a team and we’re so much more consistent overall. We’re going to have lows, but this year we’re able to bounce back from it and it’s amazing to see.”

Knepp praised Boston’s big night.

“Scott really did [have a nice game],” he said. “He is an all-conference kid from last year’s team and we’re expecting big things out of him. He struggled a little bit early on with his shot, but tonight he showed what he’s capable of doing.”

Boston had plenty of help as Sebring placed three other players in double figures. Teammate Dustin Black added 15 points and Caden Shepherd and Kade Leasure finished with 15 each.

Pacing Mineral Ridge (0-9 overall, 0-4 in the MVAC) was Trey Rigley with 16 points, while Jonathan Rozzi added 10 and Ian Erb had eight points.

“I’m not going to mince words. We have a team with guys who have played and we need to focus on what we need to focus on and what the coaching staff preaches and the captains preach,” said Harper. “We have to get those locks on the defensive end because those turn into offense and momentum when you get stops.”

Sebring’s quick defense forced 17 turnovers out of the Rams.

“We were able to execute our game plan and we were able to mix up defenses a little bit and show them [the Rams] some different things there and I think that affected their play a little bit,” said Knepp.

There were three lead changes in the first quarter but Sebring forged a two-point (19-17) advantage after one quarter, following a fielder by Boston with three seconds showing in the frame.

Boston, who had a game-high 13 points at intermission, led Sebring’s surge in the second quarter as the Trojans took as much as a seven-point (32-25) lead after a layup by Black with 1:01 left before the break. Mineral Ridge narrowed the Trojans’ advantage to three points (32-29) by halftime.

The Trojans took as much as a nine-point (43-34) advantage in the third period but the Rams battled back again to knot things at 45-45 heading into the final quarter.

But the fourth period belonged to Sebring. The Trojans outscored the Rams 19-11 in the stanza, including a 10-5 run in the final five minutes to close out the 10-point win.

“Our guys really played smart with under three minutes [left],” said Knepp. “We were able to close out the game and we didn’t rush anything. We had a couple turnovers but overall we did a pretty good job of clock management and not forcing anything that would have helped them get back in the game.”

“It’s basketball, so it’s a game of runs,” said Harper. “So you have to be able to weather those storms.”

This article originally appeared on The Alliance Review: Sebring McKinley boys basketball defeats Mineral Ridge