“I just came out and decided to shoot with some confidence,” Massie said. “I had a pretty good day of practice after that not-so-good performance against Southeastern (on Saturday).”
Senior Kyle Dingeman added 11 points for the Braves, who won their fourth straight game and improved to 6-2 overall. Shawnee scored a season-high 59 points after averaging 43 points per game in their first seven games.
“Offense has been a struggle for us a little bit, whether that’s been taking care of the ball or making open shots,” said Shawnee coach Chris McGuire. “The guys executed tonight. I thought we took what they gave us, which early on they were contesting the inside and we were able to kick it out. Holton was able to get open shots for stretches, knock them down and get some confidence. We even had some other guys hitting shots as well. It just kind of gets contagious.”
Senior Zac Thompson and junior Keegan Guenther each scored 10 points as the Irish fell to 4-3.
“We talked about not letting some of their 3-point shooters get hot from the beginning and really trying to contest it and we didn’t do a great job of that,” said Irish coach Matt Mullen. “We knew (Massie) was a good shooter from last year. He’s not shot it well this year and one of our things was to not let him get going and in the first quarter we gave up three wide open threes. So that started the downward spiral for us with those. He shot it really well obviously.”
Massie hit three 3-pointers in the first quarter to give the Braves an early 17-10 lead.
Catholic Central junior Berkeley scored five straight points to cut Shawnee’s lead to 21-15 midway through the second quarter, but a putback by Braves senior Connar Earles right before the half gave them a 27-18 lead at the break.
Massie hit three more 3-pointers in the third quarter as Shawnee extended its lead to 50-26.
“I practice those shots all the time in practice,” Massie said. “I was confident shooting them. It’s not like I was just throwing them up. I was confident in every single one I took.”
Massie hit another 3-pointer in the fourth quarter to tie the record set by Nick Weller in 2002.
“It’s really cool and he shot a great percentage,” McGuire said. “I think he was 7-for-10 or somewhere in that range. It helps when you shoot a high percentage and you get open looks and get some confidence. It’s too bad he couldn’t have hit one more of those and been able to knock it down, but he did a great job of taking good shots for the most part in those situations.”
While disappointed with the loss, Mullen knows the game will make them better, especially once they hit postseason play. The Irish travel to Greeneview on Friday night for a key Ohio Heritage Conference South Division game.
“In our league, there’s not a lot of teams that have (Shawnee’s size),” Mullen said. “This was a great test for us. It’s a great thing for us down the road to see what we have to work on. We’ve been able to overpower some people, be more athletic and bigger. It was great for us to go back to the drawing board and understand basic moves inside, stretching the floor a little bit and some things we have to do differently.”
Shawnee is 3-0 in the Central Buckeye Conference Mad River Division, a half-game ahead of both North Union (2-0) and defending champion Indian Lake (2-0). Shawnee hosts North Union on Friday night.
“We just want to grow from here and keep getting better,” Massie said.
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