BSHADYSIDE – Losing three quality starters off a high school basketball team is never easy, however, veteran head coach Ed Andes may have found a good mix to go along with his two returning mainstays in the Tigers’ season-opener Tuesday night.

While senior Elijah Brock dominated on the inside, as expected, and junior Ben Wach was Shadyside’s floor general, junior Tyler Stottlemyer took control in the fourth quarter while Dylan Booth and Karl Tsoras more than showed their worth.

Brock capped a double-double with 24 points, including 16 in the second half, to go along with 11 rebounds while Wach added 14 and Stottlemyer 13, all off the bench and over the final eight minutes, as the Tigers overcame a five-point halftime deficit to post a hard-fought, 57-53, victory over Barnesville inside the Tiger Den.

While the win creeps Andes ever closer to the 400 victory mark, the 25-year head coach was very proud of his team’s effort.

“Very proud of these guys right now,” Andes admitted. “When you lose three starters you have to find kids to replace them, and I think we have. It’s nice to go out and get the first right off the bat and give some young varsity players confidence.

Tsoras and Booth each buried early triples in the first quarter, their only baskets of the night, to help Shadyside pull to a 12-8 lead after one. However, the coach Johnny Hines’ Shamrocks got hot in the second quarter, taking advantage of both Wach and Brock being rested later in the frame.

Junior Asa Geilinger tallied seven of his team-high 19 in the second as Bsrnesville used an 10-0 run to overcome a 19-14 deficit and close the half with a 24-19 advantage. Freshman Ryler Willis’ bonus-bomb gave the visitors the lead at 21-19 before Geilinger nailed a triple with eight seconds showing to send the teams to the locker room at the half.

Wach scored the initial five points of the third chapter to knot the score at 24 before senior Jon Blizzard answered with five in a row for the Shamrocks to put them back in front. After another Wach hoop, Brock took over on the inside scoring the final 10 points of the third and giving the Tigers the lead for good at 36-33.

Through the initial three quarters the lead changed hands seven times with the teams tied on two occasions.

Stottlemyer wrapped a pair of three-point goals around a Taison Starr free throw to give Shadyside its biggest lead of the night at 42-34 with 6:59 to go. After Barnesville had cut the lead to four the sharpshooter nailed his third deep ball of the quarter to push the margin back to seven at 51-44 with 3:50 remaining. In all, Stottlemyer was four of four from the floor and hit both of his charity tosses in the final quarter.

The ‘Rocks trimmed the deficit down to three with 2:07 to play, but the Tigers managed to convert enough free throws to keep distance between the teams down the stretch.

“That shot from the corner is Stottlemyer’s favorite shot,” Andes said. “I am very proud of him he did a good job spotting up and shot the ball with confidence. I told them in the huddle to get the ball to him, he was hot.

“We got a little tired in the second quarter, and I hate to pull Ben (Wach) and Elijah (Brock) off at the same time, but they both still have those football legs and they needed some rest. We fell behind with them out, but in the long run it paid off with Elijah taking over on the inside in the third quarter and Ben doing a great job penetrating.

“It was a game of runs, but we managed to knock down enough shots. It really was a great team win.”

For Hines, whose team dipped to 1-1 on the young campaign, it is all about executing and finding some consistency.

“We are still trying to find our identity and figure out who is going to score points outside of Asa,” Hines said. “That leads to some inconsistency and we have to get that straightened out. We actually got some really good looks, but the shots weren’t going down.

“Shadyside is a good, physical, well-coached team and they executed better than we did (Tuesday). Give credit to Stottlemyer, we left him open and he knocked down some big shots, kudos to him. As far as Brock goes he is just a handful and we were putting two and three defenders on him and trying to body him up and he was going right through us.

Brock took over the game in the third quarter and I can tell you that he is going to be trouble for a lot of teams this year.”

Shadyside made 22 of 48 shots in the contest with 29 rebounds and 11 turnovers Meanwhile, Barnesville was 19 of 52 from the floor with 24 caroms and also 11 miscues. Blizzard finished with 13 points for the Shamrocks, with seven boards, while Starr had 11.

The Tigers will travel to Buckeye Local Friday night while the Shamrocks will host Buckeye Trail.