Correspondent photo / Lowell Spencer Columbiana's Seth Struharik drives through the Lakeview defense for a basket during a game in Columbiana on Tuesday.

COLUMBIANA — The Columbiana Clippers proved that they can be a dangerous squad this season when they execute the game plan. Tuesday night they knocked off the Lakeview Bulldogs, 60-51, in a contest that included numerous highs and lows.

With the victory, the Clippers improved to 3-0 on the season while the Bulldogs dropped to 2-2 on the campaign.

For the Clippers, the game seemed to turn early in the second quarter when they entered the frame nursing a slim 3-point advantage at 14-11. They would execute their offense while playing sound defense to reel off a 9-2 run to surge out to a 10-point 23-13 advantage by the 4:55 mark of the stanza.

“I thought we did a great job with our half-court man,” Clippers head coach Todd Johnson said. “We were sound and offensively; we ran through our sets, and we were able to get the buckets off that.”

They continued to build that advantage out to 17 by the 3:03 mark when Clipper senior guard Seth Struharik drilled a three to make it 32-15 in favor of the Clips. Struharik would score a game-high 27 points in the contest.

“When we can play team ball, we can be pretty dangerous, and they showed that tonight,” Johnson said. “When we move the ball well, pass the ball and they run through our sets, we can be a pretty good team.”

The Clippers continued to pull away as they built an 18-point lead at 34-16 two minutes later. The Bulldogs were able to convert a couple of free throws late in the half to reach a 34-19 score by the intermission.

“We told our guys that they run a lot of sets,” Bulldogs head coach Steve Procopio said. “That have really good shooters out there. They hit some shots in that second quarter and really stretched things out. We just recover from there.”

The Clippers continued to apply the pressure to start the second half as they opened the third quarter with an 8-2 run to reach a game-high 21-point advantage at the 5:34 mark of the period following a basket by the Clippers junior forward Cooper Brown. However, the Bulldogs kept fighting as they cut the deficit to 18 by the close of the quarter, 50-32 in favor of the Clippers.

“We’re a tough group of kids,” Procopio said. “We are resilient. Columbiana did a great job of taking us out of our rhythm. When that happens, you need to have a response and unfortunately, we didn’t.”

The Bulldogs showed a lot of heart as they battled to the end cutting the deficit down to just 11 at 54-43 with just under three minutes remaining in the contest. Following two technical fouls on the Bulldogs, the Clippers boosted their lead back out to 15 with a little over two and a half minutes left. That’s when the low of the night occurred.

The Clippers freshman standout guard Senator Johnson drove to the basket with just 2:22 remaining but slipped and suffered a knee injury which required a stoppage of play for the paramedics to transport him for further treatment.

The Bulldogs closed the contest after the injury delay with an 8-2 run to reach the 9-point 60-51 final margin. The Bulldogs would outscore the Clippers 19-10 in that final frame.

“It was very sloppy at the end, to say the least,” Johnson said. “We had a lot of young guys in there and unfortunately, we had a couple of guys foul out. That was the first time a lot of those boys were in that situation. It’s a growing experience and it will continue to be a growing experience.”

Leading the Bulldogs on the night was Isaiah Lantz with 16 points while Trace Goyzueta added 13. Carter Doan led the Dogs on the boards with 9 rebounds.

“We preach to keep battling to the end, but we need to be a better basketball team in that second quarter. Basketball is a game of runs and we talk about it all the time. A team is going to have their run, and you need to have an answer for that run,” Procopio said.

The Bulldogs will return to the court Friday when they host Niles McKinley in an NE8 opening contest. The Clippers also open league play on Friday when they host Leetonia in an EOAC matchup.