LOWELLVILLE — Varsity experience can play such a big role in the success of a team.

On Tuesday night, the veteran Columbiana Clippers showcased why experience is so critical as they knocked off the Lowellville Rockets boys basketball team in a non-conference game for both clubs, 60-38.

“It’s a huge game for tournament time,” Columbiana senior Hunter Zentner said. “We only get 22 (games), and I’m a senior, so you have to come out and play hard every night. For the past four years, we have not been that good. This year we have the seniors, we have experience and we are playing great.”

This is different from years past for Columbiana (12-3).

“It’s huge because in the past when a team goes on a run or a team gets into a little bit I would have to burn a timeout and try to settle us down,” Clippers coach Todd Johnson said. “Now that we are older, we have a lot of tread on those tires, so to speak. The kids are able to calm it down a little bit. To have all those varsity minutes is key for us this year.”

It’s a little different for a young Lowellville (6-8) team.

“It’s been a bit of a roller-coaster ride with this group,” Rockets coach Matt Olson said. “We have had a couple of good wins then we come back and have our ups and downs. We are just struggling on offense and teams are recognizing that. We are not shooting it good right now. You’re not going to win many games scoring just 38 points.”

Perhaps more importantly, the win eradicated the Clippers’ 69-65 loss to Wellsville last Friday.

“We had a sour taste in our mouths from the last game against Wellsville and we wanted to come out here and prove a point that we can bounce back,” Zentner said.

Johnson agreed.

“As Hunter said, the kids had a sour taste in their mouth about letting one get away at Wellsville, but we were excited and ready to go with the challenge at Lowellville,” he said. “Lowellville is a young team, they are huge and they are going to be a good team for years to come. So it was a good win for us.”

The Clippers wasted little time in taking control of the game as they raced out to a 9-1 lead before the Rockets finally hit a field goal from Cole Bunofsky with 4:35 left in the opening frame. The Clippers went on a 17-8 run to end of the quarter.

The Clippers doubled up the Rockets 22-11 at the 6:10 mark of the second quarter when Dalton Whitehair knocked down his first of two 3-pointers. After the Rockets had whittled the Clippers lead down to eight at 26-18, the Clippers closed the half with an 8-0 run to carry a 34-18 lead into the intermission.

Sean Whitehead’s basket a little more than a minute into the second half pushed the Clippers’ lead to 38-18. The Rockets rallied with an 8-0 run to close the gap to 12 with 5:42 remaining in the period. However, the Clippers closed the period with an 8-2 run to hold a commanding 45-28 lead at the end of the third quarter.

“We gave up two lay-ups without boxing out, and it’s little things like that I’m hoping in time that with these kids getting the experience we can clean up,” Olson said. “There are just little things like that and then it balloons again,”

The Clippers stretched out their lead to a game-high 25-points midway through the four-quarter at 58-33 before the Rockets fought back to finish the game at the 22-point final margin.

“Columbiana is an experienced group,” Olson said. “Any team like that is a quality team that of course is going to help us at tournament time. But we have to get better. We’re not honestly worried about who we are playing, we’re just worried about ourselves right now, and we know what we have to do to get better.”

The league-leading Clippers return to Eastern Ohio Athletic Conference play Friday when they host the United Eagles. The Rockets attempt to bounce back when they travel to Mineral Ridge Friday in Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference action.