When officials in Spartanburg County's district two office go to watch a sporting event in the district, it's rare that they can go watch both schools play in the same location but that's exactly what happened on Monday night as the Boiling Springs Bulldogs captured a 74-53 victory over the Chesnee Eagles in the first regular season game for both schools. "I think this is a great game for both communities," said Bulldogs head coach Hal McManus. "Both sides have a lot of passionate fans and it created a great environment." Boiling Springs was able to grab an early 20-13 lead at the end of the first quarter behind five first quarter points from senior guard Zach Baldinelli. In the second quarter the Bulldogs fell behind as Chesnee went on a 10-0 run and grabbed a 23-20 lead over Boiling Springs with just over five minutes to go in the quarter. One of the major factors to the Chesnee second quarter run was Eagles junior guard Dez Tate, a top five senior in AAA, as he led the Eagles with fifteen first half points. "I think we surprised some people in the first half," said Chesnee head coach Andy Pitt. "I'm really proud of the effort that our guys put together for the whole thirty-two minutes." The Bulldogs were able to end the Chesnee run when Boiling Springs senior Chance Guest scored to put the score at 23-22 just inside the five minute mark of the second quarter. Guest led the Bulldogs in the second quarter as he scored seven points in the quarter. After the Chesnee 10-0 run, the Bulldogs outscored the Eagles 36-14 from the five minute mark in the second quarter to the end of the third quarter giving Boiling Springs a 56-37 lead at the end of the third quarter after claiming a 35-27 halftime lead. "We done a poor job of containing Tate there in the first half and he's a really good player" said Coach McManus. "In the first half they seemed to come out with more energy than we did and they took advantage of the gaps in our defense but I think our guys made great adjustments there in the second half." Chesnee's Dez Tate led all scorers on Monday night as he scored twenty-six points while Ahmad Smith also added ten points for the Eagles. Boiling Springs' ended the night with three players in double figures in points with all three being seniors as Zach Baldinelli scored eighteen points, Hunter McCravey scored sixteen points and Chance Guest scored fifteen points. The Bulldogs will return to action on Friday night as they travel to Broome while the Eagles will return to action on Thursday as they face JL Mann at the Farm Bureau Insurance Tipoff at Dorman. Girls GameThe Boiling Springs girl's basketball team was able to grab a 52-16 victory over Chesnee on Monday night and Boiling Springs coach Dwayne Lytle said it was exactly what the team needed after a tough preseason tournament last week.
"We played a lot of tough teams there in the Greenville tournament," said Bulldogs head coach Dwayne Lytle. "We needed to see how all facets of our game looked and I think tonight we looked really good." The Bulldogs were able to jump out to a 33-9 halftime lead behind some key contributions from their bench including junior Abby Hodge who led the Bulldogs in scoring with twelve points on Monday night. "We're graduating four seniors so it was important to get a lot of players in tonight," said Coach Lytle. "I felt we came out a little flat early but that second group was able to come in and give us a spark." The Bulldogs also got good performances from Arissa Edwards who scored eight points and from Arika Dile who scored seven points. Chesnee was led on offense by senior Sierra Bowen who scored eight points and by sophomore Paige Scruggs who scored five points. The Bulldogs will return to action on Friday night at Broome while the Eagles will host Blacksburg on Friday night. On Thursday morning the Boiling Springs Bulldogs had six student athletes sign to play college athletics next season. It was the first signing day of the year for the Bulldogs but that wasn't the only reason it was special as all six athletes on Thursday that signed were also female student athletes. The first of the athletes to sign on Thursday was Amber Amaker who signed to continue her golfing career at USC Upstate next season. Amaker has been a member of the Boiling Springs varsity girls golf team since she was a seventh grader where she was named All-State as a junior and also named All-Region as a sophomore, junior and as a senior. Amaker said that coaching played a major role in her decision to choose USC Upstate. "I fell in love with the campus and the coach at Upstate," said Amaker. "The coach understands that while golf is important that education comes first." The Bulldogs also had two twin sisters decide to continue their swimming careers together next season as Rachel Peden and Rebecca Peden both decided to sign with Carson-Newman University. Both sisters are five year letterman for the Boiling Springs swim team while Rachel holds school records in the 500 Freestyle and 100 Butterly while Rebecca holds the school records in the 200 Freestyle and the 200 Medley Relay plus the 400 Freestyle Relay. Rachel was the 2018 region champion. While both girls committed to swim at Carson-Newman next year, going to the same school wasn't always the plan according to them. ""We always said we would choose a college that we each specifically wanted to go to," said Rachel Peden. "It just so happened that we fell in love with the same school." Boiling Springs volleyball player Maddie Reed also signed on Thursday as she signed to play with Lander University next season. Reed finished her Bulldog career with over 1,000 kills and was named All-Region both her junior and senior seasons. She said that Lander just seemed to be the perfect fit for her. "It just felt like home," said Reed. "I went to all these other colleges but never felt as comfortable at any of them as I did when I was on the campus at Lander." Caroline Reese committed on Thursday to continue her basketball career at Southern Wesleyan University next season. Reese is a four year starter for the Bulldogs basketball team and has won two All-Region awards while also being named as preseason All-Region for the upcoming season. "Southern Wesleyan just felt like a great fit," said Reese. "I really felt at home there and the atmosphere is just amazing." The Bulldogs cross country team was also represented on Thursday as Caroline Garner signed to run for Spartanburg Methodist College next season. She has ran since the eighth grade for the team and said that once she visited Spartanburg Methodist College she knew it was the place she wanted to go. "As soon as I took the tour it just felt like where I was supposed to be," said Garner. "I actually told my mom after the tour that I wasn't looking at any other colleges because this is where I am supposed to be." On Thursday night the Boiling Springs Bulldogs were on the wrong side of the Jamario Holley show as they fell 54-35 in the first round of the 5A playoffs. Holley, a South Carolina football commitment, accounted for five of Northwestern's eight touchdowns on the night with the first one coming on the opening kickoff as he returned the ball ninety-four yards to give the Trojans an early 7-0 lead.
"Holley is a big-time player," said Boiling Springs head coach Rick Tate. "I think the plays him and some of those other guys were able to make in the open field was really the difference in the game." While Holley did return the opening kickoff, Boiling Springs' senior Caden Peeler wasn't going to be outdone as he returned the ensuing kickoff himself for a ninety-eight yard touchdown run to put the game at 7-6 in favor of Northwestern with less than a minute gone in the game after the extra point was blocked. At the midway point of the first quarter a play that left many in the stands and on the sidelines scratching their heads saw Boiling Springs recover a Northwestern fumble and return the ball to the Trojans five yard line that was later ruled to be another fumble into the end zone eventually ending in what the referees decided was a touchback for Northwestern much to the displeasure of the Bulldogs fans in attendance. After the craziness of the previous play Northwestern took advantage of their good luck as quarterback Dustin Noller connected with Holley on a sixty-eight yard touchdown pass to extend their lead to 14-6 with just over two minutes left in the first quarter. Boiling Springs was able to get the score closer right before the quarter ended as sophomore running back Charles McFadden ran the ball in from three yards out to put the game at 14-12 Northwestern at the end of the first quarter. Northwestern extended their lead to 21-12 early in the second quarter when Holley scored his third touchdown of the game this time on a two yard touchdown run. On the Bulldogs next possession they were able to get a forty yard field goal from junior kicker Tanner Robbins to make the Northwestern lead 21-15. The Bulldogs weren't done scoring in the first half though as just before the half ended junior quarterback Aaron Thomas found senior running back Trey Miller on a forty-seven yard screen pass to give Boiling Springs a 22-21 halftime lead. As with each quarter before it, the third quarter started the same way with as the rest had with a touchdown by Northwestern's Jamario Holley as he was able to find the end zone two minutes into the second half on a fifty-two yard touchdown pass from Holler to give the Trojans a 27-22 lead. At the midway point of the third quarter Northwestern would extend their lead to 34-22 when running back Antonio Heath ran the ball in from seven yards out for a touchdown. The Bulldogs were able to cut into the Northwestern lead just before the end of the third quarter when Charles McFadden scored his second touchdown of the night on an eighty yard touchdown run to put the score at 34-28 in favor of the Trojans at the end of the third quarter. Holley would open up the fourth quarter just like he had the previous three when he ran the ball in from five yards out for a touchdown to give Northwestern a 40-28 lead. Northwestern's Antonio Heath would extend the Northwestern lead to 47-28 when he ran the ball in from thirty-one yards out for his second touchdown run of the night. With just over four minutes to go in the game the Bulldogs were able to get another score when quarterback Aaron Thomas ran the ball in from seven yards out to put the score at 47-35 in favor of Northwestern. The score was setup by a seventy-two yard kickoff return by Charles McFadden. Northwestern would add a final score with just over a minute to go in the game when Marquez Cherry scored from one yard out to give the Trojans a 54-35 victory over the Bulldogs in the first round of the 5A playoffs. The Trojans will face the winner of Spartanburg and TL Hanna on Friday night. Boiling Springs on Thursday night ran for 224 yards and were led by Charles McFadden who had ninety-eight yards with two touchdowns on six carries and by Trey Miller who ran for ninety-two yards on fifteen carries. "I'm really proud of how the guys kept fighting tonight," said Coach Tate. "We just made too many mistakes tonight and you just can't do that during the playoffs." Congratulations to Boiling Springs Football player Aaron Thomas on being named this week’s Boiling Springs Sports Journal’s Athlete of the Week. Aaron threw for 249 yards and three touchdowns last week against Byrnes. Congratulations to the Chesnee Volleyball team on being named the Boiling Springs Sports Journal’s Athletes of the Week. They finished the regular season in second place in their first season in Region II-3A and also made it to the second round of the 3A playoffs.
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