CHESNEE, SC - In front of a large crowd of residents separated by less than ten miles, the Boiling Springs basketball teams took two victories over their district rivals Chesnee on Friday night which is the first of two matchups between the teams this year.
In the boys' game the Bulldogs used a strong defensive effort to capture a 71-38 victory over the Eagles. The victory marks the first victory for the Bulldogs in the regular season but also marks the first career victory for assistant coach Ernest Sinkfield, who was filling in for Bulldogs head coach Curtis Nash. "Our main focus was to be tough on defense and get back to playing good man-to-man defense," said Sinkfield. "We worked hard on it in practice yesterday and from the beginning we were in their face and passing lanes getting transitions on defense to create our offense." Boiling Springs got a good start from senior Austin Faile who started the game with two made free throws, a three-pointer, and then turned two back-to-back steals into breakaway layups as he led the Bulldogs to an 18-8 lead at the end of the first quarter. "I've been telling Austin since last year to be more confident in what he does on the court and he's really showing up this season," said Sinkfield. "He's been our shooter and our senior leader this year. We depend on him and tonight he set the tone for us early which spearheaded our performance in the game." In the second quarter the Bulldogs outscored the Eagles 13-8 to take a 31-16 lead into halftime, but it wasn't from the lack of effort from Chesnee sophomore Brady Poole who scored 13 of the Eagles 16 points in the first half. Boiling Springs kept up the pressure in the second half as senior Charkei Singleton six of his nine points, two of which were layups off steals, in the third quarter to go along with his game high four steals. Tre Locklear also connected on two big three-pointers for the Bulldogs in the third quarter to push their lead to 51-23 over the Eagles. Using a strong defense to create points it also forced the Bulldogs to get contributions from players outside just their starters which continued in the fourth quarter as both Ketrone Adams and Landon Sprouse combined to score eleven of the Bulldogs twenty fourth quarter points. Sinkfield said that it wasn't a surprise with their performance as they preach to their bench players to stay involved with the game because they never know when it might be their time to contribute to the game. "We talk to our bench all the time about being locked in and knowing what's going on at all times so when you get in the game you can perform at your best," said Sinkfield. "In practice we compete and when you get into the game, we don't expect a fall off because we're going to need you. I tell them we need everybody on this team to do their part and they did that tonight." Boiling Springs had three players finish in double figures as Tre Locklear led the way with 13 points followed by Austin Faile with 12 points, and Landon Sprouse with 10 points. Julius Camp Jr added nine points, seven rebounds, two blocks, and two steals. Chesnee was led in scoring by Brady Poole who scored 27 points to lead all scorers on Friday night. In the girl's game Boiling Springs used a pressure defense to pick up their first regular season win since 2019 by defeating Chesnee 51-33 as the Bulldogs avenged a close loss to the Eagles last year. "We really needed that regular season win," said Bulldogs head coach Dwayne Lytle. "Last season we started our first game out of Covid with a loss in this building so our girls came out with a little grit wanting to win this one as we returned most of our players from last year. The girls wanted to win this one for themselves and all of Bulldog nation." Boiling Springs got off to a hot start outscoring Chesnee 18-2 in the first quarter behind an outstanding performance from sophomore Sarah Ezell who scored 10 of her 13 points in the first quarter. "Sarah is such a talented player and we've told her she's a Division I type of basketball player," said Lytle. "We've worked on her increasing her confidence and believing in herself that she's a scorer which she done well tonight." Boiling Springs kept up the pressure in the second quarter as they didn't allow Chesnee to score their first points until midway through the quarter as they outscored the Eagles 9-7 to take a 27-9 lead into halftime. As the Bulldogs came out of halftime, they struggled to find traction early but that's when senior Ansley King stepped up scoring seven of her game high 14 points in the quarter. Lytle said King's performance is just a sample of the senior leadership that she brings to the team. "She brings that senior leadership and when she noticed we were down she decided she was going to take it on herself to get us back on track," said Lytle. "She performed to that senior ability that she has and it's good to have that on such a young team." In the fourth quarter the Eagles were able to cut the Bulldogs lead to within fourteen points, but Boiling Springs didn't allow them to get any closer as Chantel Lyles, Kylie McMillan, and Amiah Ellis combined to go 10 of 11 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter. The Bulldogs Ansley King led all scorers with 14 points to go along with five rebounds and three steals while Sarah Ezell joined her in double figures with 13 points, three rebounds, and two blocked shots. Chesnee was led in scoring by Pearl Holloway with eight points and 13 rebounds on Friday night. Boiling Springs will return to the court on Tuesday in a road game at Hillcrest while Chesnee will next play at home in a rematch against Broome on Tuesday night. Both Boiling Springs and Chesnee will meet again next Friday, as this time the Bulldogs will be the host team. -James McBee Comments are closed.
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