In a game that saw Chesnee trailing by as many as eighteen points in the first half, few would have seen the game coming down to the final minute with Boiling Springs walking away with a 56-53 victory and a fourth place finish at the 2019 Chesnee Roundball Classic.
After leading 39-17 at halftime behind a strong first half from sophomore guard Trey McManus, who scored seventeen of his game high twenty-two points in the first half, the Chesnee Eagles started their comeback. The Eagles outscored the Bulldogs 19-9 in the third quarter to put the score at 48-36 entering the final period of play. "I thought we came out of halftime not ready to go and I think Coach Pitt done a great job of getting his kids ready to go because they came out ready to compete," said Boiling Springs head coach Hal McManus. "We knew they weren't going to give up and they came out turning the defensive pressure up and we didn't handle it well." Chesnee was able to finish their comeback when AJ Littlejohn hit a three-pointer with just over two minutes to go in the game and the Eagles grabbed a 52-50 lead. The Bulldogs may have trailed but they weren’t done as Corey Johnson soon responded with a shot to tie the game at 52-52 with just under two minutes left. Coming out of a timeout Boiling Springs’ Trey McManus made a steal on an Eagles pass and sent the ball ahead to Johnson for a go-ahead layup while also adding a free throw to cap off a 6-1 run for the Bulldogs to end the game. "I told our kids that I was proud of how when we went down two there late they didn't hang their heads and they made every play there at the end of the game to finish it out for the win," said McManus. "Our senior Cameron Bocksteigel came over during a timeout reminding the guys that we were still okay and we just needed to settle down and it was exactly what needed to be said. Then Corey makes a big play and we were able to get the win." Khalil Brown who averaged over ten points a game for the Bulldogs in the tournament was named to the Chesnee Roundball Classic All-Tournament team. The Eagles also saw Nyquille O’Fair named to the All-Tournament team on Monday afternoon. The Bulldogs finish the tournament with a 2-1 record defeating both Chesnee and Greer with their only loss coming on the opening day against eventual tournament runner-up Blacksburg. "We have a lot of things we still need to work on but I'm proud of the team winning two games in a tournament with this much talent," said McManus. "Only one team is going to win three and that's the champion so to get two wins against these players, coaches, and teams I'm happy with that result." Boiling Springs will return to action on January 3rd as they travel to take on the Byrnes Rebels. Chesnee will next play January 4th at Landrum. Comments are closed.
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