The Woodruff Wolverines downed the Chesnee Eagles 60-43 on Friday night in a matchup of county AAA foes. "In the first half the pace was in our favor but we got sloppy in the second half,” said Chesnee head coach Andy Pitt. “We have some good stuff to work on though.” Woodruff jumped out to an 8-1 lead as they held Chesnee without a field goal from the floor for more than five minutes to open the game. The Eagles Nyquille O'Fair was able to end the drought for the Eagles with 2:45 remaining in the quarter. From that point on Chesnee outscored Woodruff 8-5 which was sparked by a pair of AJ Littlejohn baskets to pull within four of the Wolverines when the quarter ended. Chesnee tied the score on three separate occasions in the second quarter but could never take the lead away from the Wolverines. They got some key plays in the second quarter from Jacob Kimbrell as he scored five of his team's ten points in the quarter. "The run started on the defensive end,” said Pitt. “We were able to get some key stops and were able to convert on some easy buckets." Woodruff's Omarion McKelvin got the first basket of the second half but a 6-0 run gave Chesnee their first lead at 25-24 with 4:30 left in the third quarter. Woodruff responded with a run of their own as they went on a 13-2 run with Zy Scott scoring six points during that stretch for the Wolverines. They continued the momentum into the fourth quarter as they outscored the Eagles 20-12 during the final quarter. Jacob Kimbrell, Cole Hoskyns, and Brady Poole each had solid nights offensively for the Eagles as Kimbrell led the Eagles with nine points while Hoskyns added eight points and the youngest Eagle Poole added seven. Chesnee will return to action on Friday as they open the Chesnee Roundball Classic (DEC 27-28, & 30) against Catawba Ridge at 7:30 pm. GIRLS GAME The Woodruff Lady Wolverines downed the Chesnee Lady Eagles 63-43 in a rematch of last year's AAA playoffs on Friday night.
"We had opportunities but were unable to take advantage of them consistently,” said Chesnee head coach Carey Burns. “We got sloppy with our passes at times and they took advantage of that." Woodruff opened the game with an 8-0 lead by a pair of Brooke Bailey baskets. A pair of free throws from Abbey Ray capped off a 6-0 run for the Eagles that pulled them within two at 8-6 but Zavia Jeter's personal 6-0 run pushed Woodruff out to a 16-6 lead at the end of the first quarter. Ray got the Chesnee offense going again at the start of the second quarter as the Eagles outscored Woodruff 6-1 to open up the quarter. The Wolverines responded again like in the first quarter to the Chesnee run by going on a 17-6 run led by Jeter and Maddie Grace Runyan as the duo combined for ten of the seventeen points. The pace of play came to an almost screeching halt in the third quarter as both teams shot a combined twenty-six free throws. The Wolverines went four for twelve from the free throw line while the Eagles went nine of fourteen to outscore the Wolverines 13-10 in the quarter. The fourth quarter was once again the Zyvia Jeter show as she scored six points and had several steals that sparked the break that allowed her teammates to score. Jeter led all scorers with twenty-two points while Brooke Bailey added fourteen points and Maddie Grace Runyan added twelve points for the Wolverines. Abbey Ray led the Eagles with eighteen points while Jessa Beach added eight points and Brie Smith added five points of her own. Carley Hammett added four points off the bench for the Eagles. On Monday evening during the break between the boys and girls basketball games Chesnee honored their very own state championship competition cheerleading squad who back in November won the SCHSL AAA State Championship at Colonial Life Arena.
While the Eagles won the championship they also done it in an impressive fashion by winning the competition with a perfect score of 300. "I think when you have one opportunity and you all work for that one opportunity then you're one-hundred percent perfect. That is pretty amazing," said Chesnee athletic director James Hyatt about the team's perfect winning score. For three seniors the state championship is their second experience accomplishing this feat, as they also won it in 2015, and with all the hard work they have put in this one may be just a little more special. "It's just a great feeling knowing that all the hard work from 2015 until now has paid off," said Maci Hollifield. ""I couldn't have asked for anything more from Chesnee cheerleading as it has taught me so many life lessons. It has taught me how to expand and become a leader." When the cheerleading squad returned home from Columbia they were met with an impromptu parade down the main street through Chesnee. "It feels amazing and I'm just so happy all of our hard work paid off," said Tori Cash said about being a state champion. "It felt great to know our hometown was behind us and made all the work for eight months worth it." "I feel really honored and blessed with the support the community has shown us," said Bethani Dalton about the support the community has shown her team. She also said her coaches were special in making this happen, "They taught me to never give up and give it everything you got." The Eagles competition cheerleading is coached by Allie Tyner and assisted by Ashlyn Campbell while Deanna Watson is the team sponsor. The members of the 2019 state championship winning Chesnee competition cheer squad are Nichole Allen, Aubrey Aparis, Brianna Barnett, Kylee Briles,Tori Cash, Jada Churchill, Anna Kate Cooley, Bethanie Dalton, Melayna Davis, Michaela Davis, Destiny Dawkins, Emma Fogle, Callie Gray, Maci Hollifield, Abigail Johnson, Alexis Kincaid, Trinity Rhymer, Mckenzie Scruggs, Mallory Smith, Katie Faith Watson, Laikyn Westmoreland, Reagan Westmoreland, Savannah Wilkie, and Avery Wilson. After a disappointing loss to start the week the Chesnee Eagles bounced back in a big way on Thursday night as they defeated Blacksburg 60-51 for their first win over the Wildcats since 2014. "it's a really big win," said Chesnee basketball player Nyquille O'Fair. "After Monday's game it's a big comeback for us and we needed to comeback from the adversity and that's exactly what we did." Chesnee head basketball coach Andy Pitt shared in O'Fair's importance of the Eagles' victory over Blacksburg. "We faced some adversity on Monday that kind of spilled over into Tuesday and the guys responded," said Pitt. "We found a way to go out and get a win. It's amazing when a group of guys come together what they can accomplish." The Eagles jumped on the Wildcats early to start the game as they went on a 6-0 run in the first two minutes of the game and helped them take a 15-11 lead at the end of the first quarter. Blacksburg wasn't going to go down without a fight though as they outscored the Eagles 14-11 in the second quarter and just trailed the Eagles by one at halftime. The Wildcats continued to claw back against the Eagles lead and even had the game tied at 39-39 when the buzzer for the end of the third quarter sounded. Pitt said that he wasn't surprised by the way the way the Wildcats fought back in the game. "We knew Blacksburg was going to make a run," said Pitt. "Their teams always do and it seems like every time we play it's a hotly contested game and this one was no different." Pitt said that even despite the runs by Blacksburg he was very proud of the demeanor of his team. "We talked in pregame about attitude, effort and energy," said Pitt. "They were all getting up and cheering each other on and nobody got down when it was their turn to come out of the game but they kept their heads up." In the fourth quarter the Eagles took ahold of the game by outscoring Blacksburg 18-12 in the quarter with most of those points coming from the free throw line where the Eagles went ten of thirteen from the line. The Eagles were led in the quarter by O'Fair who scored eight his game high twenty points in the quarter with six of those coming from the free throw line where he said he knew how important those shots were late in the game. "It's a big focus point to make sure you knock down those shots late in the game," said O'Fair. "If you can step up and hit those shots from the line and get to the line it's a big part in winning the game." Pitt said the contribution on Thursday night from O'Fair and the post play from Cole Hoskyns, who scored seventeen points of his own, were key in the Eagles victory. "Nyquille made some big plays for us and I think he stepped up and put the team on his back especially early," said Pitt. "Then we fed Cole on the post and he found ways to make some big plays down there." Chesnee won't have a lot of time to celebrate their victory as they will return to action on Friday night as they host Greer. Lady Eagles Rally Falls Short Against WildcatsThe Chesnee Lady Eagles fell down early in the game but fought back to get within three before falling to Blacksburg 50-43 on Thursday night.
Chesnee was down 16-4 at the end of the first quarter and even trailed 24-8 at the five minute mark in the second quarter before a timeout was taken by the Eagles. Chesnee then responded with a 15-1 run to close the quarter and put Blacksburg's halftime lead at 28-23. Senior Abbey Ray scored ten of her game high twenty-five points in the quarter while also getting five points from Brie Smith and four points from Jessa Beach. In the third quarter the Wildcats outscored Chesnee 9-6 in a very low scoring quarter for both teams with Blacksburg leading 37-29 when the buzzer to end the quarter sounded. Chesnee started the fourth quarter on an 8-3 run and were within three points of the lead with just under five minutes to go in the game but the Wildcats followed the Chesnee run up with a 7-1 run of their own. The Eagles tried to make another run but were never able to get closer than five before ending up falling by seven to the Wildcats. While Ray led the Eagles on offense they also got a good night from Jessa Beach who also finished in double digits scoring thirteen points on Thursday night. The Lady Eagles will also be in action again on Friday night as they host Greer at 6:00 PM. The Chesnee Lady Eagles snapped a twelve game losing streak to the Landrum Lady Cardinals with a 45-34 win on Monday night as it was the Eagles first win over the Cardinals since a 53-52 win on January 29th, 2013. "This was a big win for my girls,” said Chesnee head coach Carey Burns. “We played four games last week and have three scheduled for this week so we have tired legs. This win will give us momentum heading into the remaining games this week and heading into region play." The Cardinals got the game started with an 8-2 run sparked by three pointers from Kara Knight and Bailey Butler. The Eagles soon cut the lead to two thanks to back to back baskets from Jessa Beach and Kymiah Blair. Another pair of threes extended the Landrum lead to 14-8 but back to back baskets by Abbey Ray and a free throw from Jamekia Evans cut the Landrum lead to 14-12 at the end of the first quarter. An Evans layup with six minutes left in the second quarter gave the Eagles their first lead of the night at 17-16. Landrum ended the half on a 7-1 run that was sparked by a Bailey Butler three pointer and Landrum used the run to build a 25-21 halftime lead. Chesnee opened the second half on a 12-2 run to take a 33-27 lead at the midway point of the third quarter with Jessa Beach and Kymiah Blair accounting for ten of the points during the run. The Cardinals responded with a 6-0 run to end the third quarter and into start of the fourth quarter to tie the game at 33. Free throw shooting in the fourth proved to be the difference maker for the Eagles as they made ten of thirteen attempts including a stretch of eight straight in the quarter to outscore Landrum 12-3 over the last quarter to pull out the win. "We shot the ball well from the line all game but to shoot well with the game on the line is all because of hard work during practice,” said Coach Burns. Jessa Beach and Kymiah lead all scorers with thirteen points apiece while Brie Smith and Abbey Ray each added eight points apiece for the Eagles. Bailey Butler lead the Cardinals with eleven points as Kara Knight scored eight points and Malani Hines added five points herself. Chesnee will be back in action on Thursday as they host the Blacksburg Wildcats starting at 6:30 PM with the boys game to follow. BOYS GAME The Landrum Cardinals downed the Chesnee Eagles by a score of 60-50 in a physical back and forth game on Monday night.
"When faced with adversity you have to maintain composure,” said Chesnee head coach Andy Pitt. “Unfortunately, it is a hard lesson to learn and we learned it tonight." Chesnee's Alijah Means got the scoring started but a quick 5-0 run for the Cardinals sparked by an Ethan Dugat gave the Cardinals a 5-2 lead. Alijah Means added another basket for the Eagles but Isaiah Washington's five first quarter points sparked the Cardinals to an 11-7 lead after one period of play. Cole Hoskyns got a put back to open the second quarter and pull the Eagles to within two but the Cardinals responded with a 9-2 run that started with an Austin Harris three pointer. The run sparked a fifteen point quarter for the Cardinals that helped them build a 26-17 halftime lead. Nyquille O'Fair helped the the Eagles outscore the Cardinals 14-12 in the third quarter by scoring seven third quarter points. In a game where it seemed to be all about runs with Landrum responding to every Chesnee run with a bigger run of their own. Chesnee cut the Cardinal lead to five but the Cardinals responded with a 14-5 run to build a 52-38 lead with just over two and a half minutes left and that run led the Cardinals to outscore the Eagles 22-17 and pull out a 60-50 victory. Isaiah Washington and Ethan Dugat combined for thirty-nine points for the Cardinals as Washington led the way with twenty-four points with Dugat adding fifteen points. The Eagles had three players finish in double figures as AJ Littlejohn led the way with fifteen points while Nyquille O'Fair added eleven points and KJ Valentine added ten more points. The Chesnee Eagles used a big run to down the Brashier Middle College Bengals 57-46 on Friday night in their season home opener. "We found a way to win it," said Chesnee head coach Andy Pitt. "We made our free throws and Matthew Lawter made a heck of a play on a loose ball to make a layup. That helped put us far enough ahead to pull out the win." The Bengal's Torrin Campbell scored the first basket of the game but the first quarter ended knotted up at five as KJ Valentine had a nice put back with just over a minute left in the quarter to tie the game. Brashier started the second quarter on a 7-4 run capped off by a Florian Parry runner down the lane. Chesnee responded with a three from Alijah Means that sparked an impressive 19-0 Chesnee run and held the Bengals without a point for 9:20 of game action. When the Bengals finally scored with 4:15 left in the third quarter Chesnee held a 28-14 lead. "A lot of that had to do with how we were playing on the defensive end," said Pitt. "Our defensive effort was holding them to only one shot." The Eagle's extended their lead to 42-24 after three quarters of play. Brashier had by far their best offensive quarter of the night in the final period as the Bengals scored 22 points. One of the keys to the Eagles ability to fend off a Bengals' comeback attempt was free throw shooting. The Eagle's started three of seven from the free throw line but hit fifteen of twenty from there to end the game and secure the win. Nyquille O'Fair led the Eagles with fourteen points while Alijah Means added nine points of his own. KJ Valentine scored eight points in the post for the Eagles as Cole Hoskyns added seven points down low as well. Hoskyns and AJ Littlejohn combined to help lead the Eagles to twenty bench points. Greg Campbell led the Bengals with twelve points and older brother Torrin Campbell added eleven points. Jake Laird was a spark off the bench for the Bengals as he hit three three-point shots on his way to ten points. The Eagles will be back in action on Saturday as they take on Spartanburg at 2:00pm at Dorman's Farm Bureau Insurance Tipoff. Lady Eagles Win On A Buzzer BeaterChesnee used a last second field goal to fight off a furious Bengals' rally to pull out a 37-35 win in front of the home crowd on Friday night
"This was a great win for my girls," said Chesnee head coach Carey Burns. "This will give them confidence going into some big games next week." Jessa Beach's bank shot sparked the Eagles to a 7-0 run to open the game before the Bengals responded with a 6-0 run of their own sparked by back to back baskets from Kelsey Brown. A basket from Abbey Ray with just under a minute left would give the Eagles an 11-8 lead at the end of the first quarter. After Brashier scored early in the second quarter the Eagles were able to end the half on a 9-0 run to build a 24-10 halftime lead as Carley Hammett scored five of the Eagle's nine points during the run. The Bengals opened the second half on a 5-0 run but back to back baskets from Hammett and Beach increased the Eagles lead to thirteen. Beach and Hammett combined again for back to back baskets to end the quarter and gave Chesnee a 32-20 lead after three periods of play. Brashier outscored the Eagles 15-3 in the opening 7:56 of the fourth quarter and had a chance to take the lead with under :30 to play but the Eagle defense came up with the stop. After the ball was knocked out of play under the Eagle's basket with :04 play Abbey Ray received the inbound pass and after missing her initial shot attempt she grabbed her own rebound and scored as time expired to give Chesnee the 37-35 win. "I really didn't want to go into overtime with this being our fourth game of the week," said Ray. "After the basket went in it was just a sigh of relief because this was a big win over a very good team." Abbey Ray and Jessa Beach led the Lady Eagles with nine points each and Carley Hammett added a spark off the bench with seven points of her own. Brie Smith did a solid job stepping into a starting role in the backcourt with Kymiah Blair as the duo had to deal with relentless pressure from the Bengals and Smith finished with a career high six points. "I thought Brie done an incredible job," said Burns. "Brie and Kymiah both stepped up tonight with ball handling." The Eagles will be back in action December 9th at 6:30pm as they host the Landrum Cardinals. On Friday morning in front of a large group of parents, friends and teammates in the Chesnee High School library Blake Scruggs and Caitlyn Cash both committed to continue their athletic careers at the college level next season.
Caitlyn Cash committed to Lander University where she will continue her golf career next season. Cash is one of the original members of the Chesnee golf program that finished in second place at the state championship this past season along with winning the Rebel Invitational, a tournament filled with many of the top golf programs in the state, Cash said that her commitment to Lander was in part because it reminded her a lot of her current team. "It's a great golf team and it's kind of like my Chesnee golf team because they're family oriented and very close knit," said Cash. "It's also a great school and the coach is a very great guy." Blake Scruggs committed to Erskine University on Friday morning where he will be competing on the men's volleyball team next season. He will competing in a sport next season that wasn't available in the high school ranks in South Carolina but he has been helping as a team manager for the Chesnee volleyball team that won the region this past season. While the sport isn't a high school league sanctioned sport in South Carolina currently it has been getting a lot of traction of becoming one in the state thanks to leagues like Upward, that has men's volleyball leagues, that Scruggs has been competing in over the past year. He said that the atmosphere and the opportunity to play volleyball are two of the main reason he chose to attend Erskine next year. "The atmosphere and people at Erskine, when I stepped foot on Erskine's campus I just knew that I was at home," said Scruggs. "When I went there the next week after my first visit everyone there just knew my name and where I was from, I didn't feel like just a number there. In South Carolina only three school's offer men's collegiate volleyball but out of all of them I just knew Erskine was the perfect school for me." |
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