CHESNEE, SC - Chesnee basketball opened the 2021 Chesnee Roundball Classic with an impressive 72-62 victory over York as they got a stout performance from their leading scorer in his first game back.
”We came out early and played well from the start,” said Chesnee head coach Andy Pitt. “York has struggled of late and we knew if we could jump out early on them if would be big for us. I think we got some good looks early and were able to knock them down. We got some momentum while getting some key plays from Ty Dawkins, KJ Valentine, and Brady Poole.” The Eagles jumped out to a 19-9 lead at the end of the first quarter as Brady Poole and Ty Dawkins combined to score 17 of the team’s 19 points in the quarter. They kept their ten point advantage when the halftime buzzer sounded as they led 30-20 as Poole led the way with 11 points for the Eagles to give him 21 points at the break. Coming out of halftime the Cougars from York County made a run at the Eagles as they cut the Chesnee lead to four points at 52-48 behind a combined 26 points from Bryson Steele and Joel Strait. In the fourth quarter the Eagles saw Brady Poole and Ty Dawkins go 11 of 14 from the free throw line as they extended their lead back to a ten point advantage as both players combined for a total of 15 points in the final quarter. Poole led all scorers on Tuesday night as he finished the night with 40 points in his first game back from an injury while Ty Dawkins had an impressive game finishing the night with 16 points while adding nine rebounds and four steals. ”It feels good to have our team back at full strength tonight,” said Pitt. “Carson has been out four games while Brady has been out three and a half games so being without your two starting guards is tough. I tell you what though Ty Dawkins done an admiral job in their absence against some teams who took advantage of our weakness during that time. Having everyone back tonight was big and put us back in our normal rotation but I think the absence of those guys just made us a deeper team because other players got a chance at quality playing time.” Chesnee will be back in action on Wednesday when they host district rival Boiling Springs at 6:00 PM as both teams compete for a spot in the championship game on Thursday. The winner of Wednesday’s game will face the winner of the Fort Mill and Catawba Ridge game that will be played after the conclusion of the Boiling Springs and Chesnee game. As the director of the tournament, Coach Pitt said that he was proud of how the first day of the tournament went as things ran ahead of schedule with a quality day of basketball. ”As tournament director I was happy that every game started before it was supposed to which who has ever heard of a tournament running ahead of schedule,” said Pitt with a laugh. “We had competitive games all the way through starting with a three point game between Spartanburg Day and Catawba Ridge this morning. It was a pretty good first day and we’re looking forward to the last two days of the tournament.” CHESNEE, SC - The Chesnee girls basketball team defeated Broome 37-24 on Tuesday night to pick up their first win of the season as well as giving head coach Derek Byars his first win of his career.
"It feels good to pick up this win," said senior guard Brie Smith. "We all played good and ran our offense well." The Eagles jumped out to a quick 6-0 lead as they got a pair of three-pointers from Brie Smith and Hannah Henderson. After Broome's Destiny West scored to break the Centurions scoring drought, the Eagles tacked on four more points to build a 10-2 lead after the first quarter of play. Broome outscored the Eagles 8-3 in the second quarter but thanks to Smith's second three pointer of the game the Eagles took a 13-10 lead into the halftime break. The third quarter saw a key point in the game as the Eagles went on a 6-0 run near the midpoint of the quarter that was started by a Haley Edmonds basket and stretched the Eagle's 18-14 lead to 24-14. The fourth quarter opened with the Eagles scoring the first six points of the quarter at the free throw line that built their lead to 33-22 over the Centurions. Free throws and three pointers were two big differences in the game as Chesnee sank four three pointers and eleven free throws while the Centurions only made one three pointer and just three free throws. "Our offense is designed to get us to the free throw line and get open shots," said Smith. "When we get those opportunities, we have made them like we did tonight." Brie Smith led the Eagles with 17 points while Hannah Henderson, Haley Edmonds, and Tahira Barnes each added six points for the Eagles. Destiny West led the Centurions with 12 points on Tuesday night. In the boys' game Broome downed the Chesnee 71-69 in a back-and-forth matchup between the two schools. The first quarter showed those in attendance how the game was going to go as Broome's Dylan Ramirez and Chesnee's Brady Poole traded big shots as both players scored 12 points in the quarter that saw Chesnee build a 17-13 lead. Ramirez hit his third three pointer of the night to give Broome the lead early in the second quarter but after Elijah Wease tied it for Chesnee, Poole gave them the lead back on the following possession. Ramirez hit another three to close out the half to give Broome a 34-32 halftime lead. Poole added ten points in the third quarter while Ramirez scored seven points. MJ Sims helped the Centurions build on the halftime lead as he scored eight points in the quarter as they built a 54-48 lead after the third period. After Daniel Wease sank a shot to tie the game with six and a half minutes to go, Dylan Ramirez sank another three-pointer to give the Centurions the lead back. After an Elijah Wease three pointer and a Brady Poole three-point play put the Eagles up 67-62, Kendre Sinclair and Ramirez sank back-to-back three-pointers to reclaim the lead. Brady Poole sank a shot to put the Eagles up 69-68 but Zyon Wilkins made a contested layup while also sinking a free throw to give the Centurions a 71-69 lead they wouldn't relinquish. Chesnee's Brady Poole led all scorers with 37 points while Daniel and Elijah Wease each added 10 points for the Eagles. Broome's Dylan Ramirez had 33 points to lead the Centurions as MJ Sims added 16 points and Zyon Wilkins added 11 points for the Centurions. Both Chesnee teams will be back in action on Thursday when they host Chapman before traveling to Boiling Springs on Friday night. -Andrew Eison CHESNEE, SC - The Chesnee basketball rebounded from a tough loss to Broome on Tuesday with their second victory over Woodruff in a week defeating the Wolverines 63-62 on Wednesday night.
"We are fortunate to get this one tonight but, in the end, we were able to find a way to win," said Chesnee head coach Andy Pitt. "Coach McConnell is a great coach and we knew he would have his guy's ready. It just says a lot about our guys about how they fought and persevered tonight." The Eagles used a balanced offensive attack paired with a high energy defensive effort to pull out the win. "Defensive creates opportunities on the offensive end for everyone on the team," said senior Elijah Wease about his team's defensive effort on Wednesday night. While Wease praised his team's effort, his coach was quick to single out his effort. "Elijah Wease has been really good here early for us," said Pitt. "We have a smaller team this year, so Elijah is a guard playing the post. He really has answered the call for us as he came in averaging ten rebounds a game. The way he fights and plays, we always know he is going to give us 100%." The Eagles got a strong first quarter from KJ Valentine and Brady Poole as the duo scored sixteen of the Eagles twenty-six first quarter points that propelled the Eagles to a 26-13 advantage after one quarter of play. Carson Williamson also added six points for the Eagles in the quarter while Woodruff's Kory Scott kept the Wolverines the game with nine points in the quarter. The duo continued to pace the Eagles as they scored eight of the eleven points for the Eagles in the second quarter with Coyie Poole sinking a three to finish out the second quarter scoring. Woodruff's Happy Lea led a loud Wolverine response in the second half as he helped the Wolverines cut the Eagle's lead to 50-42 after the third quarter thanks to his ten points, as he also started a 9-5 run to end the quarter giving the Wolverines the momentum heading into the final quarter of play. Chesnee's preseason All-Region selection came up big when he was needed the most in the fourth quarter as Brady Poole score eleven of the team's thirteen fourth quarter points to help the Eagles pull out the 63-62 win after Woodruff made a frantic comeback attempt in the fourth quarter. Woodruff's Nick McConnell sank a three with three seconds left to cut the Eagle's lead to one point and after the Eagles were called for a five second violation on the ensuing inbounds play Woodruff had a chance to win it. Woodruff got two good looks at the basket as the second shot went in only to be waved off by the officials. Brady Poole led all scorers with 29 points while KJ Valentine added 14 points for the Eagles. Kory Scott and Happy Lea scored 17 points each to pace the Wolverines. In the girls' game the Woodruff Wolverines downed the Chesnee Eagles by a score of 49-22. A big second quarter helped the Wolverines pull away as a 15-6 advantage in the quarter propelled them to a 24-12 halftime lead that the Eagles were unable to overcome. The Eagles were led by Pearl Holloway and Haley Edmonds who each had six points while Brie Smith added five points of her own. Woodruff's Natalie Montjoy led all scorers with 12 points and Jensyn Turner added 10 points while Kylie Hitchcock barely missed double figures with nine points. Chesnee will be back in action on Friday as they host Boiling Springs with the girl's game planned to start at 6:00 PM. -Andrew Eison |
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