CHESNEE, SC - It’s rare that two region teams matchup twice before the region schedule starts but that’s exactly what happened on Wednesday as Chesnee defeated Blacksburg 75-69 on the second day of the 2022 Chesnee Roundball Classic.
The second matchup between the two teams was a very back and forth affair that saw the Eagles finally take control of in the final quarter of play behind a strong performance from a post player. ”I told our guys no matter how ugly we made it look, it was still a win at the end of the day," said Chesnee head coach Andy Pitt. "It's the second time we've played these guys, and both have been close, so I expect the next two to be the exact same thing. We're so evenly matched with good athletes and Coach Simms has done a great job with those guys but at the end of the day it was a good win for us today." Chesnee jumped out to an 18-16 lead at the end of the first quarter before pushing their lead to eight points at halftime at 36-28. Blacksburg tied the game at 18–18 to start the second quarter but a 10-1 run led by baskets from Kaylob Blanton, K’Jay Proctor, and Carson Williamson soon pushed the Eagles lead to nine points at 28–19. Blacksburg made a run in the third quarter outscoring the Eagles 18-11 to pull the score within one which was aided by a big quarter from Jacob Gilfillan who had 10 of his game high 27 points in the quarter. The Eagles outscored Blacksburg 28-23 in the final quarter with some clutch free throw shooting that saw Chesnee go 16 of 21 from the stripe in the game. One of the biggest pieces for the Eagles on Wednesday was the play of forward Daniel Wease who finished the game with a double-double scoring 19 points while adding 20 rebounds, three steals, and an assist. ”It was big for us to get a game like that from Daniel especially with K'Jay being ill last week," said Pitt. "With that we've had to ask Daniel to step up and play bigger on the post which he's done. He's like an extension of myself on the court because he sees things as they happen, and he points them out. I wouldn't be surprised if further down the road he isn't a basketball coach one day. Just seeing a big day from him like that is great to see." Wease wasn’t the only player to end in double figures as Kaylob Blanton had 17 points, Noah Mvula had 13 points, and Dawson Pruitt added 11 points of his own. ”Kaylob has been steady for us all season and Noah built some confidence early after hitting some big shots," said Pitt. "We have a group of guys that on any day can step up and give us double digits in points which is nice to have as a coach." Jacob Gilfillan led Blacksburg and all scorers with 27 points while his teammate Ratavious Degree finished with a double-double scoring 12 points and grabbing 12 rebounds. Chesnee will face Union County in the fourth-place game on Thursday at 4:30 PM while Blacksburg will face Broome at 3:00 PM in the seventh-place game. For a recap of the rest of Day Two of the Chesnee Roundball Classic, click here. WOODRUFF, SC - The Chesnee boys' basketball team traveled to the southern side of Spartanburg along Highway 221 on Monday night and when the night was over, they made the same trip back with a 58-53 victory in tow.
The game was close early as the Eagles jumped out to a 14-13 advantage at the end of the first quarter behind four points each from both Kaylob Blanton and Daniel Wease along with a three-pointer from both Carson Williamson and Kenton Proctor. Nick McConnell led Woodruff in the first quarter with five points of his own. The second quarter saw the Wolverines make a run as they outscored the Eagles 14-5 in the quarter on their way to a 27-19 halftime lead as Woodruff saw McConnell and Lake Smith account for eight of the team's points in the quarter. Chesnee wasn't going to be intimidated by the second quarter run though as they opened the second half with a charge of their own that was led by freshman Elijah Brown who scored eight of the team's 19 points in the third quarter. With their 19 points in the quarter the Eagles were able to cut Woodruff's lead to 39-38 heading into the final period of competition. In the fourth quarter the Eagles outscored the Wolverines 20-14 on their way to the five-point victory. The big impact down the stretch came from Kaylob Blanton who scored 14 of his game-high 19 points in the fourth quarter, while going five of eight from the free throw line. Blanton's 19 points led all scorers on the court Monday night, but he was joined in double figures by teammate Daniel Wease who ended the night with 12 points. Nick McConnell led the way for Woodruff with 16 points while Hunter West joined him in double figures with 11 points of his own. GIRLS GAME The Chesnee girls' basketball team made the same long trek down Highway 221 that their male classmates did on Monday night and came back with equal success as they defeated Woodruff 60-44 in a non-region matchup. Chesnee took an early 19-15 advantage at the end of the first quarter as Olivia Tolleson (6) and Pearl Holloway (5) combined to scored 11 of the team's 19 points in the quarter. The Eagles continued to build on their lead thanks to some great shooting from Tolleson who scored nine of the team's 13 points in the quarter on the way to a 32-23 halftime lead. Tolleson kept her strong play up in the third quarter as she once again led the team in scoring for the quarter with six points as the Eagles pushed their lead to a 15-point advantage at 46-31 over the Wolverines. Tolleson was the leading scorer for the Eagles in three of the four quarters as well as for the game with her game high 25-point night. Chesnee made it four straight quarters they outscored the Wolverines as they won the fourth quarter 14-13 on their way to the 60-44 victory. While Tolleson led the Eagles with 25 points, she was also joined in double-figures by Pearl Holloway who had 17 points and Nykerria Proctor who had 10 points of her own. Both Chesnee teams will be back in action on Tuesday as they travel to Inman, SC to take on the Chapman Panthers in a rematch from last week. CHESNEE, SC - The Eagles wrestling program hosted a packed house on back-to-back nights and after going 2-0 on Wednesday night at home, the Eagles wrestling team returned to the home mat on Thursday night leaving with a 1-1 record. The Eagles finish the two-night slate with a strong 3-1 record against some good competition.
Prior to the high school matches on Thursday, the youth leagues of Chesnee and Boiling Springs got a chance to show off their talents as they got a rare opportunity to compete in front of the crowd waiting on the high school matches. Following the little league action, the Chesnee varsity team got a big victory over the visiting 3A Broome Centurions with a 66-12 dual victory, as the Eagles won 11 of the 13 bouts against the Centurions. Leading the action against the Centurions, Wyatt Hawk (Fr.) and Ricky Henderson (Sr.) secured early pins. In a District 2 showdown, the visiting Boiling Springs Bulldogs came in after wrestling back-to-back nights themselves. The Eagles started strong with a second period pin and jumped out to a 6-0 lead before the Bulldogs battled right back to tie the match at 6-6. The Eagles took the next 3 matches (wins by Quinton Gerstenacker, Thadeus Gerstenacker, and Aedan Mendoza) taking an early 18-6 lead then the Bulldogs battled back earning pins at 152, 160, 170 to take the lead 24-18. A close decision by the Bulldogs at 182, pushed the lead to 9. Chesnee earned a pin at 105 from senior Garrett Williams to pull the Eagles back to within three points before senior Nich Hofer earned the win at 220 with a sudden victory take down to tie the dual 27-27 with 3 bouts to go. With hard fought matches at 285 and 106, the Eagles fell to 5A Boiling Springs, 43-27. In the other match of the night Boiling Springs defeated Broome 71-3 to improve the Bulldogs record to 8-0 on the season. The Eagles travel to North Carolina on Saturday to battle in the Big Cat Invitational at Patton High School. CHESNEE, SC - The Chesnee varsity wrestling team opened up the first home match of 2022 with a standing room only atmosphere as they came away with 2-0 victory on Wednesday night.
The Eagles started quick over visiting Fountain Inn with a :28 second pin by senior ET Valentine over Zadrian (FIHS) as the Eagles went on to a substantial 61-18 victory over 3A Fountain Inn. In the second dual of the night, the Eagles cruised to a decisive 66-10 victory over 3A Chapman, by winning 11 of 13 bouts. The Eagles return to action in Thursday night at home as little league wrestling starts at 5PM, with varsity following at 6:00 PM. SPARTANBURG, SC - The Chesnee boys' basketball team went on the road to play up a level on Monday night and behind a big second quarter performance were able to put distance between themselves and Broome while coming away with a 70-57 victory over the Centurions.
The victory on Monday is a little bit of revenge for the Eagles as they fell in a tough back-and-forth battle with the Centurions just last week. "We played well tonight," said Chesnee head coach Andy Pitt. "I think for our first game last we week we were a little amped up and tonight we just kind of settled in from the start. We played well last week, and I knew if we could keep that going into this week that we'd have a good chance here tonight." The scoring for the Eagles was spread out amongst numerous different players in the game and it got started with Daniel Wease, who led the Eagles hot start in the first quarter with nine points as he and Dawson Pruitt (5) combined to score 14 of the Eagles 18 points in the quarter. Chesnee was in line to be trailing by only one point at the end of the first quarter, but Broome's Kamajay Brackett-Brannon hit a half-court shot at the buzzer to give the Centurions a 22-18 lead when the quarter ended. The Eagles got the second quarter started with a basket from Elijah Brown and he continued his strong play in the quarter scoring 12 of the Eagles 25 points in the quarter. "Eli is going to be a special player as he's just a freshman," said Pitt. "He has all the tools and is still learning. He's got the ability to rebound and knock down threes like he does and he's a very versatile player which can be tough for other teams to defend." Chesnee also used a strong defensive effort in the second quarter as they limited the Centurions to six points in the quarter. Coach Pitt said that his team calls three straight stops a kill and said that with their effort in the second was basically a quarter kill with how well they played. "We talk about having kills on defense which are three straight possessions with our defense not allowing points and I'm not sure how many we had in the second quarter but it felt like the who quarter was a kill to itself," said Pitt. "We just had a great defensive effort from our whole team especially in the second quarter." In the third quarter the Eagles continued to use strong play on the boards as forwards Kenton Proctor (8) and Daniel Wease (6) combined to score 14 of the Eagles 19 points in the quarter. Both players finished the game with double-doubles as Wease had 17 points with 18 rebounds and two steals while Proctor had 14 points, 10 rebounds, one steal, and one block. Pitt said that what his two frontcourt players did against a much bigger group was a testament to how hard those guys worked. "Daniel is our unquestioned leader as he walks the walk and talks the talk," said Pitt. "Tonight, the way him and KJ dominated on the boards at maybe 6'1" against two guys around 6'6" and 6'4" it was impressive as they wouldn't be denied." Broome was able to cut the deficit later in the fourth quarter outscoring the Eagles 16-8 in the quarter, but it wasn't enough as Chesnee came away with the victory. Pitt said that his team will look to build on the momentum from the victory as they go into matchups against Chapman on Wednesday and Boiling Springs on Friday. "We're going to for sure try to parlay the momentum from tonight into our games going forward," said Pitt. "We'll enjoy this game tonight and then get ready for Chapman on Wednesday. We're going to take it day-by-day and step-by-step because with a young team you don't want to look too far ahead." Wease and Proctor weren't the only Eagles to score in double figures on Monday night as Kaylob Blanton scored 15 points with four steals, three rebounds, and a block while Elijah Brown ended the game with 14 points and five rebounds. Brady Poole led Broome in scoring with 17 points on Monday night. GIRLS GAME In the girls' game the Lady Eagles played tough but were unable to get a victory as they fell to Broome 46-26 on Monday night. The game was close at halftime as the Eagles trailed 20-9 but Broome used a big third quarter to put distance between themselves and the Eagles. Chesnee was led by Pearl Holloway who had a double-double with 12 points and 15 rebounds. Broome was led by Destiny West who led all scorers with 18 points and was joined in double figures by Shamya Wilkins who had 13 points of her own. Both Chesnee teams will be back in action on Wednesday when they host Chapman with the girls' game slated to begin at 6:00 PM. |
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