Chesnee led early on Tuesday night but a 16-5 run by St. Joseph's from the end of the first quarter to midway through the second quarter helped lead the #4 ranked Knights to a 51-39 win over the Eagles in region play.
"Early in the second quarter we went on a stretch where we couldn't get a bucket and that was huge," said Chesnee head coach Andy Pitt. "Our guys in the post are some of our strengths and St. Joseph's done a good job against them tonight. Every time one of our guys got the ball in the post they were doubling down and not letting us get a good look at the basket." St. Joseph's held a 7-5 lead midway through the first quarter as the Eagles were able to keep it close early but the Knights ended the quarter on a 10-5 run to hold a 17-10 lead at the end of the first quarter. Senior Gannon Stockton led the way in the quarter for the Knights with seven points. In the second quarter the Eagles held the Knights to only six points over the first four minutes of the quarter but were unable to find the basket themselves as St. Joseph's held a 23-10 lead halfway through the second quarter before Chesnee freshman Brady Poole was able to end the Eagles drought with a jump shot. The Eagles finished the quarter outscoring the Knights 8-5 behind four points a piece from Poole and senior Nyquille O'Fair to put the St. Joseph's lead at 28-18 when the halftime buzzer sounded. St. Joseph's outscored the Eagles 10-7 in the third quarter to extend their lead to 38-25 behind a big quarter from senior Ben Saunders who scored six of the Knights' ten points in the quarter. Chesnee opened the fourth quarter on a 6-2 run, that was jump started by a three pointer from senior Lorenzo Duren, to cut the Knights lead to nine points but the Eagles weren't able to get any closer. The Eagles outscored the Knights in the fourth quarter 14-13 as they got six points in the quarter from O'Fair. "I thought our pressure forced a few turnovers there early to help get us some quick shots but they were able to hit a couple of shots that turned into back breakers for us," said Pitt. "We got it down to nine a couple of times and we were right there but we couldn't get a stop or we missed a shot. We just couldn't piece together a run to close the gap any further but our guys fought to the very end." St. Joseph's got a big night from Ben Saunders who registered a double-double with fifteen points and fifteen rebounds while Gannon Stockton led all scorers with seventeen points. They were joined in double figures by junior Jalen Gibson who scored thirteen points on Thursday night. Chesnee were led on Tuesday night by Nyquille O'Fair who scored fourteen points and was followed closely by Brady Poole who scored ten points. KJ Valentine led the Eagles in rebounds with ten while adding two blocks. While the outcome isn't what the Eagles had hoped for on Tuesday night they'll get a chance to reverse their fortune on Friday night in a road rematch against the same St. Joseph's team. "We get another chance at them Friday night though and we're excited about that," said Pitt. "Regardless of what happened tonight we're still in the hunt for a playoff spot and we're going to keep fighting towards that." Comments are closed.
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