On Saturday morning the Chesnee Eagles used a thirty-three point third quarter and a huge second half by senior Dez Tate to capture an 80-61 victory over Berea on the final day of the 2018 Lowe's Roundball Classic. At the end of the first quarter the Eagles went scoreless for almost three minutes before a layup by sophomore Nyquille O'Fair ended the drought and kept Chesnee within four at the quarter break as Berea led 17-13. The second quarter went back and forth constantly as the Eagles would tie the game only to see Berea recapture the lead until the last minute of the half saw Chesnee go on a 6-0 run and capture a 31-29 lead on a layup by senior Ahmad Smith as time expired in the half. After being held to only four points in the first half Dez Tate helped lead a third quarter charge by the Eagles as he scored eleven of his twenty-one points in the third quarter helping spurn Chesnee to a twenty-one point lead as they led Berea 64-43 after three quarters. Tate ended the game with a double-double as he also recorded eleven rebounds on Saturday. "I think Dez scoring eleven points in the third quarter was huge," said Chesnee Head Coach Andy Pitt. "Not only the points but he also had some very key assists for us." Tate wasn't the only Eagle to have an impressive game on Saturday morning as Chesnee also had two other players capture double-doubles as junior Matthew Lawter scored eleven points while getting ten rebounds and freshman K'Jymie Valentine got ten points while grabbing fourteen rebounds. Senior Ahamd Smith also had a good game for the Eagles as he led all scorers in the game with twenty-three points. "Our post players (Matthew Lawter and K'Jymie Valentine) having big games for us today was huge," said Coach Pitt. "Both guys had their first career double-doubles and each had assists while playing all around good games." Chesnee's Dez Tate was named to the Lowe's Classic All-Tournament team. The Eagles will return to play on January 3 as they travel to Chase High School in North Carolina. Lady Eagles Fall Short In Fifth Place Game Against Panthers In the fifth place game at the Lowe's Classic the Chesnee Lady Eagles fell to Chapman 43-35 on Saturday afternoon as they were unable to recover from an early eight point first quarter deficit.
The Panthers jumped out to a 16-8 lead at the end of the first quarter but the deficit was too much as both teams scored twenty-seven points a piece over the last three quarters. The Eagles got another impressive performance from junior Abbey Ray who got her second double-double of the tournament as she recorded fifteen points and fifteen rebounds on Saturday. With the back-to-back double-doubles Ray was named to the Lowe's Classic All-Tournament team. Chapman junior Paige Aho led all scorers in the game on Saturday as she scored twenty-six points for the Panthers and was also named to the Lowe's Classic All-Tournament team. The Lady Eagles will return to action on January 3 at Chase High School in North Carolina. The Chesnee Lady Eagles got a double double-double from senior Sierra Bowen and junior Abbey Ray on Friday morning at the Lowe's Classic as the Eagles grabbed their first win of the season with a 45-30 win over Berea. The two teams battled to a low scoring first quarter but when the quarter was over the Eagles held on to a 6-4 lead. After the first quarter though it was all Eagles as they outscored Berea 39-26 over the last three quarters to capture the victory. The real advantage for the Eagles came during the second quarter as they outscored the Bulldogs 14-7 to grab a 20-11 halftime lead. Abbey Ray helped lead the Eagles in the first half as she scored eight of her fourteen points in the first half. Ray ended the game with fourteen points, twelve rebounds, and a steal on Friday morning. She also was clutch for the Eagles in the fourth quarter as she was six for six from the free throw line in the last three minutes of the game to help clinch the victory. "Abbey is such a presence for us in the post," said Chesnee Head Coach Carey Burns. "We know that if there is a rebound to be had Abbey is going to get it for us." In the second half the Eagles were able to keep distance between them and Berea as Sierra Bowen scored fourteen of her game high sixteen points in the second half. Bowen ended the game with sixteen points, ten rebounds, two steals, and a block. "Sierra is my leader on the court," said Coach Burns. "I told the girls that we needed to start driving to the basket and Sierra started doing that for us. Once that happened it just opened up the rest of our offense." With the victory the Eagles collected their first victory of the season and it's something that the team has been waiting on. "It has been a long time coming," said Coach Burns. "I talked to the girls before the game about perseverance and they have really fought through a lot of obstacles this year and I couldn't be more proud of them." With the victory the Eagles will play Chapman in the fourth place game on Saturday at 1:00 PM. Day 2 Recap
Boy's Games Blacksburg 65 Berea 58 Crest 93 Chesnee 52 Westside Fort Mill Woodmont East Rutherford Girl's Games Chapman 63 Blacksburg 50 Laurens Academy Fort Mill Gaffney East Rutherford *More information on the tournament can be found on the tournament website: www.lowesroundballclassic.weebly.com On Thursday morning the Westside Rams, the defending champions of the Lowe's Classic, opened up the 2018 Lowe's Classic with an impressive 91-57 victory over the Crest Chargers. Westside didn't waste time getting to work on Thursday morning as they jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the first ninety seconds of the game. The Rams used a fast moving defense and efficient offense to help them capture a 19-11 first quarter lead. Westside kept the pressure on Crest in the second quarter as they outscored the Chargers 28-16 in the second quarter to hold a 47-27 halftime lead. The Chargers were able to get the score within eight points late in the second quarter but a technical foul and the ensuing possession allowed the Rams to put the score at 35-23 with just under three minutes to go before halftime. Westside turned up the pressure on their defense to another level in the last two minutes of the game as they forced Crest into turnovers and one shot possessions to end the half allowing the Rams to go on an 8-0 run to end the half. In the third quarter Westside got a really good quarter from senior Ty Danzy as he scored eight points of his game total fifteen points in the quarter to help extend the Rams lead to 69-37 at the end of the third quarter but it was another great defensive performance by the Rams in the quarter as they held the Chargers to only ten third quarter points. The Chargers had their best quarter of the day in the fourth as they were able to score twenty points against a very stingy Westside defense. The Rams were led on Thursday morning by senior Odarius Cade who scored sixteen points to lead Westside while freshman Mari Adams led Crest with fourteen points. Westside will continue on in the winner's bracket and play at 5:30 PM on Friday while Crest will play at 2:30 PM on Friday. Other Scores Girl's Bracket
Chesnee 22 Laurens Academy 43 Gaffney 60 Blacksburg 46 Berea 19 Fort Mill 64 Chapman 48 East Rutherford 93 Boy's Bracket Woodmont 85 Berea 64 East Rutherford 86 Blacksburg 58 Chesnee 30 Fort Mill 75 *Find complete results and updated brackets on the tournament website: www.lowesroundballclassic.weebly.com |
Chesnee Roundball Classic
Keep us with the Boiling Springs Sports Journal for continuing coverage of the tournament. Archives
December 2022
Categories |