High Point 62 Greer 59On Friday afternoon the fifth annual Chesnee Roundball Classic started and it didn't take long for the excitement level get ramped up with the first game seeing three lead changes within the last minute of the game. The first game was a matchup between the defending South Carolina 1A state champions, High Point Academy, and Greer that saw the Grizzlies defeat the Yellow Jackets 62-59. High Point led at the end of the first quarter 17-12 with nine of their points coming from senior guard Isayah Owens. Greer responded by taking a 31-26 halftime lead after outscoring the Grizzlies 19-9 in the second quarter as junior EJ Bradford led the way scoring seven points. In the second half both teams went back and forth with the lead and that continued into the last minutes of the game as both teams were tied with just over a minutes to go when High Point's Aiden Mims hit a three pointer to go ahead but with forty seconds left Greer's EJ Bradford stole the ball to go ahead 59-58. The Grizzlies soon responded when Isayah Owens went to the free throw line hitting both giving them a 60-59 lead and pushed it to 62-59 when Elijah Choice stole the ball and finished the drive off with a layup. As time expired the Yellow Jackets were unable to get a good shot off and handing High Point the victory. Owens led the way for High Point as he scored a game high 22 points on Friday while Jaleel Skinner led the way for Greer scoring a team high 15 points. High Point will play Blacksburg on Saturday night at 7:30 PM while Greer will take on Boiling Springs at 3:00 PM. Great Falls 80 East Rutherford 65The Great Falls Red Devils used a big game from Jaylen Dunham to defeat the three time winners of the Chesnee Roundball Classic, the East Rutherford Cavaliers, 80-65 on Friday night. It didn't take Dunham long to let his impact be felt on the game as he led the Red Devils in offense in the first quarter scoring eight of the team's thirteen points in the quarter. In the second quarter Dunham was only able to score three points but Great Falls was able to spread the scoring around as they had eight different players score in the quarter on their way to scoring twenty-three points and claiming a 36-28 halftime lead. Dunham helped Great Falls extend their lead in the third quarter as he hit two key three-pointers while also getting five points from Tydriaz Coleman to give them a twelve point lead at the end of the third quarter after outscoring the Cavaliers 19-12 in the quarter. The Red Devils extended their lead in the fourth quarter with Coleman and DJ Adams both scoring six points a piece in the quarter while Great Falls went six of ten from the free throw line in the final quarter. Dunham led the Red Devils in scoring on Friday night with seventeen points with fifteen of those coming on three pointers while Antonio Ledbetter of East Rutherford led all scorers in the game with twenty-three points and going eight of eight from the free throw line. Great Falls will face Catawba Ridge on Saturday night at 6:00 PM while East Rutherford will face the host Chesnee Eagles at 4:30 PM on Saturday. Blacksburg 71 Boiling Springs 64The Blacksburg WIldcats used a fast paced offense and attacking defense to capture a 71-64 win over the Boiling Springs Bulldogs on Saturday night. Blacksburg jumped out to an early 19-9 first quarter lead behind a big first quarter performance from Marcus Dewberry as he was able to score nine of the Wildcats nineteens points in the quarter. Boiling Springs was able to pull within six at halftime as the Bulldogs hit five three-pointers in the quarter outscoring the Wildcats 16-12 in the second quarter to make the score 31-25. In the third quarter Blacksburg scored the first six points of the quarter before the Bulldogs made another run to bring the score back within seven at the end of the third quarter. The fourth quarter went very similar to the previous quarter as the Wildcats started the quarter fast before the Bulldogs finished the quarter strong but the Bulldogs were just too far back to catch the Wildcats. Blacksburg was led by Marcus Dewberry who scored twenty-two points on Friday night while Jaquan Degree scored nineteen and Jackson Gore added fifteen. The Bulldogs were led by Trey McManus who scored fifteen points while Cam Earls and Khalil Brown eacb added ten points a piece for Boiling Springs. Blacksburg will play High Point on Saturday at 7:30 PM while Boiling Springs will play Greer on Saturday at 3:00 PM. Catawba Ridge 53 Chesnee 42Catawba Ridge jumped out to a 9-1 lead over the host Chesnee Eagles and that was about all they needed to grab a 53-42 win on Friday night.
The Copperheads outscored Chesnee 9-1 in the first quarter with the Eagles only point coming from a free throw from Jacob Kimbrell. Catawba Ridge repeated their offensive performance in the second quarter as they scored nine points again but Chesnee was able to close the distance some as they scored eleven points themselves with AJ Littlejohn scoring five of those points and making the Copperheads halftime lead 18-12. In the third quarter Catawba Ridge had their biggest offensive quarter of the night as they scored twenty-three points coming out of halftime with Tyson Bombich scoring fourteen of the team's points with twelve of those coming on three-pointers and taking a 41-25 lead into the final quarter. Chesnee made a run in the fourth quarter outscoring Catawba Ridge 17-13 but were never able to get closer than ten points. Catawba Ridge was led Tyson Bombich on Friday night as he scored a game high nineteen points while Carter Hendvich added fourteen points with Davante Gonzalez also adding ten points of his own. AJ Littlejohn led Chesnee with nine points with Jacob Kimbrell adding seven points for the Eagles as well. Catawba Ridge will face Great Falls at 6:00 PM on Saturday night while Chesnee will face East Rutherford at 4:30 PM. When all the Christmas presents have been opened this holiday season there will still be one more present under the tree for local basketball fans as the Chesnee basketball team will host their fifth annual Chesnee Roundball Classic on December 27, 28, and 30th. The field contains teams beaming with accomplishments over the years in both South Carolina and North Carolina high school basketball. The first game of the tournament features High Point Academy and the Greer Yellow Jackets. High Point brings with it the prestige of being last year's 1A state champion that returns some key players from last year's team. They are team that shoots the ball well from the outside and is no stranger to playing in big game situations as their early season games have seen them competing against some tough competition like Gaffney, Wren, and Legion Collegiate. Greer had a young team last year that got a lot of experience and brings that experience into this season. They have a 6'4" post player in Jaleel Skinner who is averaging 17 points, 11 rebounds, and 4.5 blocks so far this season. Skinner also teams up with 6'5" Cody Cowan who is averaging 11 points and 5 rebounds a game. The second game of the opening day features East Rutherford Cavaliers, a three time champion of the tournament, and Great Falls Red Devils, who have won ten state titles in the state of South Carolina. East Rutherford will be entering the tournament this season with notable change as they will be entering the tournament with a completely different head basketball coach as former coach Brad Levine left the school to take over as the coach at Crest High School. Levine was replaced by Larry Ross who is no stranger to the tournament as he was previously the head coach of the East Rutherford girl's team who has won the girl's bracket of the tournament in year's past. The Cavaliers are led by seniors Antonio Ledbetter who runs the offense with some help from shooter Owen Chapman and while the person leading the team may be different the Cavaliers bring some lofty expectations to a tournament that has basically been a second home for them in past seasons. Great Falls also is dealing with a coaching change as interim coach Alex Fair takes over for former basketball coach Jimmy Duncan who left to take over the athletic director job at Northwestern High School earlier this school year. The Red Devils like the Cavaliers bring with them some lofty expectations as they are ten time 1A state champion who fell just last season fell in a hard fought Upper State championship game to eventual state champion High Point. Great Falls brings with them one of the top players in the state and Winthrop commit Kelton Talford. Talford is a 6'7" post player who creates major problems for teams under the basket but can also play along the perimeter which only adds to the nightmares of most coaches scheming defenses to stop the Red Devils. The third game features the Boiling Springs Bulldogs who will face the Blacksburg Wildcats. Boiling Springs plays in one of the toughest regions in the state, Region II-5A, that contains three of the top 10 5A teams in the state. The Bulldogs are a young team as they graduated seven seniors last season but is a team that looks to use their athleticism to force defenses into making mistakes. The Bulldogs are led on offense by junior Corey Johnson who has scored over twenty points in two of his last four games and on his way to a third before going out to an injury against Broome two games ago. They also look to get key contributions from junior guard Cam Earls and sophomore Trey McManus who both have scored over twenty points a game at points this season. The Blacksburg Wildcats are a long and athletic team that loves to run a fast paced game forcing teams into trouble on defense and capitalizing on those turnovers to get easy buckets on offense. Jackson Gore is a 6'3" point guard who leads the Wildcats offense by attacking the rim and can also shoot from the outside. Gore also has a lot of help from 6'5" Shaun Garrison who can play any position from point guard to center and a lot like Talford from Great Falls is a matchup nightmare for most opposing coaches. The fourth game features the host Chesnee Eagles who will face the newest school in the Fort Mill area, the Catawba Ridge Copperheads. Chesnee is a team that was young last season and like Greer in the first matchup is looking to build on the experience they gained last season to put together a run this year. They are led by 6'2" junior guard Nyquille O'Fair who leads the Eagles in scoring averaging 14.4 points a game and over two steals a game. The Eagles also are getting some impressive post play from sophomore KJ Valentine who averages 7.6 points a game and seven rebounds a game while also getting key contributions from junior Cole Hoskyns who is averaging over seven points a game and almost five rebounds a game. The biggest unknown in the tournament this season is the Catawba Ridge Copperheads as they are in their first season of competition as the school just opened this fall. The team is 3-5 so far in their first season and are led on offense by junior guard Davante Gonzalez who is averaging 10.4 points a game with three steals a game while also getting over eight points a game from 6'7" junior Luke Krawczyk and 6'5" sophomore Carter Hendrick. Hendrick also leads the team in rebounds averaging almost seven rebounds a game. For fans looking to check out the Chesnee Roundball Classic tickets start at $5 or fans can buy a tournament pass for $20 which will be good for entry into all three days of the tournament. Games start each day at 3:00 PM and there will be concessions available each day of the tournament. |
Chesnee Roundball Classic
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December 2022
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