BLACKSVILLE, W.Va. — It’s an age-old cliché, one of the cornerstones of coach-speak in almost every sport, so prevalent and ubiquitous that it almost needs not be verbalized:
Defense wins championships.
Unless you’re talking to Clay-Battelle boys’ basketball coach Josh Kisner. His No. 10 Cee-Bees averaged a robust 73.3 points per game in their highly successful regular season that concluded Friday night with a comfortable 70-47 win at home against Madonna.
“We have so many offensive weapons,” Kisner said. “Long, athletic bigs; quick, penetrating guards; plus we can shoot it. I think we’ve only had one game all year when nobody could get untracked offensively. So we’re going to run, play fast, get up and down, and try to outscore teams.”
That was the basic theme in the final regular season home game for Clay-Battelle (including seniors Cadon Skavinsky, Levi Carrico, Seth Casino, Coltin Barr, and Nicholas Rose), where a raucous, packed gym pumped up the energy for the frenetic pace that embodies Cee-Bees basketball this year. After a close first quarter, C-B (17-5) roared out on a 23-9 run that featured nine points from Carrico and six from Chisler to grab a 35-20 lead at the break.
After the half, another offensive push in the first part of the third quarter pushed the advantage to 23 points until the Blue Dons (9-10) snuck back to within 15 late. But Gage Statler buried a three just before the buzzer, and when Chisler drilled a triple as well — on his way to a game-high 15 points — early in the final frame, the lead was restored to cruise control levels, and the Cee-Bees took care of business the rest of the way.
The stands were a sea of purple shirts, worn as a tribute to late classmate Rylee Burnette, who tragically took her own life, with proceeds contributing to a scholarship in her honor.
“She’s been an inspiration for us all year,” Chase Ammons said. “We all played with her growing up, and it’s always really hard to lose a friend like that, but we wanted to dedicate the season to her, to play the way she would’ve wanted us to.”
And according to Carrico, that meant high energy, high-powered offense, and 100% hustle.
“Coach Kisner focused really hard on conditioning all during the off-season,” he explained, “because he always wants to play an up-tempo game. We want to attack the rim, break people down, and recognize and take advantage of mismatches. If you’re gonna run all game on offense and get back and be active on defense, you have to be in very good shape, and we are. It’s definitely the most fun way to play.”
The Cee-Bees JV team started strong offensively and cruised to a 49-37 win over the Blue Dons. Carson Shriver led the CB offense with 18 points, while Noah Sollars and Cooper Watson both chipped in with 10.
Clay-Battelle will begin sectional play next Saturday, with opponent, time, and location yet to be determined.
MADONNA (9-10)
Quering 1 0-0 3; Sessi 2 0-0 6; Pietranton 1 0-0 2; Boniti 4 0-1 10; Moore 1 0-0 3; Dietrich 2 1-2 5; Burdine 0 1-2 1; Amalsmeier 0 1-2 1; Pulice 5 4-5 14; Bone 1 0-0 2. Totals 17 7-12 47
CLAY-BATTELLE (17-5)
Statler 3 0-0 7; Ammons 4 2-2 10; Payton 1 0-0 3; Carrico 5 3-3 13; Casino 3 0-0 6; Shriver 1 0-0 2; Barr 6 0-0 12; Hennen 1 0-0 2; Chisler 7 0-0 15. Totals 31 5-5 70
Madonna 11 9 16 11– 47
Clay-Battelle 12 23 19 16 – 70
3-pointers: MHS 6 (Sessi 2, Boniti 2, Moore, Quering); CB 3 (Statler, Payton, Chisler)
