Cee-Bees can’t overcome sloppy start, fall to Greenbrier West 74-58

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

BLACKSVILLE, W.Va. — After two comfortable victories to start the season, the Clay-Battelle High boys’ basketball team had to be feeling plenty confident heading into Tuesday’s, March 9, game against Greenbrier West, and for good reason.

It would’ve been highly unlikely that the Cee-Bees would play all year long without facing a challenge from a quality team, and as it turned out, it was the Cavaliers who started quick and finished strong to hand C-B their first loss of the year, 74-58.

Greenbrier West (1-1) pressured and trapped in the backcourt throughout the first quarter, and Clay-Battelle (2-1) didn’t respond well — turning the ball over five straight times, leading to an 8-0 deficit halfway into the quarter. However, a burst of offense from senior center Gavin Moore finally dug the Cee-Bees out of their sluggish funk to bring the deficit down to one point at 10-9 after one quarter.

The teams flip-flopped the lead in the second quarter until a pair of triples from Moore and fellow senior Morgan “Mojo” Chisler forged the first C-B lead of the game, but three buckets from feisty guard Chase Boggs allowed the Cavs to stretch back out to a 27-20 advantage with two minutes left in the half. But consecutive 3s from Chisler and senior Gage Statler pulled C-B to a one-possession game at the break, 29-27.

Faced with adversity for the first time all year, the Cee-Bees continued to be bothered by the GW trapping defense, leading to several turnovers and wasted possessions. Still, another solid offensive stretch from Moore — who would pace the Cee-Bees with 23 — re-established a three-point lead three minutes into the second half.

That’s when Kaiden Pack, GW’s dynamic guard, took over the game.

Held to just six first-half points, the quick, shifty Pack knifed through the C-B defense to get to the foul line, and a silky smooth rainbow 3-pointer from the top of the key vaulted the Cavaliers into a lead they would never relinquish. Pack popped, jump-stopped and dished with great effectiveness throughout the second half, leading to a game-high 28 points.

Down 49-43 heading into the final eight minutes, the closest the Cee-Bees could get was a five-point margin with six minutes left, but three straight offensive charging calls and some clutch free-throw shooting from the Cavs put the game out of reach. When asked about his team’s performance, C-B coach Josh Kisner didn’t mince words.

“We did not play very well all game, starting with the first four minutes,” he stated matter-of-factly. “We didn’t rebound well, didn’t get to many loose balls, didn’t shoot it well and didn’t play well defensively. Despite that slow start, I thought we fought back well, and certainly had our chances to win had we had longer stretches of playing well, but that didn’t happen.

“I thought we did a nice job on Pack in the first half,” he continued, “but it’s tough to keep an explosive offensive threat like him bottled up all night. Still, with 23 turnovers and some poor shot selection, I just think we didn’t come near to maximizing our offensive possessions. That was probably the difference.”

Of course, every coach also knows that an unattractive loss can sometimes help a team moving forward, especially early in the season.

“I told the kids that we have plenty to work on,” he said. “They knew they didn’t play well tonight, and they want to play well so badly, so well just learn from this one, put it behind us and work hard to get better. It’s better to get a game like this out of our system earlier rather than later, for sure.”

In the JV game, Carson Shriver hit six 3-pointers on his way to a game-high 23 points to lead the Cee-Bees to a 54-46 victory over the Cavaliers, who were paced by Ty Nickell’s 16 points.

Clay-Battelle will host Paden City at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 11.

GREENBRIER WEST (1-1)
Pack 7 13-17 28; Boggs 9 0-2 20; Vaughan 4 5-6 13; Oscar 3 1-2 8; McClurg 1 1-2 2; Shrewsbury 1 0-0 2. Totals 25 20-29 74.
CLAY-BATTELLE (2-1)
Statler 2 0-0 6; Ammons 0 5-6 5; Watson 2 1-2 3; Moore 9 4-9 23; Boczek 0 0-2 0; Hennen 1 0-1 2; Chisler 6 2-2 17. Totals 20 12-22 58.
3-pointers — GW 4 (Boggs 2, Pack, Oscar), CB 6 (Statler 2, Chisler 3, Moore)
Greenbrier West                   10 19 20 25 — 74
Clay-Battelle                         9 18 16 15 — 58