BLACKSVILLE, W.Va. – With a minute to go in Tuesday’s match at home against Cameron, the Clay-Battelle boys basketball team was reeling, and senior forward Gavin Moore, who had struggled all night, was none too happy about it. The Cee-Bees had squandered a 16-point second quarter lead after the Dragons’ talented big man, Trevor Beresford, had drawn Moore’s offensive foul, then nailed a soft jumper in the lane to finally, inevitably knot the score at 56.
But there’s more than one way to help your team win.
With under ten seconds to play, Moore set a monster pick, freeing up Chase Ammons to drive and dish to a wide-open Gage Statler, who calmly drilled the 3 pointer for a 59-56 Cee-Bees win.
It was another slow start for the Cee-Bees (10-1), as they trailed 6-0 early and didn’t score their first point of the game until the five-minute mark when Mojo Chisler hit his first of four first-half three-pointers (on his way to a game-high 23 points). The shot seemed to ignite both the home crowd and the team, as C-B quickly powered out to a 17-13 first quarter lead.
A bevy of turnovers and triples shot the advantage up to 39-23 with two minutes to go before the break for C-B, but Cameron (6-4) fought back with a mini run of five points to cut the lead to 11 at 39-28. In the second half, the Dragons kept chipping away, slicing the C-B lead all the way down to four points at 45-41 with two minutes left in the quarter, but a Tanner Hennen offensive rebound and stick back pushed it back to 49-41 heading to the final stanza.
That’s when the Cee-Bees took some ill-advised shots, and Beresford went to work in the paint, scoring eight of his team-high 20, none bigger than the 12-footer that got the Dragons all the way back with 1:04 on the clock.
C-B coach Josh Kisner called time and decided to hold for the final shot.
“Statistically it’s the right move,” he said after the game. “If we take care of the ball, we give ourselves a shot to win it, and if not, we still have overtime. We knew what we wanted to do, and they went out and executed. It was a good, team-oriented, unselfish play; our kind of basketball.”
After the Cee-Bees burned all but ten seconds by handing the ball off on the perimeter, Statler slid into his favorite spot behind the arc and watched the play develop.
“I saw Chase dribble left toward me, and when Gavin posted up, I knew Chase’s man didn’t see him, and it was a big-time pick,” Statler said. “Chase then either goes to the hoop or passes, depending on what the help defense does. They stopped Chase, so he got it to me, and I just let it go. We ran the play 100% right, and it worked.”
“I could not get going tonight,” Moore said. “But if you aren’t scoring, you have to find another way to contribute, and I’m just so happy that Gage was on tonight. It was great to see that one go down.”
Kisner knew that the Dragons were going to keep coming, but also that his team wouldn’t quit either, even after the lead had evaporated.
“Cameron is tough, with a real good inside-outside game,” Kisner said. “And basketball is a game of runs. We made ours, then they made theirs. Our goal is to make our runs longer, and to make the last run of the game.
“And Gage’s shot turned out to be the last little run, just enough to get the job done.”
Clay-Battelle is off until Monday evening, when they travel to Tygarts Valley.
Cameron 13 15 13 15 – 56
Clay-Battelle 17 22 10 10 – 59
CAMERON (6-4)
Logan Burkett 3 1-2 9; Conner Powell 3 0-0 7; Cole Burkett 3 3-4 9; Colson Wichterman 1 2-2 5; Lance Hartley 2 0-0 4; Trevor Beresford 9 2-4 20; Conner Howard 1 0-0 2. Totals: 22 8-12 56
CLAY-BATTELLE (10-1)
Gage Statler 5 0-1 13; Chase Ammons 2 2-2 6; Gavin Moore 3 1-2 7; Drew Boczek 2 1-2 6; Tanner Hennen 2 0-0 4; Morgan Chisler 7 5-8 23. Totals: 21 9-15 59
3 pointers – Cameron 4 (L. Burkett 2, Powell, Wichterman); C-B 8 (Statler 4, Statler 3, Boczek).
