BLACKSVILLE – Despite only scoring four points in the third quarter on Friday against the visiting Cameron Dragons, the Clay-Battelle boys’ basketball team picked up a 57-43 victory inside the Statler-Wilson Gymnasium in Blacksville.
The Cee-Bees (4-1) were led by senior Preston Luzader, who scored a game-high 24 points and grabbed 17 rebounds, with ten of his boards coming on the offensive end.
C-B junior Cooper Peyton added 13 points and seven assists, with fellow junior Braden Ponceroff contributing 12 points.
“Anytime you can battle adversity and come out with a win is huge,” C-B head coach Josh Kisner said. “I told the guys in the locker room just now that we have to play to get better. I’m proud of the way they played, I’m proud of their effort, and I’m proud of the win, but we need to be a little smarter with basketball sometimes.”
The Cee-Bees built an 18-point halftime lead behind the play of Luzader in the first half. The senior scored 20 of his 24 points in the first 16 minutes and grabbed 11 rebounds before the break.
The Dragons (0-1) were as close at four points late in the first quarter, but a quick 6-0 run by the Cee-Bees pulled them ahead 18-8 after one quarter.
The run bled into the second frame, growing to 14-4 as the hosts went ahead 26-12 as Cameron had no answer for Luzader in the paint.
The Dragons didn’t allow C-B to score a point to begin the second half until five minutes into the third quarter, as Luzader hit a pair of free throws.
Cameron hit a triple with two minutes to play in the quarter to cut the lead to seven 43-36, but that’s as close as the Cee-Bees would allow their opponents to get.
Kisner’s club opened the fourth with a stop on defense and a huge three by Ponceroff that sparked the offense.
“Braden comes down and hits that big three after we had that drought in the third, and that was a big moment for us,” Kisner said. “Preston was an animal on the boards tonight. There are always two or three guys on him battling with him, and if we didn’t have his effort tonight, it would’ve been difficult to win that game.”
The Dragons applied a full-court press that initially gave C-B some problems, but eventually, it found easy baskets with patient offense.
Two lay-ups by senior Brock White in the final minute sealed the deal for the Cee-Bees.
“We just need to be better at finishing games,” Kisner said. “We know what we can do and if we continue to get better then I feel we can give ourselves the chance to beat any team on any night.”
Clay-Battelle will take on South Harrison on Saturday afternoon for the Santa Series Tournament title.
BOX SCORE
Clay-Battelle 57, Cameron 43
Cameron 8 15 14 6 – 43
Clay-Battelle 18 23 4 12 – 57
Cameron (0-1) – McCauley 3 1-2 9 Frye 2 0-0 6 Paczewski 3 0-0 7 Scott 3 1-2 8 Magers 2 2-3 7 Yoss 2 1-2 5
Clay-Battelle (4-1) – Luzader 9 5-6 24 Ponceroff 4 2-3 12 Peyton 5 1-2 13 Morgan 2 0-0 4 White 2 0-0 4
