The Chesnee Eagles may currently be 2-5 overall, but don’t be tempted to dismiss them based on just their record alone. The Eagles have played a relatively tough non-region schedule so far this season.
They opened with a tournament in which they went 0-3 with losses to Mid Carolina, Fountain Inn, and a 1 point heartbreaker against Blacksburg..
Following the tournament, they played Broome at home, falling 87-78. After beating Woodruff 65-50 for their first win of the season, they took on Boiling Springs on the road Friday, falling 83-62.
They play quick, aggressive, and physical on defense, forcing a lot of turnovers. On offense, it seems there is not a player on the roster that cannot score the basketball from anywhere on the floor. Monday night, they put all of those things together to avenge their earlier loss to Broome with a 70-57 win.
These 2 teams are heavy with experience returning. Chesnee has 6 juniors and 2 seniors. Broome’s roster holds 8 juniors and 2 seniors. The Centurions have a bit more size, particularly in the interior with junior Point Guards Steven O’Dell and DT Thompson, with a combined 12 feet 9 inches of height between them. They have a few good shooters as well. But, regardless of what advantages you have over your opponent, you still have to execute well to win. Size and shooting ability can only do so much to overcome your self-inflicted wounds. Ultimately, that is what made the difference in this game.
Chesnee and Broome play a similar style of basketball, which led to a fun back and forth throughout the first quarter, ending with the Centurions on top 22-18 thanks to a buzzer-beating 3 from Kamajay Brackjett-Brannon. However, the excitement for Broome dwindled when the game turned for the worse in the 2nd quarter.
The Centurions went cold shooting, scoring just 6 points. Three of those came at the charity stripe. The lack of scoring was compounded by their inability to hang on to the ball. They committed several turnovers, and Chesnee took full advantage. The Eagles scored 25 points in the period, carried in part by a 12 point effort from freshman Forward Elijah Brown (who is someone to look out for. He is a freshman, but he is showing to be a major 3 point shooting threat as well as a solid rebounder. He logged 14 points in this game going 2-2 in the paint, 2-3 from 3 point range, and 2-2 at the line).
The Eagles continued to pour it on in the 3rd quarter despite Broome shooting the ball much more efficiently (save for at the free throw line, which was another major difference in this game. Broome was just 10-21 from the stripe compared to Chesnee’s 10 for 12). KJ Proctor and Daniel Wease combined to score 14 points in the stanza, helping outscore the Centurions 19-13.
