As sentimental as the festivities were in a night that may have been the birth of a new annual BSHS tradition, the night culminated in an emotional rivalry game that was much more important for the visiting Rebels than it was for the homestanding Bulldogs.
Byrnes came into the night in the midst of a tight race for the region championship, having a chance to at least keep pace with Riverside and force a showdown for all the marbles Friday night if not take over the top spot in the 2-5A standings with a Gaffney upset of the Warriors. On the flipside, the Bulldogs have been on a 2-game losing skid, having won just three games in their last 10. In essence, Boiling Springs had one thing on their mind – playing spoiler. Byrnes was just looking to keep doing what they have all season – complement one another and win as a team.
Things very quickly went sideways for the Bulldogs when the Rebels opened the scoring with back to back to back three pointers – 2 from Colt Fowler and another from Sukhi Singh. The lead ballooned to 11-6 before the Bulldogs were finally able to get their offense out of first gear. Isaiah Atkins was able to hang 10 points for the BSHS before the end of the first quarter, but the Runnin’ Rebels’ five triples in the period made for a 24-15 lead heading into the 2nd stanza.
One thing that has stood true for Byrnes time and time again this season is that they have a plethora of guys that can score the basketball. Obviously Colt Fowler comes to mind as the ring leader, but he has plenty of talent around him to help carry the load if he has an off night. Yes, someone seemingly always rises to the occasion when one of their teammates has a tough game with this squad, and Wednesday night, it was Fabian McClintock that absolutely took over the game for the Rebels. The junior small forward scored 8 in the frame and rode the momentum out of the half to 15 more in the second half en route to a team-high 25 points.
“Fabian has had a great year for us”, said Byrnes Head Coach Layne Fowler. “Tonight just showed just how versatile he is finishing inside and outside. He had some great finishes on both sides of the rim using both his left and his right hand. He also did a phenomenal job of boxing out, which is not an easy task when you have to guard a 6 foot, 9 inch guy who was a preseason top 5 player in the state and an all-region talent. Fabian is about 6 foot 4, and he stood up to the test and did a phenomenal job, and when he is at his best, we are at our best.”
McClintock’s effort was accompanied by 20 points from Fowler, 12 from Singh, 9 from Jack Bailey, and 6 from Kellen Leverett as the Rebels went on to defeat the Bulldogs 80-65, upping their record to 21-4 overall and 12-1 in region play. The victory sets up a showdown Friday night at 7:30 in Schofield Gymnasium between Byrnes and Riverside for the region 2-5A title where the Rebs will be looking to avenge their lone region loss – an 84-72 slip back on January 20th.
“Last time, they took it to us”, said Fowler about the upcoming battle. “They jumped all over us in the first quarter and got up 16 points. We responded and cut it down to a 1-possession game, but ran out of gas. Riverside has one of the best players in the state with Sebi Boyogueno and several good shooters. They are disciplined, so you cannot expect them to beat themselves. We have to go execute and beat them. We are expecting a big game atmosphere with a huge crowd that will hopefully give us some energy for senior night on Friday.”
With the loss, Boiling Springs, who had their own version of the Fabian McClintock story line happen in this game with a huge 2nd half from junior point guard Brayln Gilliam (21 points to lead the team with 24 total) while also getting double figures from Atkins (14), and Imri Logan (10) fell to 12-13 and 3-10 in region 2-5A. The Bulldogs will wrap up the regular season Friday on the road at Gaffney with a tentative 7:30 tipoff.
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