BLACKSVILLE – In John Kisner’s 11 years as boys’ basketball coach at Clay-Battelle he’s had some teams that could shoot the basketball.
The 2021-2022 version of the Cee-Bees might just be one of the best shooting teams he’s ever had.
On Tuesday, Clay-Battelle knocked down 10 3-pointers with four different players connecting from distance on its way to a 69-49 win over Valley Wetzel.
“We are a good shooting team,” Kisner said. “When we are on, we are on. Our boys like to shoot the three, we do a lot of competition stuff in practice. We practice the three a good bit and we also practice the inside. We try to work inside out a little bit.”
That inside-out strategy is a really good idea for the Cee-Bees considering the height they have especially at the Class A level. They boast six players on the roster that stand over 6-feet, and they used that height and their long arms to give the Lumberjacks (1-6) all kinds of trouble on the defensive end.
“I thought we were big last year,” Kisner said. “We graduated a lot of size and had some big boys that were 6-6, 6-4, 6-3. When the boys came out this year, I knew I had a little bit back and some of them had grown a little bit. Being long and lanky like we are, we can definitely give some teams some problems.”
After trailing 6-5 early in the first quarter, Clay-Battelle went on a 17-4 run that lasted until early in the second quarter and gave it a 22-10 lead.
Three-straight 3-pointers between Kohlton St. Clair and Johnny Arnett pushed Clay-Battelle’s lead to 33-18 before Valley’s Gaven Derby sank a long 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer with the Cee-Bees up 35-23 at the break.
Another barrage of 3-pointers early in the third quarter helped push the Cee-Bee’s lead to 19 points, as Arnett, St. Clair and Michael Payton all hit threes.
Derby, a freshman for the Lumberjacks, did his best to try to keep the game close as he finished with a game-high 19 points and knocked down four 3-pointers of his own. Dallas Preat added 12 off the bench for Valley.
But in the end, the Cee-Bees length on defense and their hot shooting was enough to pick up the victory.
Colby Barr led Clay-Battelle with 17 points while St. Clair scored 16 and Carson Shriver added 10.
Barr was the leading scorer for the Cee-Bees despite not hitting a 3-pointer in the contest.
“Colby’s older brother (Colton) played for me, and he was the Mason-Dixon player of the year,” Kisner said. “Colby is a natural scorer and has a chance to be really good. I’d like to see him get some more size next year.”
The Cee-Bees did lose freshman Preston Luzader to an ankle injury early in the first half. Kisner said he was hopeful of a quick return for Luzader.
Clay-Battelle returns to action on Tuesday, when it travels to Cameron before returning home on Jan. 7 for a contest against Tyler Consolidated.
University 62, St. Francis (Ga.) 33
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Garrison Kisner finished with 28 points on 13 of 20 shooting to lead the Hawks to their second win at the Big Shots Winter Jam Fest.
“We actually didn’t shoot very well,” UHS head coach Joe Schmidle said. “We were only 2 of 8 from three, so our guys basically stopped shooting them. We did take care of the ball. I don’t think we even had 10 turnovers.”
Elija Jackson added 14 points for UHS (4-3), which is 2-0 at the event.
The Hawks will play Northwood Temple (N.C.) at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday for their final game at the event.
York Prep (S.C.) 55, Morgantown 54
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Morgantown High’s shot at the buzzer did not go in, leading to a tough last-second loss on the second day of the Big Shots Winter Jam Fest.
MHS (5-2) has lost both of its games at the event by a combined three points with both games coming down to the final moments.
York Prep is the No. 1-ranked team in South Carolina.
“We didn’t execute as well down the stretch, but we had a shot at the buzzer,” MHS head coach Dave Tallman said. “I thought we got fouled on the play, but there was no call. Overall, we have seen some great competition here, which is what I was looking for. It will help us in the long run once we get to the postseason.”
Alec Poland led the Mohigans with 17 points and Brooks Gage added 13. Sha-Ron Young had 11.
MHS will play Steward School (Va.) at noon Wednesday in the final day of the event.
— Story by Eric Herter
