BLACKSVILLE — The Clay-Battelle boys basketball team earned a strong victory over the visiting Cameron Dragons on a chilly Tuesday night in Blacksville inside Statler-Wilson Gymnasium.
After taking a seven point lead into the locker room at halftime, 32-25, the Cee-Bees outscored the Dragons 22-10 in the third frame to extend a lead that they wouldn’t come close to surrendering on the way to a 69-43 victory.
C-B forward duo Colby Barr and Preston Luzader combined for 37 points in the game with seven made field goals each. Barr established himself inside while Luzader was able to stretch the floor and knock down a pair of triples on his way to lead all scorers with 19.
“Our boys were in the locker room at halftime and wanted more,” C-B head coach Josh Kisner said. “Our younger guys came out and played hard today and then Preston and Colby worked inside well. Our shooting poercentage was better in this game and we finished around the rim like we are supposed to as well.”
Barr got started early in the first quarter and helped his team take and early 8-2 lead that forced the Dragons into a timeout with less than three minutes gone off of the clock. The visitors battled back before the end of the fram however, and even managed to grab a 12-11 lead late, but the Cee-Bees hit a triple to take a 14-12 lead after the first quarter.
The second quarter started evenly but clinging to a slight lead at 21-20 with 4:30 to play in the frame, the hosts kicked it into another gear and ended the first half on an 11-5 run that gave them a seven point lead going into the locker room, 32-25.
“We were more efficient tonight,” Kisner said. “Especially down low and that’s something that is better from last week and we hope will continue to improve.”
To go along with the inside success was a decent showing from beyond the arc, as the Cee-Bees enjoyed seven triples from five different players. In fact all six players for Kisner’s squad that scored had at least six points.
The difference in the game came in the third quarter for the Cee-Bees though, as a quick scoring run saw the lead swell to double-digits, 37-26. A 20-7 run in the third helped C-B build a lead to 19 by the end of the quarter. This time it was the guard play for Clay Battelle to make the difference.
“Those guys work hard everyday,” Kisner said of his young group in the backcourt. “Their coachable, they want to win, and they have good game sense. The confidence is building in them quickly.”
Sophomore guard Cooper Payton joined Luzader and Barrin double-figures with 10. The Dragons were led in scoring by Lance Hartley with 13.
“Turnovers were a huge difference in the first half and the game,” Cameron head coach Tom Hart said. “Third quarter we came out and it was the same story. Clay-Battelle is a good team and they capitalized on our mistakes well tonight.”
Clay Battelle would finish the game strong with a 69-43 victory.
Clay Battelle 69, Cameron 43
C-B 14 18 22 15 – 69
Cam 12 13 10 8 – 43
Clay-Battelle – Spears 4 0-0 9, Ponceroff 2 1-2 6, Payton 4 0-0 10, Barr 7 4-6 18, Luzader 7 3-5 19, Morgan 2 2-4 7
Cameron – McCauley 3 2-2 10, Wichterman 6 1-2 12, Winters 1 0-0 2, Hartley 6 1-4 13, Estel 1 1-2 3, Frye 1 0-0 3
3pt. Goals – Clay Battelle 7 (Payton 2, Luzader 2, Spears 1, Ponceroff 1, Morgan 1); Cameron 4 (McCauley 2, Frye 1, Wichterman 1)
