By Mike Frank
Examiner Sports Writer
Two nights before Christmas, there was plenty stirring.
Bellefontaine traveled to West Liberty-Salem Monday for a non conference boys basketball matchup, and left with a 55-48 victory.
It is the third straight victory for the Chieftains after they opened the year with a pair of losses. The Tigers had won three of their first four before Monday’s loss. Both squads are now 3-2.
Bellefontaine built a small lead early on, and remained up by two at the half. They would stretch that lead to double digits before the Tigers came storming back at the end of the third period.
Tigers senior Taran Logwood sustained an injury late in the period. He would return, but only briefly. Bellefontaine went on another scoring run and kept WL-S at bay.
Jair Mundy had 17 points and Patrick Solly scored 15 to lead Bellefontaine.
“Late in the game we got the defensive stops we needed,” said Chieftains coach Henry Stolly. “Plus some key offensive plays. But it all comes down to rebounding and I thought we did a really good job on (Logwood). Hopefully he’s healthy and he’ll be able to come back.”
Stolly added, “I’m just proud of our kids sticking together in a hostile environment and just playing through some adversity. Our chemistry is building. We’re not quite where we need to be, but we’re making some strides in the right direction.”
Logwood finished with 14 points, with Troy Christison getting 10. Isaiah Reames and Brevin Louden each put in nine.
“I thought we could have executed some things throughout the game better,” noted West Liberty-Salem’s Darrin Leichty. “Obviously a couple shots going in would have gone a long ways.”
“Give Bellefontaine credit, they hit some tough shots,” Leichty said. “I feel like we were in guys’ faces, and they were able to knock them down.”
He feels that players are settling into their roles after the start of the season was pushed back.
The contest started with Poppe and Logwood scoring for the Tigers, and Mundy banking in a 3-pointer in between for Bellefontaine.
The Chieftains eventually built at 10-6 lead before a 6-0 run from WL-S left them ahead with about 90 second left in the first period.
A score by Stolly knotted things at 12 apiece. As the period wound to a close, Stolly and Jamison Clement each hit from long distance. Logwood got a score on the Tigers’ end to make it 18-14 Bellefontaine.
Newcomb opened the second with a pair from the free throw line. After that, the only shot to fall over the next few minutes was a three by Christison.
Salyer scored on a fast break to put Bellefontaine up by five with just over four minutes to go.
West-Liberty closed out the half on a strong note, getting two scores by Louden and a layup from Reames. A three-pointer by Lotts with 36 seconds left would preserve the Chiefs’ lead, 25-23.
Bellefontaine got Stolly and Mundy to heat up in the early going of the third period. Mundy had a pair of scores, and Stolly had three, including back-to-back from behind the 3-point arc. Meanwhile, the Tigers were held to just four points over that same stretch.
With 3 1/2 minutes to go, it was the hosts’ turn to catch fire. Poppe drew a foul and hit both shots. Christison made a layup, Logwood scored, then the Tigers stole the inbounds and Reames cut the lead down to 37-35.
With nine seconds to go, Logwood landed awkwardly under his own basket. He was helped off the floor after a few minutes.
Christison splashed a shot from long range to open the fourth-period scoring. That also gave the Tigers their first lead since the opening quarter.
Bellefontaine then reclaimed the momentum with a 12-2 run, getting points from four different players and pushing the lead back up to 49-38.
A three by Christison and some free throws by Louden got the Tigers with five. But they were not able to shrink the gap any more than that.
——
In the junior varsity game, West Liberty-Salem won 55-39. The Tigers got 19 points by Beckett Sullivan and 10 by Asher Cole. Zylar Huffman had 12 and Blake Loomis for Bellefontaine.
The freshman contest went to the Tigers 43-41 in overtime. WL-S was led by Brayan Gullett (14), Casey Boyer (13) and Asher Cole (13). For Bellefontaine, Tyler Rossey had 14 and Tiler Monnin scored 11.
UP NEXT
Bellefontaine (1-1 CBC, 3-2) will participate in a holiday tournament at Piqua this weekend. They face Russia on Friday, and then either Piqua or Troy Christian on Saturday depending on the outcome. They will resume league action on Jan. 3 at Jonathan Alder.
West Liberty-Salem (3-1 OHC, 3-2 overall) will be back on the court next Monday at home against West Jefferson.
Score by quarters
Chieftains 18. 7. 12. 18.— 55
Tigers 14. 9. 12. 13. — 48
Bellefontaine (1-1, 3-2)
Patrick Stolly 6 0-0 15; Jair Mundy 8 0-0 17; Grayson Lotts 2 0-0 6; Braylon Newcomb 0 4-4 4; Jacob Salyer 3 2-4 8; C.J. Butler 1 0-0 2; Jamison Clement 1 0-0 3;
TOTALS 21 6-8 55.
West Liberty-Salem (3-1, 3-2)
Isaiah Reames 4 0-4 9; Troy Christison 4 0-0 10; Sutton Wilcoxon 0 0-0 0; Caleb Hershberger 0 0-0 0; Brevin Louden 3 3-4 9; Carson Poppe 2 2-2 6; Taran Logwood 6 2-2 14.
TOTALS 19 7-12 48.
