The Eastern Warriors wrapped up their regular season of play with a 70-26 victory on the road over the Ripley-Union-Lewis-Huntington Blue Jays on Feb. 19.
The home standing Blue Jays were able to keep up early on, rifling in some three-pointers in the first quarter. But it didn’t take long for the Warriors to take control, applying a full-court pressure defense that caused serious struggles on offense for Ripley.
The Warriors led 26-15 at the end of the first quarter, and before reaching halftime break they were able to widen the margin to 47-19.
The Warriors controlled the second half, out-scoring the Jays 17-7 in the third quarter and 6-0 in the fourth frame for the 44-point victory.
Leading the way in scoring for the Warriors was senior Braxton Vance, who finished with 20 points. Vance also pulled down six rebounds, dished out three assists, and snatched one steal.
Eastern junior Jaidon Florence came off the bench to score 19 points with seven-of-10 shooting from the field, draining four-of-six shots from three-point land and sinking his only attempt from the foul line. Florence also had four rebounds, two steals, and one assist.
Eastern junior Carter Cluxton finished with 14 points to go along with four rebounds.
Racking up nine points, pulling down 10 rebounds, and passing for six assists in the Warriors’ Feb. 19 win was junior guard Chase Pinkerton.
Leading the way in scoring for the Jays was junior Gavin Benjamin with 10 points. Benjamin also finished with four rebounds, one steal, and one block.
Ripley senior Blake Fyffe finished with nine points, five rebounds, one assist, and one steal.
The Warriors finished the regular season as SHAC Division I champions with a conference record of 12-1.
Eastern’s longtime varsity boys’ basketball coach, Rob Beucler, has been selected as the Ohio High School Basketball Coaches Association District 14 Division V Coach of the Year.
Pinkerton and Eastern junior Matthew Dick have been named to the OHSBCA District 14 Division V First Team, and Vance to the Division V Second Team. Eastern junior Kayne Dotson was selected as a Division V All-District Honorable Mention.
The Blue Jays fell to an overall record of 2-20 and finished with a SHAC record of 0-13 with their loss to Eastern.
Eastern boys held an overall record of 19-3 after their win at Ripley, and are the No. 4 seed for the Southeast Sectional/District Division V Tournament. The Warriors were scheduled to face No. 13 seed Nelsonville-York at Eastern High School on Feb. 24.
The Blue Jays are the No. 15 seed for the Southeast Sectional/District Division VI Tournament and will be on the road to face No. 2 seed Lucasville Valley at Lucasville on Feb. 27.