Gallery by Heather Belcher
Charmco – Summers County has seen its fair share of heartache this season in close losses down the stretch.
That was not the case Friday night.
Playing in front of a raucous crowd inside John C. Estep Gymnasium, the Bobcats found the formula needed to knock off Greenbrier West, edging the Cavaliers 65-61 in overtime.
“I thought we grew up some tonight. We have been teetering some,” Summers County head coach Robert Bowling said. “We have lost six games by eight points or less. We have had leads in a lot of them and we have just struggled to get over the top. This is a hard place to play and (Greenbrier West head) coach (Jared) Robertson does a good job.”
Three straight scores inside by Ben Dunford staked Summers County a quick lead which stood at 16-11 after one quarter.
The Cavaliers trimmed the advantage to one point at the break and the game became a see-saw affair in the second half.
Trailing by three points after a pull-up jumper from Brandan Isaac early in the third period, West pulled even for the first time in the game thanks to a conventional 3-point play from Brayden McClung.
A bucket from Isaac restored the lead for Summers before back-to-back buckets from Tanner Hagy and Chris Davis gave the Cavaliers their first lead of the contest.
“They have a really good player in McClung. Hagy made some big shots and their student section is always good,” Bowling said. “It is what Friday night high school basketball should be in southern West Virginia.”
Summers wasted no time answering the brief deficit with a bucket from Ayden Gardner and a triple from Ryan Oliveros to retake the lead.
The Bobcats then pushed the lead out to six points, but after Davis scored inside and McClung cashed in on a run out, the Summers lead was just two points after three quarters.
“This team has grown up a lot over the course of the season and over the last two years. We are really well versed in some positions, but we are still young in some positions,” Isaac said. “We played Westside at the (Beckley-Raleigh County Convention Center) and played down at James Monroe and we kind of folded at the end game. Tonight we were able to pull through and win it at the end.”
Although the visitors survived to pick up the win, the road to victory was rocky and filled was chances for failure.
Two ties and three lead changes left Greenbrier West on the positive side of a 51-49 margin with three minutes to play.
A free throw by Summers and two from West put the home team up three with two minutes remaining in regulation.
A corner 3-ball from Ben Lane was then followed by a steal and a layup from Isaac to put the ‘Cats back in front 55-53 with 60 ticks left on the clock.
“We were down three and Ben Lane made that 3-pointer and that was a humongous play,” Bowling said, “He has been shooting better as the season has gone along.”
Davis evened the game with 50 seconds to play, but neither team could convert down the stretch and the game went to overtime.
“That was fun out there. We were down a couple of people tonight. We have been sick and we had some kids puking in the locker room before the game,” Isaac said. “We knew it was going to be a hostile environment up here, so I knew we were going to have to make some tough shots down the stretch. Thanks goodness we were able to make them tonight.”
West landed the first blow in the extra session with a bucket from Hagy and two free-throws from Davis, but could not hold the lead.
A stickback from Robey Brown was followed by a score from Isaac. When Oliveros curled down the lane for a layup, the visitors were up two and never trailed again.
Four free throws in the waning seconds by Isaac sealed the win.
“We were down our second leading scorer in Ayden Plumley who averages 15 points per game. He just got hurt a couple of days ago, so we only really had one day to adjust,” Bowling said. “I am really proud of their energy. I had no doubt Brandan was going to make those free-throws. We had a chance up here last year and made some mental mistakes and ended up losing. The kids really gutted it out tonight and fought.”
Isaac led all scorers with 29 points, while Oliveros dropped in 13 points and Dunford scored nine.
“I just give props to the guys for getting me the ball. Somebody has to set screens for me and get me the ball,” Isaac said. “The other guys scored well too tonight and they made some key shots down the stretch.”
McClung led the Cavs with 23 points and became just the 10th player in Greenbrier West history to exceed 1,000 points for his career.
Hagy finished with 15, while Davis added 13 and Dunbar had 10.
West head coach Jared Robertson declined to comment after the game.
SC: 16 10 16 13 10 – 65
GW: 11 14 15 15 6 – 61
Summers County
Brandan Isaac 29, Robey Brown 5, Ryan Oliveros 13, Ben Lane 7, Ayden Gardner 2, Ben Dunford 9.
Greenbrier West
Tanner Hagy 15, Brayden McClung 23, Chris Davis 13, Colten Dunbar 10.
