Dragons pick up third win to kick off Young Classic

By Mark Carpenter

People’s Defender

Coming off a tough loss to Southeastern on Friday night, Coach Roy Cooper and his West Union Dragons faced a rapid turnaround as they faced off with the Portsmouth Clay Panthers in the 10 a,m, Saturday opening game of the 2024 Coach Young Classic, hosted by North Adams High School.

At this point in the season, the Dragons are just looking for victories and they found one on Saturday, though it was not without its precarious moments. West Union took the lead in the second quarter and extended it out to 14 points in the third quarter only to see the Panthers rally in a hectic final period to cut the margin down to one, but the Dragons made the plays down the stretch that they needed, hanging on for their third win of the season by a final count of 54-48.

“I’m glad our kids came out ready to go this early , especially after having a game last night,” Coach Cooper told C103 Radio after the win. “We took care of the ball pretty good, then got kind of sloppy and let them back in it, but a win is a win and I’ll take it, Every win a good for our morale and I think we are starting to turn that corner just a little bit, trying to get rid of that losing mentality and starting to get hungry.”

The Dragons jumped out early in the early Saturday wakeup call, going up 4-0 on baskets by Gavin Jarvis and Trae Grooms, and in an opening quarter where scores were at a premium, led later 7-3 after two Billy Flaugher free throws after a Clay technical foul. It was the Panthers, however, who ended the opening period on a high note, as a later three-pointer from Aiden Ball gave them an 8-7 advantage after one.

The score bounced back and forth in the early minutes of the second quarter with West Union grabbing back the lead and extending it to give on a three-ball from Jarvis, who eventually led all scorers with 17 points. Late in the second stanza, Clay head coach Bobby Blanton was whistled for a technical foul for arguing with the officials and then promptly ejected from the contest, a series of events that ended with West Union’s Grooms hitting a trio of free throws that gave the Dragons a 24-16 halftime advantage.

After the break, it was the Panthers striking first, a three-point goal by Keegan Newman slicing the West Union lead to just 24-21, but after shaking off the post-halftime doldrums, the Dragons roared to life, going on a 13-2 run that included three-point jumpers from Flaugher and Jarvis, a nice putback score from Darius Davis and ended with West Union up double digits at 37-23. By the end of the third frame, the Panthers were able to cut that lead back to 39-29 but it looked like the Dragons were still in great position to coast to a win.

That looked even more possible when a Brenna Pollitt three-pointer made it 44-31, but Clay managed to start chipping away, begging with back-to-back buckets from Quinten Demorest. Another score from Demorest with four minutes to play pulled the Panthers within 45-38 and after a Grooms free throw, things got quite interesting when Clay put together a 7-0 spurt and in the blink of an eye, it was a one-point ballgame, West Union up 46-45.

When they look back on this loss, the Panthers will see a plethora of missed opportunities in the final quarter, opportunities that would have given them a lead at various points, but those shots just didn’t want to fall. One of the biggest plays of the game came with 1:46 to play when West Union’s Grooms drove to the baskets, split two Clay defenders and scored, plus drew a foul and converted the three-point play to give his team a 50-45 advantage. The Panthers were able to cut the West Union lead back to two at 50-48 with 52 seconds left but again missed opportunities to tie or take the lead.

A layup by Jarvis and then two Flaugher free throws with four seconds to play wrapped up the game’s scoring as the Dragons won for the second time in their last three outings, holding on for the six-point triumph.

As mentioned, Gavin Jarvis led the Dragons and all scores with his 17-point effort, joined in double figures by teammates Trae Grooms with 14 and Billy Flaugher with 10, including 7 for 8 from the charity stripe.

Clay was paced by 16 points from Keegan Newman and 10 from Aiden Ball and were only 10 for 20 from the free throw line.

The now 3-11 Dragons were back in action on Tuesday, January 16 when they hosted Sciotoville East, and will remain in non-conference action on Friday night with a trip to Felicity.

Portsmouth Clay

8 8 13 19 —48

West Union k

7 17 15 15 —54

P. Clay (48): Malone 3 1-6 7, Fowler 4 1-4 9, Demorest 3 0-0 6, Newman 5 4-6 16, Ball 2 4-4 10, Team 17 10-20 48.

W. Union (54): Daley 1 0-0 2, Harding 1 2-4 4, Davis 1 0-0 2, Pollitt 1 0-0 3, Grooms 4 6-12 14, Jarvis 7 0-0 17, Flaugher 1 7-8 10, Caldwell 1 0-0 2, Team 17 15-24 54.

Three-Point Goals:

P. Clay (4)- Newman 2, Ball 2

W. Union (5)- Jarvis 3, Flaugher 1, Pollitt 1