By MIKE HUTSELL
CHARLESTOWN — As injuries depleted its roster, the Silver Creek boys’ basketball team kept expanding its lead.
Finishing with six healthy players on the roster, the Dragons pulled away in the final five minutes on Saturday in a 58-43 victory over Charlestown at Bill Dunn Sports Arena.
Leading by just two points with five minutes to go, Creek outscored its opponent 17-4 — even as Dragon players were heading to the sideline one at a time.
Two starters — Will McCall and Cody Jackson — suffered fourth-quarter ankle injuries and another regular left after being struck in the head by an elbow.
None of it mattered though as Spencer Robinson led his squad to a gutty road win in its conference opener.
Robinson, a senior guard, poured in 19 of his game-high 26 points in the final two quarters.
“We had a lot of adversity,” said Silver Creek coach John Bradley. “But Spencer made sure we got out of here with a win.”
Robinson’s biggest play helped squash a C-town comeback effort and ignite the Dragons’ final push.
After Nick Townsend missed the second of two free throws with Silver Creek leading 42-39, Robinson skied for an offensive rebound and then drained a 3-pointer on the Dragons’ ensuing possession, pushing the lead back to 45-39 after Charlestown had crawled back from an 11-point deficit in the second half.
Robinson finished the game 10-of-12 from the floor and added seven rebounds. He was 8-of-9 after halftime and knocked down a pair of 3s in the winning effort for Silver Creek (2-0, 1-0 Mid-Southern Conference).
“All-around, Spencer just had a great night,” Bradley said “He was definitely the player of the night.”
The Dragons looked like they had things in command early in the second half. Robinson opened the third quarter with five points and pushed the Dragons advantage to 33-22 in the opening two minutes of the stanza.
But the Pirates held Creek to one field goal over the rest of the quarter, closing the frame on a 12-6 spurt to trail by five heading into the final quarter and pulling within 41-39 on Bryan Williams’ 3 to open the fourth.
“We never could put them away when we had a chance,” said Bradley. “Charlestown definitely battles you.”
That rally though proved to be the last push for the Pirates, who could only muster one field goal the remainder of the night as they fell to 0-2 on the season.
“We’ve got to get better at learning how to close out games when we have a chance to win” said Pirate coach Sean Smith, whose team also lost its MSC opener. “We continued to make too many little mistakes over the course of a game that add up and cost us opportunities to win.”
Two Pirates reached double figures in the loss. Reserve Terry Crenshaw came off the bench to post 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting, while Josh King had 10 in the defeat. Townsend added 10 in the win for the Dragons.
Both teams will return to MSC play on Friday. Silver Creek will host Clarksville while the Pirates travel to Scottsburg.
GIRLS’ GAME
Amanda Miller scored 12 of her 24 points in the final quarter, converting on 10 free throws in the final eight minutes to help the Pirates to a 50-40 victory over the Dragons in the opening game of a boy-girl doubleheader.
Miller was the lone player on both sides to post double figures. She finished the night 5-of-7 from the field and 14-of-16 at the line for the Pirates (3-1, 2-0 MSC).
“It’s a great win. We’ve started the season the way we wanted to,” said Charlestown assistant coach Rick Myers. “The biggest challenge for us now is we have to go to Austin (Wednesday) for our next game.”
Erin Richmer and Jessica Hagedorn each had eight points for the Dragons (1-4, 0-2).
Silver Creek will travel to Crawford County on Tuesday.
BOYS’ VARSITY
SILVER CREEK 16 12 11 19—58
CHARLESTOWN 7 15 12 9—43
Silver Creek (2-0, 1-0 MSC) — Robinson 26, Bradley 5, Jackson 2, McCall 9, Townsend 10, Eckert 4, Everage 2, Meyer 0.
Charlestown (0-2, 0-1) — King 10, Williams 8, Brady 8, Poteet 0, Wyatt 0, Crenshaw 13, Lloyd 4, Vest 0, Shepard 0.
Three-point field goals — Silver Creek 5 (Robinson 2, McCall 2, Bradley); Charlestown 5 (King, Brady 2, Williams 2).
Rebounds — SIlver Creek 26 (Townsend 9); Charlestown 19 (Williams 5).
Turnovers — Silver Creek 11, Charlestown 14.
GIRLS’ VARSITY
SILVER CREEK 6 9 12 13—40
CHARLESTOWN 17 8 12 13—50
Silver Creek (1-4, 0-2) — Richmer 8, Hagedorn 8, Voyles 5, Martin 2, Fluhr 2, Rogers 6, Shaver 9.
Charlestown (3-1, 2-0) — Miller 24, Sherrill 3, Allen 5, Zollman 6, Bennison 4, Rhoten 4, Johns 4.
