BASKETBALL: Pirates begin season on positive note with 58-45 win

By KEVIN HARRIS

NEW WASHINGTON — Last season, the Charlestown boys’ basketball team got off to a horrendous start, losing its first 10 games.

The Pirates will not have to worry about a poor beginning like that this season.

Charlestown held Greater Clark rival New Washington to 13 points in the middle two quarters and prevailed in its season opener on Tuesday at James Matthews Gymnasium, 58-45. It also was the season opener for the Mustangs.

“It’s nice to get a win right off the bat,” Pirates head coach Sean Smith said. “We were focused and ready to get it done. Our theme coming into tonight was to close the deal. Overall, we stepped it up and closed the deal. I’m proud of the effort.”

Giving Charlestown a huge spark off the bench was junior Anthony Lloyd. The 6-foot-2 forward scored a game-high 20 points on 9-of-12 shooting. He also grabbed seven rebounds.

“Anthony played the way we’ve wanted him to play the last couple of years,” Smith said. “He was focused and he owned that lane. If he does this consistently, he can have a heck of a year. He was a high-energy positive player for us tonight.”

Another key in Charlestown’s victory was its defense on New Washington sharpshooter Devin Freels. The 5-8 guard tallied only eight points on 3-of-7 shooting.

The Pirates used three guards — Kyle Hayes, Josh King and Aaron Daniel — to defend Freels in their man-to-man defense.

“They did a nice job of keeping the ball out of his hands,” Smith said. “I thought we had solid defense as a team and we had good help defense.”

The Pirates took their first lead of the game at 13-10 when Daniel, a freshman, converted a three-point play at the 2:53 mark of the first quarter. But the Mustangs answered with a 6-0 run to go up 16-13. Sophomore Jacob Ramer tallied four of those six, banking in a 3-pointer from the right wing and then making the front end of a one-and-one.

With the score tied at 22, Charlestown closed out the half with a 6-1 spurt. Lloyd and Daniel began the run with back-to-back buckets. After New Washington’s Drake Krohn hit a foul shot, Lucas Poteet and Hayes each made free throws to give the Pirates a 28-23 halftime advantage.

Lloyd had the most productive half, scoring 13 points on 6-of-7 shooting, which included swishing his first four field goals. Daniel chipped in five points.

New Washington seniors Jesse Wiggam and Dustin Bowman had six and five points, respectively, in the opening half. The Mustangs made just seven of their 22 field-goal attempts in the first 16 minutes. They scored only seven points in the second quarter.

New Washington’s offense continued to struggle after intermission. They were outscored 12-6 in the third quarter to enable the Pirates to extend their lead to 40-29. The lone field goal the Mustangs made in the stanza was a 3 by Krohn at about the 6:30 mark.

Charlestown upped its advantage to 16 points at 46-30 with 6:23 left in regulation on a putback by Scottsburg transfer Joe Wilson.

New Washington pulled within 10 with a 6-0 run. Freels nailed a bucket, followed by a pair of Bowman free throws and another Freels basket. But a King 3 and a Lloyd layup extended the Pirates lead back to 15 with 4:15 remaining.

Wilson had 10 points and a team-high nine rebounds. King chipped in nine points.

Three Mustangs scored 10 points apiece in Krohn, Wiggam and Bowman. Krohn completed a double-double with a game-high 10 boards.

Smith said the Pirates were pumped up for several reasons entering the contest.

“They were fired up because it was a rival and because they wanted to have a good season,” he said. “It’s been a good start. We’ve had a good first two weeks.”

Charlestown will visit Silver Creek in its Mid-Southern Conference opener on Saturday. New Washington will host Rock Creek Christian on Friday, Dec. 4.



CHARLESTOWN 15 13 12 18—58

NEW WASHINGTON 16 7 6 16—45

Charlestown (1-0) — Hayes 5, King 9, Coyne 2, Lloyd 20, Williams 0, Thorstad 0, Daniel 5, Poteet 3, Wilson 10, Hall 4.

New Washington (0-1) — Krohn 10, Freels 8, Ramer 4, Woods 0, Wiggam 10, Bowman 10, Radford 3, Looney 0, Bower 0.

3-point field goals — Charlestown 1 (King); New Washington 3 (Krohn, Ramer, Bowman).

Rebounds — Charlestown 36 (Wilson 9); New Washington 33 (Krohn 10).

Turnovers — Charlestown 19, New Washington 18.

Junior varsity score — Charlestown 41, New Washington 28.

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