Easley High School senior Will Patton (No. 1) and his dad, Henry, last Friday night after the Green Wave defeated rival Pickens.
Courtesy photo
It’s too bad there weren’t a bunch of college scouts at the Easley-Pickens games last Friday night.
The Green Wave girls basketball team played their best game of the season in a 38-28 victory, which was highlighted by a 20-0 run in the third quarter.
The EHS girls had a balanced scoring attack with Rebeka Eron’s 11 points, Olivia Gramblng scored 10, Meya McKinney scored 9 and Ava Proctor added 7.
“I’m so glad we beat them,” Grambling said. “The first time we lost to them we were all down.”
Added McKinney, “This was a very big win for us. I try to give my team the best I can. I wanted to make a big impact on defense and that’s what I did.”
The smothering defense of the Green Wave caused Pickens to have 14 turnovers in the first half.
“We beat ourselves. We had way too many turnovers,” said Pickens coach Rikki Owens. “We came out and could not take care of the ball. Our guards did not step up and we couldn’t get it to our posts. Easley wanted it more.”
Pickens slipped to 19-3 on the season and 6-2 in the region.. Easley, meanwhile, improved to 9-14 overall.
Easley girls coach Ivan Raymond, meanwhile, was ecstatic about the effort and performance of his team.
“We finally made shots,” said Coach Raymond. “We eventually got the shots we wanted and the girls capitolized. It is the best win we’ve had all year.”
Continued Coach Raymond, “For them to get that support and know that when they make that play they are going to hear it – I’m so proud for them about that. I’m happy they got that because they deserve it. This group of seniors and what they have done for our program is impressive.”
Girls Box Score
Pickens (28)
Owens 2 5-5 9, Harrud 0 0-2 0, Campbell 1 (3) 0-0 11, Chambers 1 3-6 5, McKinney 1 1-6 3. Totals: 5 (3) 9-19 28.
Easley (38)
Proctor 2 (1) 0-2 7, McKinney 3 3-4 9, Eron 2 (2) 1-4 11, Grambling 5 0-0 10, Sligh 0 1-2 1. Totals: 12 (3) 5-12 38.
In the boys game, Easley cruised to an easy 85-37 victory.
Freshman guard Drey Jackson quickly got the Green Wave on board with a long 3-pointer. Then, Jackson got the hometown crowed revved up with a nice pass to fellow freshman RJ Stack for an alley-oop dunk and a 20-5 lead. Jackson, who had 7 assists and 5 steals, finished with 10 of his 15 points in the opening frame. Stack also hit the double-figure mark with 12 points.
Commenting on the big alley-oop dunk, Jackson said, “We had been talking about it before the game that we were going to do it. We knew it was coming.”
Easley junior sharpshooter Nathan Crews got his first dunk of his cereer enroute to an 18-point performance.
Senior Carson Freeze had a solid game with 11 points. Just missing double figures was
freshman guard Miles Campbell with 8 points.
Not to be overlooked was Noah Calhoun who had 7 rebounds and 9 assists.
Patton to sign: At press time, EHS senior Will Patton had verbally committed to play football next season (receiver) at Presbyterian College. Patton is looking to play receiver next season.
“It’s great,” said Patton. “I’ve been on an official visit there and it felt like family. I’m just ready to work and they are giving me an opportunity to play.”
Patton is just a natural athlete and he currently leads the EHS basketball team with 6.9 rebounds a game.
Patton is just enjoying the basketball season and talked a bit about the postgame celebration at midcourt after EHS defeated Pickens.
“We had a lot of players who don’t get to play too mich and they got to play a lot,” Patton said, with several of his teammates at midcourt and celebrating the win over Pickens. “Tonight, we were just working on plays and getting ready for the playoffs.”
Will’s dad, Hemry, lit up when talking about his son (Will) and he did have some good advice for him in college.”
“I want to see him grow (and get better every day),” Hemry said.
Gill Gets Honor: EHS Athletic Director Gill Payne was giving a special plaque for his 10 years of service at the school as an Athletic Director.
“His leadership across the entire athletic department has been huge for us,” EHS Principal Josh Oxendine. “He’s financially savy to raise funds for our kids. He protects money for student athletes better than anyone I’ve seen. Not only that, but how he supports our coaches and our athletes, and also supports the school as a whole. To have an athletic director who understands where athletics fits into the school, but also supports everything else that this is in the school is really special. We’re fortunate to have someone of Gill’s experience and his caliber. It’s great to celebrate 10 years for him.”
Reach Jeff Holt at 864-855-0355.