ELLISTON – Playing on the road for a fifth straight game, Bath County saw their two-game win streak come to an end in Elliston on Tuesday night following a 70-55 loss to Eastern Montgomery.
The Chargers got off to a hot start on the Mustangs as they scored the game’s first nine points.
Junior Isaac Ingram, who scored 10 points in the loss, was the focal point of the team’s quick start as he dropped two straight 3-pointers to open the game.
Scoreless after the first couple of minutes of the game, the Mustangs ended their scoring drought with 5:45 left in the period on a layup.
Eastern Montgomery would hold Bath County to four points in the final six minutes of the quarter as they outscored the Chargers 9-4 to get back into the game after a slow start.
In the second quarter with six minutes to go, Junior Wyatt Campbell reeled in an offensive rebound and put the ball right back up and through the net as Bath County built back up an eight-point lead.
During a three-minute span, Easter Montgomery would chip away at their deficit and eventually tied the game by going on a 10-2 scoring that was capped off by 21 dropping in a jump shot to tie the game with 3:14 left in the first half.
The slight momentum built by the Mustangs would cool down for a moment’s time as the Chargers regained the lead at 25-22 behind sophomore Franki Deboe who made one of two free throws and a layup within seconds of each other.
With just over two minutes remaining in the first half, Eastern Montgomery scored four straight points on back-to-back jump shots from Talon Bruce, which gave the Mustangs their first lead of the game at 26-25.
However, Bath County answered quickly as Campbell knocked down a 3-pointer with two minutes remaining in the first half.
The Mustangs answered and closed the half by outscoring the Chargers 6-1 to take a 31-29 halftime lead. Bruce was the difference maker in the final minutes of the half as he scored five points in the final minute, including a traditional 3-point play that put the team ahead by two points.
BCHS opened the second half much like they did the game, as the Chargers scored a quick seven points to open the second half to take a 36-31 lead.
During the next four minutes, the Mustangs would outscore the Chargers 9-2 to reclaim the lead at 40-38 as the team dropped in a 3-pointer with 2:51 remaining in the third quarter.
Things would get rough for Bath County for the rest of the quarter as the team went ice cold and were held scoreless for the final 4:30.
During that time span that the Chargers were held scoreless, Eastern Montgomery would capitalize and closed the second quarter on an 18-0 scoring run to take a 55-38 lead.
The Mustangs outscored the Chargers 24-9 in the third period.
Within the first minute of the fourth quarter, Eastern Montgomery built a 20-point lead and extended their scoring run to 24 straight points.
Bath County snapped their scoreless drought of six minutes as Campbell connected with a two-pointer as his foot was on the 3-pt line.
Throughout the remainder of the game the Mustangs held their ground and controlled the tempo by keeping pace with the Chargers as the closest BCHS would come within was 14 points in the final minute of the game.
It was both teams Pioneer District opener as Eastern Montgomery improved to 2-5, 1-0 Pioneer. Meanwhile Bath County dropped to 2-5, 0-1 Pioneer.
Senior Andrew Turner led the way for Bath County with a team-high 19 points, while Campbell added 16 points.
Cyrus Underwood and Talon Bruce led all scoring with 20-points each for the Mustangs, while Cam Sutphin added 15.
Coming up next for the Chargers is a return home for the first time in nearly three weeks month as the Chargers host Richwood, W.Va. in a non-district contest.
Bath County 13 16 9 17 – 55
Eastern Montgomery 9 22 24 15 – 70
BCHS (55): A. Turner 19, W. Campbell 16, I. Ingram 10, F. DeBoe 8, G. Walton 2.
EMHS (70): T. Bruce 20, C. Underwood 20, C. Sutphin 15, G. Lawson 6, N. Williams 6, W. Covey 3.
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