WARRIORS FIND A WAY TO STALL ALLIANCE

By Michael Ginocchi

Beloit, OH–   The West Branch boy’s basketball team hosted conference rival Alliance in a key matchup inside the EBC. Both teams came into the contest 2-0 in the conference and the winner of the game would remain in first place. Alliance got off to a fast start which propelled them to a 27-16 lead at halftime. Aviator forward K’Vaughn Davis caught fire towards the end of the second knocking down 3 big three pointers.

In the second half, West Branch turned the tide and flipped all the momentum. The Warriors held Davis to just 2 second half points and outscored Alliance 28-24. Both the offense and defense stepped up ultimately propelling West Branch to a thrilling 56-51 win.

For West Branch Jaxon Robb finished with a smooth 19 points. He also was money from the free throw line finishing 8-10. Gavin Gregory finished with 13 points, while grabbing some key offensive rebounds to help seal the win. Cooper Anderson continued his great play scoring in double figures with 10, while Camden Lane put in 9 for the Warriors.

Alliance had two players score in double figures. Both K’Vaughn Davis and JR Jackson finished with 16 points each. While Davis did most of his damage throughout the first half, Jackson continued his steady play throughout the game. Sam Gress added 8 points to help keep Alliance in the game late.

With the win, West Branch improves to 8-2 (3-0 EBC) on the season. The Warriors are in sole first place and will look to continue that success when the host Carrollton this Tuesday at 6:45 p.m. Alliance drops to 3-5 (2-1 EBC) with the loss. The Aviators will look to bounce back on Tuesday vs Minerva.