Cam Chadwell continues to look like a future star for the West Wizards.
It didn’t take long for the elementary basketball picture to start changing.
Just three nights after Hickory Creek rolled to the biggest boys win on opening night, West Elementary made sure everybody knew there was another contender waiting to enter the mix. The Wizards debuted with a convincing 27-13 victory over the Hawks Thursday, while Dibrell went from an opening-night loss to a 38-point road victory and Centertown completed a perfect opening week.
West Elementary Wizards 27
Hickory Creek Hawks 13
West was the lone team not to play on opening night. The Wizards were more than ready when their turn finally came Thursday. And catching them well rested was tough for the Hawks because every team facing West this season better be ready for a track meet.
The Wizards’ five starters never seemed to slow down, using a relentless press and plenty of speed to overwhelm Hickory Creek in a statement victory. It was an impressive opening statement against a Hawks team that had scored 46 points just three nights earlier.
West’s pressure even managed to completely shut down Monday’s leading scorer in elementary basketball. Asher Mathis poured in 16 points in Hickory Creek’s opener, but the Wizards held him scoreless Thursday.
Cam Chadwell was right in the middle of everything for West. A frightening scorer by the end of last season, Chadwell has come back bigger and stronger and looked comfortable controlling the action from the point.
He really set the tone late in the first quarter, slicing through the Hickory Creek defense, absorbing contact and finishing for an and-1. Chadwell went on to lead West with seven points, but the Wizards had plenty of help around him.
Princeton Scott and Byron Keyes cleaned the glass and scored six points apiece, while Malik Ellis and DJ Ramirez each finished with four. All five West scorers had at least four points in the victory.
Po Haywood tried to keep Hickory Creek within striking distance, leading the Hawks with eight points. Beckett Butcher added four and Caleb Lippe finished with one.
Dibrell Wildcats 48
Boyd Broncos 10
If Dibrell was disappointed by its opening-night loss, the Wildcats didn’t spend much time feeling sorry for themselves. They responded by putting together one of the most dominant performances of the opening week.
Dibrell went on the road Thursday and overwhelmed Boyd 48-10, bouncing back in a big way after falling 34-22 to Centertown at home Monday.
Owen Willis helped turn the game into a runaway in the second quarter, catching fire as the Wildcats started piling up points. Willis finished with 12, but the leading scorer was a familiar name.
Jeb Culwell, one of the elementary league’s top scorers a year ago, looks like he has returned even better. Culwell poured in a game-high 14 points to lead a Dibrell attack that got contributions throughout the lineup.
Jean Garcia added nine points, River Rice and Mason Kieffer scored four apiece, Jace Matheny and Mason Ashburn finished with two each and Waylen Carroll added one. Eight different Wildcats scored as Dibrell completely flipped the script from opening night.
Boyd had some early highlights of its own. Theron Jones got the Broncos going with a 3-pointer in the first quarter and finished with a team-high five points. Jax Burger converted a 3-point play in the second quarter and Heath Judkins added two.
Brent Carden photo - Greyson Eubanks, pictured in a previous game, had another good showing for the Warriors Thursday night as the group moved to 2-0.
Centertown Warriors 18
Bobby Ray Stars 6
Not even a smoke detector could keep Centertown from completing a perfect opening week.
The Warriors had their Thursday night matchup with Bobby Ray interrupted in the second half when a smoke detector went off and the gym had to be evacuated. Both teams eventually returned to the court and Centertown went right back to work, finishing off an 18-6 victory.
It was a much different kind of win than Monday’s 34-22 victory over Dibrell, but the result was the same.
Greyson Eubanks led Centertown with eight points, while Colt Bratcher followed with six. The duo combined for 14 of the Warriors’ 18 points after both scored 10 in Monday’s opener.
Noah Simpson and Maddux Underhill added two points apiece.
Bobby Ray was once again led by Jayden Terry, who scored four points after putting up six in Monday’s overtime loss to Boyd. Evan Reilly added two points for the Stars.
Centertown now sits at 2-0 after finding two different ways to win in the opening week. The Warriors won a higher-scoring battle Monday, then leaned on their defense Thursday and didn’t let an unexpected evacuation knock them off course.
Bobby Ray drops to 0-2, but the Stars have already been through two very different tests after taking Boyd to overtime on opening night before running into unbeaten Centertown.
Irving College Tigers 33
Eastside Bulldogs 10
Eastside scoring - Marcus Martin 5, Matthias Wilcher 4, Cain Rodriguez 1
Standings
Centertown 2-0
Irving College 2-0
West Elementary 1-0
Boyd 1-1
Dibrell 1-1
Hickory Creek 1-1
Morrison 0-1
Bobby Ray 0-2
Eastside 0-2
Next week’s schedule
Monday, Sept. 28
Dibrell at Bobby Ray
Boyd at Centertown
West at Eastside
Hickory Creek at Morrison
Thursday, Oct. 1
Morrison at Boyd
Centertown at Irving College
Dibrell at West
