With his Whale Branch boys basketball team’s undefeated record on the line, Jashaun Gillison wasn’t about to let a nasty cramp keep him off the court. Gillison scored six of his 12 points in the fourth quarter, including a huge 3-pointer and a trio of free throws down the stretch, and Antoine Singleton put up 19 points to help the Warriors hold off a scrappy Battery Creek team for a 52-48 home win Saturday.
Will White put together another strong outing for the Dolphins after his 28-point breakout Friday at Beaufort, putting up 16 points in the encore, while Noah Northway maintained his consistent play with 15 points. Quatrell Livingston added seven points along with eight boards while also dishing out three assists for Battery Creek.
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The Dolphins jumped out to an early lead as White collected five of Creek’s 11 points in the first quarter, and Donyae Brown put the Dolphins back up at the buzzer with a sweet move inside.
Whale Branch started the second quarter on a 16-0 run to take a commanding lead, but after an intentional foul sent Northway to the line, the reliable guard put Creek on the board for the first time and the Dolphins put together a run to cut the Warriors’ lead from 14 to two before halftime as Northway put up nine points in the quarter.
After Creek tied the game at 25 in the opening seconds of the second half, the Warriors went on a 10-0 run to reclaim the momentum. The Dolphins kept chipping away, making it a five-point game. Whale Branch tried to push the lead out further, but White found his groove from beyond the arc and helped cut the lead to three with five minutes to play.
Te’Shaun Heyward drove to the bucket and scored to make it a one-point game, and Northway picked up an offensive board and put Creek up for the first time at 48-47. Queshawn Fields (9 points) hit one of two free throws to tie it before Quintillion Fields (8 points) drove the lane for the go-ahead bucket.
Then, Gillison took charge. The Whale Branch junior had gone to the bench with a cramp just after knocking down a huge 3-pointer from the left wing, but he was back in for the final seconds and swiped the inbounds pass, then hit both ends of a 1-and-1 to seal it.
Whale Branch (6-0) takes on Calhoun Falls Charter on Monday in the Class 1A Showcase in Hemingway. Battery Creek (0-9) faces Clover on Dec. 28 in the Bennie Bennett Memorial Tournament at Chapin High School.
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