Warriors bounce back at Phoebus
Published 10:19 pm Wednesday, February 5, 2014
Nansemond River High School’s boys’ basketball team rebounded from recent back-to-back losses with a 70-55 win over host Phoebus High School on Tuesday evening.
“The key in this game — we shut down their two leading scorers,” Warriors head coach Ed Young said, referring to his team’s second-half effort.
Young said the Warriors started out sloppy, trailing 17-14 after the first period and still trailing 30-29 at halftime.
“We came out in the third quarter and scored the first six points — Scott Spencer on two drives, Devon Oakley on a jumper from the wing,” Young said. “We go up 35-30, we never look back.”
The Warriors outscored Phoebus 23-12 in the quarter. They also topped the Phantoms 18-13 in the fourth, which Young said was “a foul fest.”
“We shot 23 free throws in the fourth quarter, made 12,” he said. “In the game, we were 21-of-38 from the free throw line. That almost hurt us, but we hit enough to win the game.”
Nansemond River turned the ball over 11 times in the first half, but trimmed that number to eight in the second, while forcing the reverse from Phoebus. The Phantoms had five turnovers in the first half and 17 in the second.
Junior Scott Spencer led the Warriors with 21 points to go with five rebounds and three blocks, and senior Devon Oakley had 17 points, three assists, three steals and two blocks. Senior Marvin Branch recorded a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds, and senior Daniel Wallace added eight boards.
Nansemond River (15-3, 4-2) dropped Phoebus to 2-14, 1-5 in the conference. The Warriors host King’s Fork High School (11-7, 4-2) in a pivotal game on Friday with a 7 p.m. tip-off.