With approximately two weeks remaining in the conference regular season, the Charleston Lady Tigers are soundly defeating almost all opponents in their schedule. With the exception of a close win over Elkins, the Lady Tigers have not had a close game for almost the entire month of January. Coaches want their teams to peak at the end of the regular season, and that is exactly where the Lady Tigers appear to be heading. If so, that is bad news for their future opponents. Charleston may be playing the best basketball of anyone is Class 3A at this point in the season. Last evening, the Lady Tigers continued their torrid march to the playoffs with a sound defeat of the Greenland Lady Tigers by the score of 52-21. Charleston lead by as much as 34, but mass substituted in the second half.
In the second game, the Charleston boys team, who previously won a close, buzzer-beater game against the Pirates in Greenland, defeated the Pirates at Tiger Center by the score of 47-41. The Tigers overcame a tall and talented Greenland team who were very athletic in the paint and took the game to Charleston early on.
In the girls game, the Lady Tigers created multiple scoring opportunities from their pressure defense. Charleston was devastating with their three point shooting. Charleston held the Lady Pirates off of the scoreboard until less than one minute remaining in the first quarter. Charleston coach Jason Rucker was pleased with the way his Lady Tigers continue to play. “I thought we played fast and shared the ball well with balanced scoring.” Payton Rucker led all Charleston scorers with 13 points in reduced playing time for the Charleston starters.
Charleston coach B. J. Ross was pleased with his team’s ability to stay in the game early when Greenland took the game to Charleston early. “Greenland did a great job of limiting our possessions. I thought we did a good job of staying in the game and making things happen defensively. Really proud of the toughness we showed last night. We shot our best percentage from the field for the season going 15 of 31, and we went 10 of 11 from the free throw line. Anytime you only get 31 shots you better be efficient or you will get your tail kicked. We had a great team effort last night defensively. I thought that Trenton Goodson played his best and most complete basketball game of the year so far. Brayden Ross eclipsed the 1500 career points mark and 750 career rebounds mark last night. He (Ross) has averaged a double-double for his high school career so far.”
Brayden Ross led the Tigers with 28 points, and Trenton Goodson added 9 points in the Charleston win. The gritty Tigers, once again, found a way to win.
The Lady Tigers improved their record to 18-2 overall and a perfect 9-0 in league play. Charleston is in first place in their conference and has a two game lead over second place Lincoln. Lincoln is 7-2 and is tied in the loss column with Elkins who is 6-2. Greenland drops to 1-8 in league play after the loss to Charleston. The Lincoln Lady Wolves come to Tiger Center on Friday to play another conference game with Charleston.
The Charleston boys win over Greenland moves the Tigers record to 11-5 overall and 8-0 in conference play. The Tigers are in first place in the conference and have a one game lead over Waldron who is 8-1. The Tigers will go on the road next week for a very important game at Waldron that should be another barn burner for the conference lead. The Tigers will host Lincoln on Friday night.
