Pisgah boys drop close one against Swain County
Jan. 25—Pisgah's varsity boys basketball team lost a non-conference matchup with Swain County 73-66 on Friday night in Canton.
"I was pleased with our effort. I felt like both teams played hard," PHS Head Coach Jonathan Whitson said. "They obviously made a couple more plays down the stretch than we did, but overall, I think we got better. You're never happy with a loss, but I do feel like we got better and we were able to see some stuff that hopefully can help us the remainder of this year."
The Maroon Devils are one of the top-ranked teams in the state's 1A classification and boast a 13-5 overall record and 4-1 conference mark after the win. Pisgah, who plays in the 3A class, sits at 9-7 and 5-2 in conference following the loss.
The game with Swain County was added to Pisgah's schedule on short notice after Brevard called off its game against the Bears set for Thursday due to uncertain road conditions.
Whitson and Brandon Holloway, Pisgah's varsity girls head coach, didn't want to have a week between game action ahead of a pivotal trip to Franklin on Tuesday.
"We felt like it would be better for us to try to pick up somebody and we were willing to play really anybody on such short notice," Whitson said. "We were happy it worked out to be able to get Swain here."
The game was close from the opening tipoff and the Bears held a 19-16 advantage after the first quarter. Pisgah increased its lead to 39-31 at halftime, but the Maroon Devils remained within striking distance.
"We were pleased with where we were at halftime, but we knew coming out that they'd go on a run, which they did," Whitson said. "Once they got it back tied up, it was back-and-forth a lot."
Swain County battled back in the third quarter to take a 54-51 lead into the fourth.
"They came out strong that third quarter. They scored 23 to our 12, so that was tough" Whitson said. "But they're a really good team, a sound team, a fundamental team. Very senior heavy on their part and really experienced, so for us to come out and battle that way was pleasing to us."
Whitson liked what he saw from freshman point guard Sawyer Belue, who led the Bears with a career-high 20 points in the loss. Belue found success scoring in different ways, connecting on three triples, shooting five-of-seven on free throws along with three two-pointers.
Pisgah junior wing Caden Robinson added 18 while senior guard Macon Haider chipped in eight.
Whitson was also pleased with junior shooting guard Logan Free's contributions on both ends. Free knocked down a pair of threes and got some key stops down the stretch.
After traveling to conference leader Franklin on Tuesday, Pisgah hosts West Henderson on Friday. The Bears defeated the Falcons 66-58 on the road Jan. 4.
The Mountaineer will have coverage of Tuesday's varsity basketball games between Pisgah and Franklin online at TheMountaineer.com and in the weekend edition of the paper.
