CLOVER --
The Clover High School boys basketball team staged its biggest win of the season last week, upsetting Region 3-AAAA’s No. 1 team before a rowdy home crowd in the CHS new gym.
Bryce Allen, a 6-foot-2 sophomore forward, scored a game-high 20 points as the never-say-die Blue Eagles defeated the visiting Bearcats 59-56.
After closely-contested first half, the Bearcats showed why they are a top-10 team, opening the second half with a 10-2 run for their first lead of the game at 29-27.
Allen, whose emergence as an offensive force continues, ended Rock Hill’s run with a 3-pointer and scored the next basket to regain the lead for the Blue Eagles.
‘I’m gaining confidence in my shooting as the season progresses,” Allen said in an interview before last week’s games. “My teammates are getting the ball to me.”
The Blue Eagles went on a 17-2 tear that included a pair of 3-pointers by Allen and six points from senior floor leader Taylor Hoover.
But the Bearcats weren’t done, opening the fourth quarter with an 8-0 run and renewed confidence.
Allen answered once again with a timely shot and the Blue Eagles held on down the stretch for a signature win in Clover native Bailey Jackson’s first year as head coach of the Blue Eagles.
Clover ended the first half scoring six unanswered points after the Bearcats had knotted the score at 19-all.
Sophomore Arnaldo Toro, a 6-foot-7 post player whose presence under the basket demands attention, had four of Clover’s points during the scoring spree.
The Blue Eagles were dominant from the outset, scoring nine of the game’s first 10 points.
With Allen pacing the scoring with a 20-point effort, “Towering Toro” was next in the scoring column with 12 points.
Hoover, whose steady court presence keeps him in double-figures more often than not, finished with 11 points.
Rounding out the scoring, R.J. Moore and Alex Thompson each finished with 6 points and Jevon Blake and Ladarius Adams had 2 each.
Allen had three 3-pointers and Hoover had one.
The Blue Eagles fell behind early and were unable make up the difference in a 74-54 loss to South Pointe, Friday.
The CHS boys stayed within striking distance in the first half, but the home-standing Stallions came out clicking on all cylinders in the second half to put the game out of reach.
The Blue Eagles had balanced scoring despite the road loss to South Pointe.
Adams led the way with 14 points followed by Blake and Thompson with 10 points each.
Moore narrowly missed double-figure scoring with 9 points. Toro scored 6 points, Raekwon Armstrong, 5; Hoover, 4; Mark Cavanaugh, 3; and John Wilson, 2.
The Blue Eagles resume region play Friday, hosting Nation Ford at 8 p.m. in the Clover High School new gym.
The Lady Blue Eagles and the Lady Falcons will precede the boys game at 6:30 p.m.
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