Charles City Panthers sputter in season opener against Eagles

Charles City's Ra'Shawn Shine (1) and Justis Crawley (right) execute a trap on Eagle big-man Kevin White.

Andre' Jones photo

With a new basketball coach at the helm and a majority of fresh faces up to the varsity level, Charles City’s Panthers looked towards the future to extinguish a 34-game losing streak dating back to Jan. 23, 2015. But a Monday night home opener kept the younger, and smaller, Panthers out the win column.

Spurred on by runs to start quarters two, three, and four, the visiting Washington & Lee Eagles overpowered the host Panthers 68-37 in the season kickoff for both squads.

Out the gate both teams stayed within striking distance of each other. Senior Ray Crump’s followed paired with freshman’s Justis Crawley floater bestowed an early lead for the Panthers (4-2). Kyle Jones accounted for the next four points for the hosts and Crump added a free-throw line jumper to knot the score at 10 apiece.

But the final 1:34 belonged to the hot shooting hand of Jared Day. Day dropped a floater of Panther defenders and followed it up with an uncontested layup. With time about to expire in the first quarter, he connected with a wing three-pointer in front of the Panthers bench to give the visitors a 17-10 lead heading into quarter number.

After a lay-up from Panther newcomer Justin Thomas and subsequent floater by Crump narrowed the deficit to three (17-14), Day made the hosts pay for leaving him open at the top of the key for another three-pointer. A steal and lay-in by teammate J.J. McNeil catapulted an Eagles’ 13-4 run to put the guests ahead 33-20 heading into intermission.

Panther forward Ra’Shawn Shine close range shot opened the third quarter, but the visitors elected to work the paint with big man Keith White scoring the first five points of what would amount to an 8-0 run for Washington & Lee.

Charles City’s closest opportunity in the remainder of the contest occurred with 57.7 seconds remaining in the quarter. A technical foul by Washington & Lee’s Christian Johnson after disagreeing on a reach-in foul resulted in the Panthers SaQuan Bradby draining four free throws to reduce the deficit to a dozen (43-31). But Day converted another three-pointer with teammate John-Jay Futch duplicating the feat to push the lead back to 19 by the time the buzzer signaled to end the frame (50-31). Johnson’s lay-in to start the final quarter pushed the deficit to 21 and sparked what amounted to 13-2 run in what ultimately positioned the contest out of reach.

First-year Panther head coach Wayne Keys commented after the contest the small amount of time the team has had to practice due to the football team’s playoff run.

“We’ve been together for about three days and we’ll be alright,” he said. “Right now, we have to work on rebounding better, running our offense better, and playing defense better.”

One of the bothersome trends that followed the Panthers into the new season was their performance at the free throw line. For the first half, the Panthers converted only six of 18 free throws (33 percent), before finishing the contest 14 for 29.

“We missed a lot and that kept us out of the game in the first half,” Keys added as he spoke about the free throws. “We’re young and these guys have to realize that it’s a long season.

“We’re going to focus on having more energy,” the coached said as he wrapped up his commented. “Right now, they have to trust the process and trust their teammates. I told them it’s going to take about five or six games to get where we need to bee and I think they see where they need to be and get there.”

Crump was the lone Panther to reach double figures in scoring with 10 points for Charles City (0-1). Jones scored seven, Thomas added six, Shine and Bradby tossed in four apiece, Connor Robbins added three, Crawley tossed in two, and Steven Crewe chipped in with one.

Day’s 18 and White’s 16 topped the scoring column for Washington & Lee (1-0).