Inside game lifts Charles City over Washington & Lee

Charles City's De'rome Chretien (24) shields off Washington & Lee's Miciah Coleman (13) in a rebound battle.

Robb Johnson photo

Charles City Panthers’ head basketball coach Terrell Brooks told his team that there will be no acceptance of back-to-back losses during the season.
Message received.

One night after dropping a contest at Mathews, Charles City rebounded with a 71-57 victory over the Washington & Lee Eagles during the Dec. 11 encounter.

Offensive woes from the floor for both teams factored in for most of the first quarter before Panther senior De’Rome Chretien provided some spark. A three-pointer from the win followed by one from the corner pushed the home team’s advantage to nine (16-7) going into the second frame. That lead remained the same as both teams headed into the locker room at halftime with the Panthers ahead 34-25.

In the third quarter, Charles City forward Leo Charity became the benefactor of distractions by his teammates. With the sharpshooting guards knocking down outside shots and creating dribble penetration, Charity dropped in uncontested close-range shots from the floor. And when Charity wasn’t scoring, it was teammate Justin Bradby who came off the bench to put in some easy points.

In the fourth, the Panthers continued to use dribble penetration to lead to scores. The tactic saw the hosts lead balloon to as much as 20 (69-49) in the fourth quarter before settling with the final score.

After the game, Brooks spoke about the difference from the previous night’s game to the encounter with Washington & Lee.

“Last night, we had no intensity at all, and we talked about that in our pregame,” he said. “We had to match pressure with pressure.

“We got a lot of energy from Justin [Bradby] and his energy was contagious,” Brooks continued. “We have to play like this every game, and this was one of the games where the shots were not falling as much. But we have to find a way to push through and pull through and we did that with good bench help and minutes tonight.”

Kameron Johnson’s 22 for Charles City (3-2) was the game’s high mark. Charity (19) and Chretien (11) also finished in double figures. Bradby pumped in eight, Kobie Trull added six, Christian Stewart tossed in three, and Rashad Williams finished with two.

Miciah Coleman’s 15 was the high mark for Washington & Lee (1-3).