Warren East is starting to get to where it wants to be.
The Raiders – after the starting the season 0-3 – won their sixth straight game on Tuesday as it recorded a tough 65-64 win over Region 4 opponent Franklin-Simpson in their annual Holiday Hoops Classic at Warren East High School.
After winning 91-83 over Trinity (Whitesville) on Monday night, East was a little wore out against the Wildcats, but we’re able to prevail.
“Coming off a tough game where we scored 91 points and basically pressured the whole game and then turn around and play less than 24 hours later against Franklin, I was very pleased with our effort,” Warren East coach Brandon Combs said. “Early on in the season we weren’t winning these (tight) games.
“Here in the past few weeks we’ve been able to capitalize on those – and we’re tickled to death about that.”
Warren East trailed 17-7 after the opening quarter and then 32-30 at halftime. The Raiders then found themselves down 52-46 at the end of three but were able to find a way to pull it out in the fourth.
Tashawn Neal led the Raiders with 16 points and 10 rebounds while Treonte Patterson also scored 16 points. Brevon Whitney added 15.
“That was our first win over Franklin since 2012-2013, so it’s been a while and we were pleased with that,” Combs said. “The kids kept fighting. We fought through some foul trouble and some different things and luckily survived and advanced.”
With their win, East will meet the winner of Edmonson County and North Hardin on Wednesday with a tipoff time yet to be set.
Franklin-Simpson jumped out to a 10-2 start at the 4:55 mark of the first quarter and went on to build a 17-7 lead after one.
After a back-and-forth second period, the Wildcats took a slim advantage of 32-30 into the locker room at the break. Just before the buzzer, Neal nailed a three pointer from the right wing to cut the Raiders’ deficit to just two.
“I don’t know exactly where that is but it’s been several years since that’s happened, as well,” said Combs of the Raiders’ six-game winning streak. “We’re getting there. We’re getting more experienced but we’ve just gotta keep working. I like our mindset. We’re starting to create some offense out of our defense.”
The Wildcats started the third quarter on a 6-0 run to take a 38-30 lead with 5:58 remaining and later led 52-46 after an all-offensive type of period.
In a fourth quarter that presented a handful of lead changes, Warren East took its first lead with just 1:23 left in the contest after Neal drove into the lane, scored, got fouled and converted the and-one to make it 64-62.
After Franklin-Simpson tied it at 64-all, Patterson split a pair of free throws to put the Raiders up 65-64 and seal the victory.
“We kept fighting,” Combs said. “Kids stepped up and executed, we made the free throws we needed to late and got the stops that we needed to.”
Senior writer Tyler Mansfield can be reached at mansfield.sportingtimes@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter at @_TylerMansfield.
