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By Nate Ritchey
nritchey@altoonamirror.com
WILLIAMSBURG -- In Thursday nights rivalry, matchup with Juniata Valley, Williamsburg got off to a big start in both the first and third quarters.
The Blue Pirates came sprinting out of the gate in the opening stanza and held that lead heading into the locker room where they built an even bigger lead to open the second half.
The resiliency of the Green Hornet kicked in as they wouldn't go away by clawing back within striking distance before Williamsburg was able to take back control.
The Pirates were able to close out an 87-74 victory over the Hornets in Inter-County Conference North Division action.
"Honestly, that's our best start to the game this season," Williamsburg coach Jeff Detwiler said. "We jumped out early which I was really happy about. We just kept battling because we knew they (Juniata Valley) were going to make a couple of runs. We just persevered and it was a good effort all around."
The win moves Williamsburg to 10-1 while Juniata Valley drops to 9-3 on the season.
Both teams like to push the pace and it was evident early on that it was going to be a track meet.
Juniata Valley led once in the opening half at 5-4 when Connor Robinson broke a tie with a layup.
A 3-pointer in the left corner by Williamsburg's Preston Isenberg gave his team a 7-5 edge it wouldn't relinquish the rest of the game at 5:58.
The Isenberg bucket would kickstart an 11-0 WHS run as Ethan Reffner followed with a layup before Jesse Brumbaugh was fouled underneath.
"We came out strong -- we kept pushing the ball. We never stopped," Brumbaugh said. "They (Juniata Valley) came back but we just came right back every single time."
Before the foul shots could be taken, JV's Charlie Mattas was assessed a technical foul and Brumbaugh strolled to the line and knocked down four straight free throws -- two from the technical and two on the foul that was called.
Following a JV turnover, Brumbaugh would hit another pair from the line to give Williamsburg a 15-5 advantage at 4:46.
Robinson ended the run 11 seconds later when he was fouled making a layup. The free throw rolled off to make the score 15-7.
The Green Hornets would get as close as five (19-14) the rest of the half when Ronal Chavez buried a trey at 2:41.
"I've got to give it up to them that they didn't give up," Juniata Valley coach Bill Lightner said of his team. "But we just didn't play our style of basketball tonight. ... That first half being in foul trouble and then with the technical foul, that really kind of demotivated them a little bit. But we made some adjustments and they started to work."
The Blue Pirates' lead would get up to 11 twice (30-19 on a Brumbaugh driving layup in the second quarter and at 32-21 on a Rowan Gorsuch bucket) in the opening half.
Gorsuch delivered 22 points and 17 rebounds for the Pirates.
With JV getting within six at the end of the half, Brumbaugh who finished tied with a game-high 24 points, beat the halftime buzzer to send his team into the locker room up 45-37.
"Jesse Brumbaugh, that's his biggest game of the year so far," Detwiler said.
Mattas converted a layup to start the third before Williamsburg reeled off a 15-5 burst to grab a 60-44 advantage -- its largest of the night -- when Evan Zehner, who had 10 points, scored inside at 3:25.
The Green Hornets quickly regrouped as Chris Deihl, who was saddled with his fourth foul early in the third, drove for a layup to start a 12-4 JV spurt to close the quarter.
"The first three minutes of the first quarter and the first three minutes of the second half we really played well," Detwiler said. "We've got to keep that momentum going because we let them (Juniata Valley) sneak back both times -- play a little smarter at times."
Jett Rand, who registered 15 points, came up with a layup off his own steal to get the JV deficit to single digits at 64-56 with 17 ticks remaining.
Robinson, who posted a double-double with 24 points and 13 rebounds, had a putback to start the fourth before a Rand layup -- after both teams traded turnovers twice -- got Valley within four at 64-60 with 6:42 to play.
The Hornets had a chance to make it one possession but an offensive foul called on Mattas led to a Zehner driving layup that jumpstarted an 11-5 Pirates' run.
All 11 points were scored by Zehner and Logan Brantner, who rallied 17 on the night, allowing the Williamsburg lead to extend back into double digits at 75-65 at 3:22.
A Chavez trey and Deihl free throw had it back to seven (75-68) before Williamsburg got back-to-back Brumbaugh layups to get the lead back to 11 at 79-68.
"It was whomever wanted it more and we wanted it more tonight," Brumbaugh said of his team's effort.
Chavez and Deihl both finished with 12 points.
The Blue Pirates closed the game on a 12-6 run.
"Williamsburg is a well-coached team. They played well and they hustle," Lightner said. "We just got outplayed. That happens in basketball. We'll try to correct it because we have a big one (tonight) against Bellwood."
JUNIATA VALLEY (74): Deihl 5 1-2 12, Robinson 11 2-5 24, Chavez 5 0-2 12, Rand 6 3-6 15, Mattas 4 0-0 9, Beck 1 0-0 2, Cook 0 0-0 0, Spurlin 0 0-0 0, LeCrone 0 0-0 0. Totals: 32 6-15 74.
WILLIAMSBURG (87): Isenberg 1 0-0 3, Brantner 6 3-6 17, Brumbaugh 9 6-6 24, Gorsuch 10 0-0 22, Parks 1 1-2 3, Reffner 4 0-0 8, Zehner 5 0-0 10. Totals: 36 10-14 87.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Juniata Valley 19 18 19 18 -- 74
Williamsburg 25 20 19 23 -- 87
3-point field goals: Juniata Valley 4 (Chavez 2, Deihl, Mattas); Williamsburg 5 (Brantner 2, Gorsuch 2, Isenberg).
Records: Juniata Valley (9-3); Williamsburg (10-1).
JV: Juniata Valley won 56-53. High scorers — Kyler Spurlin, JV, 8; Evan Zehner, W, 7.