Williamstown Defeats Tyler 66-43 After A Comeback

In a Little Kanawha Conference game on Wednesday night, Williamstown, without their second-leading scorer and looking to bounce back from two defeats on the road to Logan High School last weekend, fell behind Tyler Consolidated by five points in the second half of the first quarter.

The Yellowjackets gained momentum with a 6-0 run to end the first quarter, and the Silver Knights were forced to go outside of their comfort zone by a full-court zone press at the beginning of the second quarter, which led to a complete 180-degree turnaround.

With a 66-43 victory, Williamstown improved to 5-3 behind 17 points from Jayden Bryant and another 12 from point guard Cruz Isaly.

Wyatt Powell scored 10 points off the bench, including the final four Yellowjacket points in the first quarter, while three Williamstown players scored in double figures.

Parker Schramm, a senior from Williamstown who scores 16.7 points a game on average, was dressed casually and sat on the bench. Because of his sore legs, the coaching staff decided to hold him out.

At just under three minutes, Tyler had a 12-7 lead thanks to contributions from four different starters. In the first eight minutes of the game, Williamstown turned the ball over five times compared to Tyler’s one, which didn’t assist their cause.

Tyler was sufficiently distracted from its game plan by the option to apply the press at the beginning of the second quarter. In the eight minutes that followed before halftime, the Yellowjackets also forced five turnovers.

Over the last six minutes of the first half, Williamstown outscored the Knights 18-3 thanks to 13 points from Bryant and Isaly combined.

At the break, Williamstown led 36-18.

Isaly led Williamstown to an 8-0 run by making the first two baskets of the second half. For the final three and a half minutes of the third quarter, Coach Sauro then made his way around his bench.

With one quarter left, Dominic Strcula gave Williamstown a 53-29 lead with a buzzer-beat 3-pointer.

With the Knights behind 60-38, the starters from each team took a permanent exit after returning to the court for the opening four minutes of the final stanza.

Tyler had nine points from Brady Strode, eight from Garrett Bordenkircher, and eight from Cole LeMasters.

As part of the first of two days of the Tyler Consolidated High School Roundball Classic, Winters, a graduate of Magnolia, will play his old school on Friday. Winters is in his second season at Tyler and is looking to defeat Dave Tallman, his previous coach with the Blue Eagles, for the first time.

As part of the first of two days of the Tyler Consolidated High School Roundball Classic, Winters, a graduate of Magnolia, will play his old school on Friday. Winters is in his second season at Tyler and is looking to defeat Dave Tallman, his previous coach with the Blue Eagles, for the first time.

Winters explained, “Coach Tallman is like a father figure to me. “He coached me, and we are still best of friends. It’s always special for me. It’s a long-standing rival and the kids get excited for it, and the communities get excited for it. It’s so cool how things come full circle with basketball.