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Strong start carries Pioneers to 54-14 victory

By Adam Brewer for The 4 min read

GREENSBORO — West Greene scored 16 of the game’s first 18 points and didn’t look back in Friday night’s in Section 3-A action at Mapletown, as the Pioneers took home a 54-14 victory to go to 2-0 in the section.

“We are not in any position at all to take anybody lightly,” West Greene coach Jim Romanus said. “I told the guys that they had to treat this like a regular game and play to our capabilities. I like our ball movement and we were able to finish around the hoop. We were coming off a bad loss to Brownsville on Monday, and we played much better as a team tonight.”

The leading scorer for the Pioneers (4-2, 2-0) was Nathan Brudnock, who tallied 23 points. Craig Weaver recorded a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds.

The Maples (0-6, 0-3) continued their slow start to the season with an inexperienced roster and a lack of depth. Alix Gennette, Cody Dice and Dustin Lemley all scored four points.

“You really can’t see it, but we have really come a long way since Game One of the season,” Mapletown coach Rick Hill said. “Our kids try really hard and they never quit. It’s frustrating because we are lacking the fundamentals of the game. We work fundamentals all the time in practice, and it’s hard to carry that over into games.”

After an inside hoop for Brudnock to start the game, West Greene’s Weaver showcased his 6-foot-8 frame with four straight inside buckets for the Pioneers.

Isaac Rizor nailed a mid-range jumper to give the visitors a 16-2 lead at the end of one.

West Greene continued to put the pressure on the home team with a 14-2 scoring advantage in the second quarter and led 30-4 at intermission.

Brudnock tallied 13 of his game-high 23 points in the third quarter and started the period off with 10 consecutive points for the Pioneers.

“Nathan is a pure athlete,” Romanus said. “He doesn’t play like a freshman and the key for his game is that he loves the game of basketball. He works at improving his game constantly and is always looking to get better every week. He is very coachable and he is one of the leaders on our team, even though this is his first year at the varsity level.”

After an old-fashioned three-point play by Brudnock gave West Greene a 45-8 lead, the Pioneers added a free throw by Lance Lindsay around two buckets for Mapletown for a 46-12 lead at the end of three.

With a lot reserves in the game in the final eight minutes, the Pioneers held an 8-2 scoring edge.

West Greene will be at home on Tuesday against California in a key Section 3-A match-up.

“I have seen California three times this year,” Romanus said. “And when they get going, they are very hard to stop. We are still without Kolton Rush (due to an injury he sustained last week). We have to step up and play our A-plus game to be competitive.”

The Maples will be at home against non-section foe Hundred (W.Va.) on Monday.

“Turnovers are so key for us,” Hill said. “In the first game of the season we had 48 turnovers. We have cut down on that a lot and tonight we only had 13. We are young in a lot of spots and a lot of these kids have never played at the varsity level. We have to continue to work.”

Section 3-A

West Greene 16-14-16-8 — 54

Mapletown      2-2-8-2 — 14

West Greene: Nathan Brudnock 23, Craig Weaver 12. Mapletown: Alix Gennette 4, Cody Dice 4, Dustin Lemley 4. Records: West Greene (4-2, 2-0), Mapletown (0-6, 0-3).

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