Boys Basketball: No. 20 R.J. Reynolds grinds out victory at Reagan, 50-38
R.J. Reynolds counted on a huge fourth-quarter effort to earn its third win of the shortened regular season.
The Demons picked up an away victory over Reagan, 50-38, on Wednesday in what was the Central Piedmont 4A Conference (CPC) opener for both schools. RJR finds itself ranked No. 20 in the latest HighSchoolOT Top 25 West boys basketball poll at 3-0 overall.
Prior to opening tip-off (or inbounds pass due to COVID-19), the Raiders honored the Class of 2021 with Senior Night festivities. Reagan has eight soon-to-be graduates on its roster.
The two CPC foes were locking down on defense in the early stages. Reagan was leading 5-2 before sophomore guard Eli Calhoun sunk a three-point shot from the left corner to tie things up (5-all). R.J. Reynolds ultimately capped off the quarter’s final 5:30 by going on a 9-2 run. With that, the 20th-ranked Demons were up 11-7 after the opening period.
After a miniature slump, Reagan saw its offense find traction once again during the second quarter. Junior Kam Hill became confident in his three-point stroke by nailing three shots from downtown in the quarter. R.J. Reynolds could not get into a rhythm and only had six second-quarter points, so Hill outscored the Demons by himself in the frame.
Reagan held on to a three-point lead at the intermission, 20-17. RJR’s senior duo of Caden Davis and Tyreik Leach was held scoreless during the opening 16 minutes in Pfafftown.
The third period opened up with Reagan scoring five quick points before RJR head coach Billy Martin decided to call timeout. The Raiders were up 25-17 with 6:58 to play in the quarter following a three-point basket by senior Owen Koivisto, who made two in his mid-week outing. Later, Reynolds evened the score when Davis attacked the goal and finished with his right hand for an and-one opportunity. The free throw was good, so the new score became 27-27 with nearly 2:20 to go in the frame. R.J. Reynolds ended up having a narrow 32-30 edge with three quarters completed.
An important factor became free throw shooting in the fourth quarter. R.J. Reynolds closed the ballgame on a crushing 12-0 run, including 10 made shots at the charity stripe. Davis and Leach made four foul shots apiece, while teammates Walker Harris and Antonio Yates Jr. really struggled there (2-for-6 combined). The Demons outscored the hosts 18-8 in the last eight minutes. Reagan made too many costly turnovers and just could not get the ball to go through the cylinder down the stretch.
Senior combo guard Caden Davis topped R.J. Reynolds and all scorers on Wednesday with 15 points. He was a perfect 7-for-7 shooting free throws in the third and fourth quarters for the visitors. Tyreik Leach (senior) shrugged off a slow start offensively to finish with 12 points. It is worth noting that RJR was extremely dominant on the glass versus Reagan with 34 rebounds.
Reagan, who had been idle since Jan. 4 before facing Reynolds, did see two players conclude the night with double-figure points. Kam Hill, junior guard and the football team’s starting quarterback, canned four triples en route to a 12-point performance. Senior Jalill Rogers had a bit of foul trouble, but managed to record 11 points — six of those came in the fourth quarter. The Raiders had just 23 boards in 32 minutes.
First Quarter: R.J. Reynolds 11, Reagan 7
Halftime: Reagan 20, R.J. Reynolds 17
Third Quarter: R.J. Reynolds 32, Reagan 30
Final: R.J. Reynolds 50, Reagan 38
R.J. Reynolds (3-0) plays its third away game of the 2021 season on Friday by traveling to Clemmons for a date with West Forsyth (1-1).
Reagan (0-2) hits the road on Friday evening and goes to East Forsyth. The Raiders’ head boys basketball coach Adam Muse was the interim coach for East a season ago and went 5-19 (3-7 CPC 4A) in the position.
