Whitesville molds big 2nd half run to pull away from Friendship, as Pensyl, Estep power Blue Jays offense in team’s 56-32 home victory

Whitesville senior Robert Whitesell (5) looks to put up a shot in the midst of a Friendship defensive swarm of Micah Hosley (40, Blake Hewitt, off-center, and Dekota Stewart (10) during Monday night’s home contest. [Chris Brooks/WellsvilleSports.com]

Whitesville sophomore Dylan Acor (33) and Friendship junior Micah Hosley (40) force the jump-ball situation, as Whitesville freshman CJ Estep (4) looks on during Monday night’s home contest. [Chris Brooks/WellsvilleSports.com]

Whitesville junior Colby Gaines (12) makes a pass to the outside, as Friendship junior Pehyton Moore (3) defends during Monday night’s home contest. [Chris Brooks/WellsvilleSports.com]

Whitesville junior Jessie Pensyl (3) drives to the basket with a two-point shot against the defense of Friendship senior Blake Hewitt (15) during Monday night’s home contest. [Chris Brooks/WellsvilleSports.com]

Friendship senior Atlin Moore (1) drives through the defense of Whitesville’s Jessie Pensyl (3), and Robert Whitesell (5) on his way to the inside during Monday night’s road contest in Whitesville. [Chris Brooks/WellsvilleSports.com]

Whitesville freshman CJ Estep (4) works his way around the defense of Friendship junior Pehyton Moore, back, inside the paint during Monday night’s home contest. [Chris Brooks/WellsvilleSports.com]

WHITESVILLE — The spotlight was on Whitesville, Monday night, as the County’s only basketball game took effect on the home floor belonging to the Blue Jays. They went up against the Friendship Golden Eagles for the third and final time in the season, with each team splitting the pair of contested battles thus far.

That all changed when the Blue Jays took the season series for themselves. Despite a four-point lead over Friendship entering the half, they made up for lost ground in the next 16 minute timespan by holding the Golden Eagles offense still from within a 36-14 run to pull away toward victory, and the series win by a 56-32 count.

“I thought we came out with great energy to start the game. Unfortunately, that didn’t really carry over into the second quarter,” said Blue Jays coach Scott Bledsoe. We went into halftime, talked about a few things we needed to fix, and we ended up playing our best half of basketball all year. This team has continued to work hard, and get better throughout the season. It says a lot about the character that these guys possess. Other teams might have given up on themselves, but they continue to push each other every day to get better.”

The Blue Jays (2-16) began making their mark in the first quarter when they started off strong with a 15-6 lead. But the balance of power shifted over to Friendship in the next eight minutes, as they went on to net seven straight points to start the second quarter to narrow the deficit down to a pair. From that point, a back-and-forth battle ensued, especially at the charity stripe, where the half was concluded in Whitesville’s favor with a 20-16 edge.

In the second half, it marked the beginning of bigger things for Whitesville, as they pushed their chips to the center of the table behind of the offensive brilliance of CJ Estep and Jessie Pensyl, who accounted for most of their points in the last 16 minutes of the night to accumulate an enormous 36-14 run to hold the Golden Eagles (2-15) in check to earn the overall series victory.

Estep led all scorers on the floor with a game-high 19 points behind three of Whitesville’s five triples, adding four steals along the way. Pensyl added 16 points himself to go with eight rebounds of the glass. Robert Whitesell, the team’s lone senior on Senior Night, recorded eight points. Dylan Acor led the rebounding department with nine.

As for the Golden Eagles, Blake Hewitt charged the attack with a team-leading 15 points. Micah Hosley was not far behind with 10 points of his own, while Atlin Moore had five.

Both teams will conclude their regular season on Wednesday with 7:30 p.m. contests, as Whitesville will welcome in the Andover Panthers, while Friendship hits the road once more to Belfast to take on the Bulldogs.

Friendship        6 12 10  4 – 32

Whitesville       15   5 18 18 – 56

FRIENDSHIP: Micah Hosley 5 0-2 10, Blake Hewitt 5 3-5 15, Dekota Stewart 1 0-0 2, Atlin Moore 2 0-0 5. Totals: 13 3-7 32.
WHITESVILLE: Chris Gullett 1 2-2 5, Jessie Pensyl 7 1-2 16, CJ Estep 8 0-0 19, Robert Whitesell 4 0-4 8, Colby Gaines 0 4-6 4, Dylan Acor 2 0-0 4. Totals: 22 7-14 56.

3-point goals: Friendship 3 (Hewitt 2, Moore), Whitesville 5 (Estep 3, Gullett, Pensyl).
Total Fouls: Friendship 12, Whitesville 10. Fouled out: Hosley (FRI).