Bowen leads Iroquois past the Flames

 

Sometimes all you need is a late surge at the end of a quarter or half to give your team enough momentum to coast to victory.  That's exactly what the Chiefs got on Tuesday night - that and a whole lot of points from their senior point guard, who offset a monster night from the opponents hot hand.

 

Phil Bowen dropped 33 points to lead Iroquois past Willaisville East, 81-64, in a crucial ECIC II tilt.  With the win, the Chiefs remain in sole possession of first place in the league, while the Flames drop to third place behind four other teams, after squandering a chance to force a five-way tie in the division.

 

After an exciting start to the game that saw both teams battling back-and-forth, the Chiefs broke away late in the first half.  Over the opening 13 minutes, the lead changed six different times and was also tied six times.  Then 2:37 before intermission, Iroquois senior Josh Piesczynski drilled a '3' that sparked the game's decisive run.  The Chiefs closed out the half with an 11-2 advantage that included a traditional three-point play from Phil Bowen and a trey off the bench from sophomore brother Joe Bowen, giving them a 39-30 lead as the teams headed towards the locker rooms.

 

During most of the third quarter, Williamsville East saw its deficit increase and trailed by as many as 13 points, while being unable to make up any distance on the Chiefs.  They trailed 56-43 in the late stages of the stanza, before Nicholas Clough ended the frame with a long range bomb and then converted an "& 1" in the closing seconds to get his team back within nine points at 58-49.

 

Nine points would be as close as Williamsville East would be for the remainder, as the late first half run from Iroquois turned out to be their undoing.  Phil Bowen repeatedly got to the free throw line over the final 10 minutes and kept his team on the attack as they thwarted any attempts the Flames made to get back into the contest.

 

Bowen and Clough competed in one of the top scorer's duels I've witnessed this season.  Each ended up with 33 points on the evening.  Clough connected from beyond the arc on four occasions and did a little of everything for the Flames, while Bowen got to the hoop consistently and either finished or got to the line and took care of things from there.

 

Iroquois junior Lucas Tait played his tail off inside and finished with 14 points for the Chiefs, while Piesczynski added 11 points on the evening.

 

Cort Williams scored 19 points for Williamsville East, with 11 of those coming during the tightly contested portion of the first half.

 

Iroquois is at Hamburg & Starpoint, before finishing up the season at home against Williamsville South.  Two more wins for the Chiefs guarantee at least a tie for the title in ECIC II, while winning out makes them the champs, outright.  The Chiefs are in Class A1 this season, and look to reach the final there, and hopefully move beyond.  They may just find the Flames, also a Class A1 school, waiting for them along the way, looking for a rubber match to settle the regular season series split.

 

-centercourt

@centercourt42

Comments

[ECIC2fan]

They will see Will East again and will lose

[Logos]

Bold prediction from a team that just lost by 18. But if they meet again, that would actually be great for the ECIC II for it will mean that both teams have reached either the class A-1 finals or semi finals.