Five Bobcat players were in double figures as Seneca took care of business in the 1st round. The Bobcats won Region 1- 3A with an undefeated mark in conference games and have lost only twice all year. Those two losses came to Region 1 5A Champs Mauldin. On Wednesday night, the Cats started a bit sluggish, as the opening quarter was back and forth. The Cyclones of Chester were able to slow Seneca's offense down early but that wouldn't last long.
The 2nd quarter was huge for Seneca, as they would take control of the game with a 22-6 advantage in that quarter, including opening the quarter on a 9-0 run. The 2nd quarter explosion was a result of two factors for Seneca, one was that they went to a full court man to man press that forced Chester into turnovers. The other factor was Junior Jaxon Burnette coming off the bench. He provided a spark for the Cats, scoring 13 2nd quarter points, including knocking down three from deep in the frame. Seneca took a 40-23 lead into the halftime locker room.
The second half was more of the first. Seneca continued their momentum outscoring Chester 41-19 after the break. The Cats had a 23-11 3rd quarter advantage and outscored Chester 18-10 in a 4th quarter in which they emptied their bench. Eleven Bobcat players scored in the game.
Chester had severe issues handling the Seneca press, the Cyclones turned the ball over 30 times on the night. Seneca had a turnover margin on +11 on the night and a 11-7 advantage on the offensive glass. Big man J.C. Mitchell paced the Bobcats with a game 20 points, he also grabbed 8 boards on the night. Jaxon Burnette added 19, Guards Cam O'Kelley and Terrique Webb added 11 each and multi-sport standout E.J. Evett had 10. Chester got a team high 14 from Zen Durham and 9 from Shydem McCollough.
It was clear that Chester's defensive game plan was to shut down Evett, as they collapsed defensively every time he touched the ball inside the arc. Evett is a 6ft 3 Senior with incredible explosiveness, he has signed to play football at Weber State. Chester did a solid job on Evett but he still was able to get 10, including a nice one handed jam. With the Cyclones doubling down, sometimes tripling down on Evett it opened things up for his teammates, as kicked the ball back out. Terrique Webb was the beneficiary of that on the two 3's he hit in the game. O'Kelley is just a Sophomore but is an absolute floor general at point guard. He only turned it over twice all night andset the table all night long, getting the ball to guys in the right spots at the right time.
Seneca won last year's Upper State Title and fell short in the State Championship game. The talk all year this year for them, has been about making another deep run and getting back to Upper State. They are two wins away from playing in their 3rd consecutive Upper State Title Game. However, to do so they will have to get past a tough Berea Bulldogs squad. Those two teams will tangle in Seneca on Friday night, with the game set for a 7 PM tip off.
