By Bru Nimmons
Sports Editor
bnimmons@thepccourier.com

EASLEY — The Easley High School boys’ basketball team went big game hunting on Dec. 9, looking to pick up a second straight win as they hosted fourth-ranked Seneca on Friday night.

The Wave played lights out for the first half of action, building a 32-29 lead at halftime, but their play faltered in the second half with too many turnovers and Seneca’s sensational transition attack allowing the Bobcats to come back and take down Easley, 70-61.

“When we got fatigued, our mindset kind of escaped us,” Easley head coach Austin Anderson said. “We weren’t disciplined and we did uncharacteristic things.”

As the Wave were worn down in the second half, the Bobcats and star sophomore guard Jeremiah “Jerb” Hunter took advantage. Hunter scored 20 of his team-high 23 points in the second half with the Green Wave struggling to keep defenders in front of him after guard Adrian Kominiarek got into foul trouble.

“We didn’t corral (Hunter) around there in the third quarter and he killed us,” Anderson said. “We just have to get better.”

While Hunter and the Bobcats managed to reign supreme, it was the Green Wave who looked like the team to beat in the opening quarter. Senior guard River Andrews looked unstoppable with an array of drives and pull-up jumpers, scoring 10 points in the quarter, while 6’5” forward RJ Stack set an early exclamation point with a thunderous dunk as Easley built a 21-13 lead.

“He really set the tone offensively for us,” Anderson said of Andrews. “We just have to find a way to get those same shots and continue to execute offensively.”

Stack, who finished with 15 points and 13 rebounds, kept his strong play going to start the second quarter with a block and another dunk to get the Easley lead back up 10 points. The Bobcats didn’t let the deficit defeat them, whittling away at the lead with a JJ Krueger and-one basket and cutting the Easley lead to 32-29 at halftime after a pair of free throws from Andre Seay.

The third quarter proved to be the Hunter show as the sophomore came alive when Kominiarek exiting with his third foul early in the quarter. Hunter seemed to have the ball on a string as he weaved his way around and through the Green Wave defense, picking up 14 points, five rebounds and two assists. Easley didn’t help itself either with turnover after turnover in the quarter, as the Bobcats stormed back to take a 52-44 lead into the final quarter.

Despite their third quarter struggles, the Wave weren’t going to go down easy as Andrews hit a three-pointer, then stole the ball from the Bobcats and added two more to cut the lead down to 55-51. Andrews’ flurry ultimately turned out to be a last gasp for the Wave though, as the Bobcats responded with a 7-0 run to put the lead back to double digits. Kominarek managed to drill two late three-pointers for the Wave but it wasn’t enough as the Bobcats pulled out the 70-61 victory.

Following the loss, the Green Wave opened region play on Friday, losing a 69-68 heartbreaker to Greenwood before dropping a 72-64 matchup with Habersham County (Ga.) on Saturday.

Easley looked to pick up its first region win on Tuesday night at home against Mauldin with results unavailable at press time.

Seneca 70, Easley 61

SHS 13 16 23 18 — 70

EHS 21 11 12 17 — 61

Easley (61) — Andrews 23, Stack 15, Kominiarek 10, Brown 6, Clark 3, Coleman 2, Preston 2.

Seneca (67) — Je. Hunter 23, Moss 11, Webb 11, Russell 10, Seay 8, Ja. Hunter 4, Krueger 3.

3-point goals — Easley 4 (Andrew 2, Kominiarek 2), Seneca 3 (Russell, Seay, Webb). Rebounds — Easley 28 (Stack 13), Seneca 39 (Moss 8). Assists — Easley 7 (Kominiarek 4), Seneca 14 (Webb 5).