ISLE OF WIGHT
For much of the game, Isle of Wight Academy played Metro Conference basketball foe Broadwater Academy tight until a stretch in the third quarter when they fell behind by double digits. Rylee Williams and Bryce Casey tried to bring the Chargers back with a second-half effort, but no one else could find a fourth quarter basket in the 62-49 loss.

Longtime Chargers Head Coach Ben Vaughan, who is sitting at win No. 599, said the third quarter defensive meltdown was the difference in the game.

“I think we played well tonight, except for one rough stretch that lasted about five minutes,” he said Tuesday night. “We worked hard to get back in it, but it wasn’t enough.”

Broadwater got ahead 4-0 early on back-to-back baskets by Taylor Major, the second a dunk on a fast break. Isle of Wight’s Michael Mullen and James Ricks were not impressed and followed the dunk with back-to-back three-point baskets during the six-minute frame of the first quarter.

The lead wouldn’t last long, however, as Keegan Czesak hit a three-pointer of his own after the Ricks three. The score favored the Vikings 7-6. Adam Webb tied it up 7-all on a free throw, but that didn’t last long following another Czesak basket.

Open for a three off a turnover, Ricks forced another lead change, this one favoring Isle of Wight 10-9. After Major recovered a loose ball, he took it to the basket and missed a dunk. The Chargers took this opportunity to run the court, and Casey put on the breaks to sink an open three point basket.

After a Major layup, the Chargers held a 13-11 edge at the start of the second quarter.

Czesak made two layups to start the second, forcing the game’s fifth lead change. The Chargers were down by five when they broke out of their scoring drought at the 5:18 mark, with Casey connecting on a floater in which he drew contact. He couldn’t find the mark on the free throw, but he scored the game’s next basket about 30 seconds later on a fast break layup.

The Vikings improved the lead to 20-17 on a Tommy Golibart layup, but Mullen evened the score 20-all on a three pointer less than 30 seconds later.

After another drought, Webb hit both free throws in a one-and-one situation with 5.6 seconds left. To end the half, the Vikings were up 26-22.

That’s as close as Isle of Wight would get, as the teams traded baskets leading up to a score of 30-26 at the 6:44 mark. The game started to get away at this point, as the Vikings would go on to put up 21 points in the third quarter, while the Chargers struggled to find baskets, only scoring six points in more than six minutes of play.

The quarter ended with the Vikings up 47-32. Williams and Casey did battle back, combining for 17 points, but unfortunately, the Chargers gave up 15 points on the defensive end. The 15-point hole that Isle of Wight was in to begin the fourth quarter was too big to get out of.

Czesak and Casey led in scoring, with each making 20 points. Broadwater’s Major had 14 points, and Isle of Wight’s Williams scored 10. Webb had eight rebounds and five points.

Isle of Wight will return to action on Saturday against conference foe Alliance Christian Academy. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.

The Chargers will travel to Chesapeake tonight to face the StoneBridge Cavaliers in a conference match. Isle of Wight will return to action on Saturday against conference foe Alliance Christian