West Beats Brevard ... Again

BREVARD -- Throughout this season, West Henderson boys basketball coach Rob Bliss hasn't had to worry about getting scoring from senior guard Zach Corliss. It has been finding a secondary scorer that has given Bliss fits.

Judging by his performance on Tuesday night, it seems as if Buddy Hutchinson is willing and able to step into that position.

Hutchinson went 5-of-6 from the field and scored 15 points as West Henderson (10-11, 4-3 WAC) came away from Brevard with a 61-53 win in a Western Athletic Conference matchup.

After a back-and-forth first half, Hutchinson caught fire early in the second half, scoring 10 of his 15 points during a key third quarter stretch that saw West Henderson expand its lead from 29-26 to 40-29 over the course of 4 1/2 minutes.

"Buddy made the most of his opportunities tonight. He has been in the scorer role for us a few games this year, and it is great to have him back in it," said Bliss.

Corliss led the Falcons in scoring with 20 points, going 6-of-9 from the field and 7-of-9 from the charity stripe. Corliss, who is now 14 points shy of his 1,000th career point, also dished out eight assists. Dallas Ducote also reached double figures for West with 11.

Brevard was led in scoring by A.J. Zandecki, who hustled his way to 17 points in the losing effort. The Blue Devils' leading scorer for the season, Brian Carrington, was held to just nine points.

"There is no secret that Brian is a strong scorer, but our kids did a great job of playing help-side defense on him tonight," said Bliss.

Summary

BOYS

WEST HENDERSON (61) -- Corliss 20, Hutchinson 15, Ducote 11, James 5, Trantham 4, Williams 2, Hyatt 2.

BREVARD (53) -- Zandecki 17, Muller 9, Carrington 9, Smith 6, Harris 6, Baker 5, Erwin 1.