Pioneers fight for tight win

By DONNY JENKINS/Correspondent

Fort Chiswell and Narrows game regularly scheduled for Friday night was moved to Saturday night due to the ice storm that hit the area on Thursday night and Friday morning.
The Pioneers won the contest 72-69, but they had an uphill battle after trailing 27-14 after the first period of play.
Hody Viars scored nine of his game high 22 points in the second quarter to spearhead the Pioneer comeback.  Tyler Akers ably supported Viars as he scored 17 points, including 10 in the fourth quarter.
Second quarter action saw the Pioneers outscore the Green Wave 24-12 to close the gap to 39-38 as the half ended.
In the third quarter, Fort Chiswell intensified the defensive pressure to hold Narrows to only nine points; meanwhile, the Pioneers scored 11 to have the third period end with the Pioneers on top 49-48.
Both teams came out running and gunning in the fourth and final period.  Akers took control of the game with Fort Chiswell outscoring Narrows 23-21 to make the final score.
The Pioneers took over sole possession of second place in the Mountain Empire District with the win.
In that fourth period, the Pioneers connected on 15-of-17 from the charity stripe to secure the win.
This week will be a busy one for Fort Chiswell with the Pioneers traveling on Monday night for an encounter with the district leading Galax Maroons Tide, followed with an encounter with Pocahontas on Friday, Feb. 8.
That will close out the district portion on the season and they will then have concluding games with hosting Eastern Montgomery Mustangs on Tuesday, Feb.12, and conclude the regular season on Wednesday by traveling to George Wythe the next night.

Fort Chiswell 14 24 11 23—72
Narrows 27 12 9 21—69

FORT CHISWELL (10-7, 5-3)
Viars 22, Hamm 11, White 11, Akers, 17, Poole 3, Mabe 2,  Cook 6, (72)

Narrows (10-10, 5-4)
Lowe 16, Reed 13, Burbacker 15, Thompson 13,  Elmore 2, C. Reed 2, Taylor 8 (69).