LANCASTER – On a night where Lancaster coach Kent Riggs was gunning for his 500th career win, the Golden Gales put all the drama aside in the first quarter.
The Golden Gales raced out to a commanding first-quarter lead and never looked back in an 80-25 non-conference win over visiting Columbus Briggs on Nov. 26.
Lancaster was expected to be led by three seniors, all returning starters: Cam Eaton, Drew Whitlach, and Davis Call. As expected, those three did their part, but another senior, Shawn Willis, making his first career varsity start, stole the show.
All four scored in double figures, led by Willis, who finished with a game-high 18 points. Whitlach had 17 points, 15 in the first half, and three assists. Call added 14 points, five rebounds and four assists, and Eaton chipped in 12 points, all in the first half.
“This is what we were expecting,” Willis said. “We had a great week of practice. We have a lot of good players and a lot of potential, so we expected to come out and play well. For me, personally, I worked non-stop all summer. I was there every day, and Coach Riggs can vouch for that. I showed up, and it paid off. It felt amazing to go out and play that well, and having my guys behind me and supporting me always helps. I was a little nervous in warmups, but after the first bucket, it gave me a ton of confidence.”
Lancaster shot the ball well from the start and connected on 12 of 15 shots from the field in the first quarter to take a 27-6 lead. The Gales were able to push the lead to 47-15 at halftime to force a running clock in the second half. They continued to scorch the nets in the third quarter by going 10 of 13 from the field. Through three quarters, they were 28 of 40 to take a 69-27 advantage into the fourth quarter.
“I was happy with the way we started, especially being the first game, because you always wonder how things will go as far as getting those first-game jitters out of the way,” Riggs said. “We got a couple of easy baskets at the start, and that got everyone relaxed. We played as well as we could in the first quarter. Because of our lack of size, we have to be more aggressive, and we were able to turn things up on the defensive side and got some easy buckets early.”
Riggs said having Willis play so well will only make the Gales tougher to guard.
“Shawn has had a couple of good scrimmages and shot the ball well,” Riggs said. I thought his effort was good, and when we can get that fourth guy scoring a little bit to go along with Cam, Drew and Davis, that gives us even more offense, which we need. He put a lot of work in during the summer, and you need those juniors who didn’t play a lot the year before to come back and have big senior years. It was good to see him have a big night to start the year.”
Lancaster will return to action Dec. 5 at home when it takes on Teays Valley in an Ohio Capital Conference-Buckeye Division game.
Tom Wilson is a sports reporter for the Lancaster Eagle-Gazette. Contact him at 740-689-5150 or via email at twilson@gannett.com for comments or story tips. Follow him on X at twil2323.
This article originally appeared on Lancaster Eagle-Gazette: Four players score in double figures as Lancaster routs Columbus Briggs
