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Kenny Fey

West-Oak High School's Duncan Fant (10) goes up for a shot in the Warriors' 77-50 win over Ninety Six on Monday night in the Apple Classic Holiday Hoops Tournament in Walhalla.

WALHALLA — A few minutes before halftime on Monday night against Ninety Six, with the odds overwhelmingly against his team, Duncan Fant decided to take matters into his own hands.

The West-Oak High School junior, one of just seven Warriors in uniform for the Apple Classic Holiday Hoops Tournament in Walhalla, scored eight points while also causing a steal that led to another basket in a little more than a minute, helping turn a four-point deficit into a three-point halftime lead in an eventual 77-50 victory.

The Warriors (4-4) had seven players on the bench due to either injuries or suspensions, which included six of West-Oak’s top eight players.

But with Fant leading the way with a game-high 24 points, while Desmond Grant and Blair Davis added another 18 and 14 points, respectively, it was hard to tell the Warriors were nowhere near full strength.

“I think our kids might have been a little intimidated coming in, but when they saw they could play, you couldn’t tell they only had seven players,” West-Oak head coach Bobby Norizsan said.

And for Fant, who Norizsan saved his highest praise for, the win itself was one thing. But winning by nearly 30 points against a fully loaded roster was another thing entirely, which left him looking for words to describe the win.

“Speechless,” Fant responded when asked what he could say about the win. “To beat them with seven guys, that’s incredible. To beat them by almost 30 points, that’s awesome right there.”

That looked far from possible early in the second quarter after West-Oak lost its lead when the Wildcats went ahead 16-15 at the end of the first quarter on a basket from Kelcey Washington.

The Ninety Six lead expanded to 25-17, but four straight points from West-Oak’s Evan Small, who had been called up from the junior varsity squad because of the depleted roster, narrowed the gap to 25-21.

It was then that Fant went on his run, which included a pair of three pointers, a pull-up jumper and a steal that led to a basket from Grant to help West-Oak out to a 33-30 halftime lead.

“That was pure adrenaline,” Fant said. “I knew I didn’t want us to have just a two- or three-point lead. I wanted to get some points on the board and keep the momentum up. I just decided to take over.”

West-Oak saw its lead trimmed down to 43-38 at the 2:31 mark of the third quarter but scored on its final seven possessions of the quarter to carry a 53-42 lead heading into the fourth, as it refused to break down against a loaded Wildcat bench.

The Warriors then put it on cruise control to end the night, as a bevy of free throws helped expand the lead to nearly 30 by the end of the night.

And while Norizsan couldn’t find enough praise for his squad on Monday, he said Fant’s performance was the key after the Warriors had been waiting on him to bust out with a big game.

And with just six other guys around him, his breakout performance couldn’t have come at a better time.

“We’ve been on him the whole year about stepping up and playing with some toughness, and he did that tonight,” Norizsan said. “I was proud as I could be.”

West-Oak will play in the winner’s bracket this evening, taking on Hamilton Heights (Ga.) at 7:30 p.m.

Boys’ bracket update. In other action on the boys’ side Monday, Walhalla and Tamassee-Salem both picked up wins, setting up a local showdown this evening.

Early in the day, the Eagles downed Dixie by a final score of 75-72, while Walhalla won the final game of the night over Rosman (N.C.) by a score of 58-44.

Also picking up wins were Hamilton Heights (Tenn.) and Upstate Homeschool.

West-Oak 77, Ninety Six 50

NS 16 14 12 8 — 50

W-O 15 18 20 24 — 77

Ninety Six (50) — Washington 13, Hentz 11, Prater 11, Smith 7, Sargent 6, Lake 2.

West-Oak (77) — Fant 24, Grant 18, Davis 14, Small 7, Earle 6, Holbrooks 6, Snellings 2.

Tuesday boys’ schedule

Greater Gwinnett (Ga.) vs. Walhalla JV 10:30 a.m.

Dixie vs. Rosman 1:30 p.m.

Upstate Homeschool vs. Ninety Six 3 p.m.

Hamilton Heights (Tenn.) vs. West-Oak 7:30 p.m.

Tamassee-Salem vs. Walhalla 9 p.m.