ARTIE MOORE, Grafton High School’s Junior Varsity Boys’ Basketball Coach, talks strategy with his Bearcats during a closely contested game played in the Robert C. Byrd High School Gym in Clarksburg Wednesday night.

CLARKSBURG -- The Robert C. Byrd Eagles were simply too much for the visiting Grafton Bearcats to handle here Wednesday night, as they handed Coach Mike Crutchfield’s squad its first loss since January 2.

“I’m not going to make any excuses,” Coach Crutchfield said, following the game. “We just got beat. The Eagles were simply too much for the Bearcats to handle on this night, but we will be looking forward to the rematch in Grafton later this season.”

This 56-34 loss ended Grafton’s seven-game winning streak, and left the Bearcats with a 9-3 overall record, as well as a 4-2 mark in Big Ten Conference action.

The Eagles and the Bearcats played on fairly even terms during the first half . First, Robert C. Byrd won a 19-13 decision in the opening period, and then Grafton fought back to win a 10-6 verdict in the second stanza.

After the Eagles held a 25-23 half-time lead, they went on a 12-2 run to get the third quarter underway. R. T. Bolyard was credited with Grafton’s two points during that sequence.

Then, Chris Runner later provided the only other two points for the visitors during the quarter, while Byrd was adding a 6-2 mini-run and jumping into a 16-point lead, at 43-27, with eight minutes left to play in the contest.

The Eagles opened the fourth quarter with another 6-0 mini-run to stretch their lead out to 22-points, at 49-27, on a three-point field goal by Bill Pecora, at the 6:40 mark...That 22-point margin also proved to be the final point spread of this ball game.

Pecora tossed in a game-high total of 27 points, while Terrance Hill added 16 points, 12 rebounds and five of Robert C. Byrd’s eight blocked shots on the night.

Patrick Moore chipped in with seven points, Arden Fox was credited with three points, Mauricio Bermudez netted two points, and George Cain added one point to round out the 56-point performance by the Eagles.

The trio of Moore (six rebounds, two assists and two steals), Anthony Abston (five rebounds, three steals and four assists) and Adam Secret (two rebounds and three assists) turned in solid floor games for the Eagles.

Just as the case was during the entire Month of January, Grafton had a well-balanced scoring attack, but there was just not enough of it this time. Adam Ware, with seven, the duo of Titus Sandy and Bolyard, with six apiece, Runner with five, the duo of B. J. Markley and Seth Elsey, with four apiece, and J. C. Musgrove, with two, were responsible for the 34 points that the Bearcats scored.

Bolyard and Elsey shared Grafton’s lead in the assist column with three apiece, while Bolyard yanked down a team-high six rebounds and Elsey had a team-leading two steals.

The Eagles enjoyed a 39-25 bulge on the glass, and added a plus four, 10-14, turnover ratio, to go along with a 23-to-15 advantage in field goals, including a 5-1 margin in three-point bombs.

The Eagles also out-scored Grafton by a 5-3 count, at the free-throw line, during a physical battle.