Basketball Recap: Stu Finley's Big Game Can't Quite Lead Seneca over Blue Ridge

Seneca has been a dominant force so far, but they're in the middle of a mini-slump at the moment. They were four points away from ending the streak, but they lost a 65-61 heartbreaker at the hands of the Blue Ridge Fighting Tigers. Sadly, that's the second time they've come up short against the Bobcats this season, as they also lost their prior matchup 76-64 back in January.

Stu Finley

Blocked Shots (Career)

02/04/25 vs Blue Ridge	2
01/09/25 @ Blue Ridge	1
12/23/24 vs Belton-Honea Path	1
11/23/24 vs Jackson County	1
01/19/24 @ West-Oak	1

Seneca lost on Tuesday despite a true team effort on offense, the best among them being Stu Finley, who posted 15 points and seven rebounds. The dominant performance also gave Finley a new career-high in blocks (two). Another player making a difference was Jeremiah Hunter, who went 7 for 13 en route to 15 points and six assists.

Even though they lost, Seneca smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with ten offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least nine offensive rebounds in five consecutive contests.

Blue Ridge's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Ty'Korian Campbell led the charge by dropping a double-double on 19 points and 15 boards. Campbell has been hot, having also posted two or more blocks the last six times he's played. Paul Bishop was another key player, putting up 15 points and five rebounds.

Seneca's loss dropped their record down to 14-8. As for Blue Ridge, they have been performing well recently as they've won seven of their last nine matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 11-12 record this season.

A feisty cat fight is on tap when the Seneca Bobcats duke it out with the Daniel Lions at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday. Seneca is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 66.8 points per game this season. As for Blue Ridge, they will challenge Berea at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Blue Ridge also hasn't been messing around on offense: they've averaged 59.4 points per game.