Independence – Elijah Cox poured in 19 points to lead the offensive but it was 32 minutes of defense from Head Coach Anthony Barnes squad that allowed the visiting Cavaliers to roll to a Non-District victory 62-35 over Grayson County.
Carroll County is set to play four contests in a five day span this week and the Cavs defensive effort made sure that the busiest stretch of the season started off on a positive note.
Grayson County trimmed the deficit down to 32-20 when the Cavaliers put together a 17-3 spurt to put the game out of reach. Cox started the run by going three for three from the line after being fouled on a 3-pointer and then the Blue Devils committed a violation on the inbounds play. Davis Reitzel turned in the play of the night when the Sophomore grapped a rebound and sent it in all in one motion while displaying some serious hops. Reitzel then followed up his offense with the block of the night on the other end that led to a corner 3-pointer from Ethan Richardson off of a feed from Cox.
That 8-0 run turned into a 17-3 closeout of the third period when Barnes had his team run the clock down for a final shot which Cox drained from just inside the free throw line.
Both coaches made sure every member of their teams recorded ample floor minutes over the fourth quarter with Grayson’s bench outscoring CCHS 15-13. The fourth quarter turned out to be the only frame that the Blue Devils reached double figures.
Bryce Smoot (13 points) and Ethan Richardson (10 points) joined Cox in double figures. Jabin Talley finished with 9 points after connecting on a trio of 3-pointers while Reitzel finished with six points.
Mario Meza Campbell added a 3-pointer and Nathan Redd (2 points) rounded out the scoring for CCHS.
The defensive intensity and the unselfish offense proved to be an impressive one-two punch for the Cavaliers but there won’t be much time to celebrate as the team will return to action at home on Tuesday when they host neighboring Floyd County.
The contests versus Floyd will include all four of the squads with three games being played at the High School 🏫 and the fourth taking place around the corner at the Middle School. The action is slated for 4:30 / 6:00 & 7:30.
A.S.P.N on The Hill 