Radford came down to the Hill sitting atop the Three Rivers District standings with some room to spare. The Bobcats have only dropped one contest all season and are led by a 6’7 Division One player in waiting.
If there was ever a night where Coach Barnes and his troops were destined to end up in a game they couldn’t hang around in it would have been Monday night.
But as I have typed out many a night over the past two months, this team just refuses to give up for a moment, any moment.
Bryce Smoot carried the offensive load early with eight in the first quarter and 11 at the half. Every time the Cavaliers needed a basket #3 was there and equally impressive was Davis Reitzel on the defensive end while surrendering a few inches to his opponent.
Leading after one quarter (17-13) the Cavaliers were down 10 points at the break. Watching the Bobcats run their offense I kept thinking that it looked very familiar and I finally figured out the style was similar to the Lady Cavaliers. Yes, there was one player that stood out a bit but this team could score from four if not five spots on the floor.
Radford kept the pressure on but it came just as much from the offensive end where most teams apply pressure through a Pressing defense.
By the end of the third quarter the Cavaliers were down 15 points and four starters were approaching if not already in foul trouble. Certainly this would be the time the Cavs would accept defeat and look for another game down the road.
Not so much, Reitzel joined Bryce in the scoring zone, connecting on triplet 3-pointers in the fourth quarter but Radford answered every run the Cavaliers made. Radford’s Coach called a timeout to replace his starters and CCHS quickly scored five points, forcing the Bobcats to put the starters back on the court.
Every sportscaster calling a game that is on the verge of becoming one sided talks about getting the lead into single digits to have a chance. Next thing you know the lead is down to 9 and the Cavilers had the basketball 🏀.
Reitzel let go of a 3-pointer that did everything but drop that would have made it a two possession game. The final margin was nine at 64-55 and that brings us full circle to the original question – is there such a thing as a Moral victory ?
Down big to the best team on your schedule and fighting your way into the contest before eventually falling just short – if they do exist, then the Cavaliers earned one tonight.
Scoring : (55)
Bryce Smoot 23
Davis Reitzel 20
Ethan Richardson 5
Elijah Cox 4
Brayden Smoot 3
A.S.P.N on The Hill 