Earlier today or late last night 🌙 I wrote the first of three stories about the victory yesterday.

Story #1 – What we call an actual game story or to try and sound hip its also called a Gamer. I wrote is as if a neutral reporter was covering the game.

Story #2 – Now I will write ✍ about the victory in the form of a column or an Op-Ed. I hope those it will be an enjoyable read.

Before I start I want to share a few thoughts with everyone so it makes sense.

When I am attending a Carroll County sporting event I love to converse with CCHS folks before a game, in between games and after games but not during one. I try to sit somewhere away from people because I, as a parent of five truly appreciate how precious the actual game time is and I will never intrude on that time.

Next clarification – I don’t see myself as a Spokesman for Coach Motley or his program. I am just a fan of how they play the game and the way he Coaches his team.

With that said – here’s a Column from yesterday.

On a simply gorgeous Saturday afternoon the trail landed me in historic Lexington, Virginia. The only thing I enjoy more than supporting High School student athletes is conversation with a stranger or two.

Saturday’s game was a match up between our Carroll County Lady Cavaliers and the Spotswood Trailblazers. A lifetime ago the youngest of our five children spent her Freshman year attending school in Penn Laird where Spotswood is located on US-33.

The game was a rematch from last years Class 3 State Semi-final game which the Cavaliers captured on their way to winning the first State Championship in Girls basketball 🏀 in the schools history.

After visiting for a moment with the Easter family I took my seat in the top row next to my Wife/ Score Keeper. There was a nice couple to our right that were from Wilson Memorial and they were there to watch their Grandsons Varsity team. Their Grandson is a 6’1 8th grader currently playing for the Hornets JV and to the left of us was two elderly ( remember that I am on the cusp of 60 so if I call someone elderly its 75-80 age bracket.

The two folks were locals and pretty knowledgeable about all things Rockbridge County. I was just listening along until they turned their attention to our game. The conversation quickly turned to how we are just riding the coattails of one player.

That line was the trigger point where I couldn’t help myself but then they were talking about the final score from our last game against James River. I’m paraphrasing now but it sounded like we have one player and that our Coach enjoys beating teams senseless.

Now I had to interject a thought or two and I hoped I could defend our program without sounding overbearing. The first thing I snuck in was that are a team of ten and can win a game from any spot on the floor. I added that our second team could probably win the Three Rivers District on their own.

I was now officially on my Soapbox so I couldn’t help myself. Our Coach has to play the teams on our schedule and he coaches with a touch of class that he doesn’t get enough credit for. I went on to add that if he wanted to he could have beaten James River 170-3.

I asked them to watch our game with an open mind, watch the team defense and then when the game is over you give me your opinion of our team and you tell me who’s the star that is carrying our team.

We chatted back and forth throughout the game and when the 67-34 victory was complete one of the guys turned to me and acknowledged my thoughts but he did feel a need to identify our star player.

Number 23…….. I smiled, thanked him for the talk and went on my way. So, if anyone reading this knows Jaelyn Hagee personally PLEASE do two things – first, congratulate her on her great game and second – Thank her for making me look smart.

The Lady Cavaliers are tremendous team with amazing depth that plays a form of defense that has to be annoying to all opposing teams. They are Coached by a local legend that is handling this group of Athletes in a Perfect manner.

The other guy was not sure about #23, his thought was #14 was our “One Player”- known to us as Ashton Richardson.

Tuesday night will take us to Covington and while its a long drive 🚗 I won’t feel a need to educate anyone about our team because they know first hand. But if I find myself in a similar situation again I will happily have the back of these 10 Ladies and their Coach.

EDITOR NOTE :

While the game was fun, Spotswood wasn’t at full strength so if our paths cross again don’t overlook Chris Dodson and his team.

That note was for our fan base because there’s no way our Coach doesn’t know that.

Last thought – in the picture 📷 of Coach and his staff I am hearing that the young Lady to the far left isn’t just an Assistant Varsity Coach or the JV Girls Head Coach but she also once laced up her sneakers for the Cavaliers in an impressive manor.

Good Morning – going to mix it up just a bit and go with three stories on the 67-34 Cavaliers victory over Spotswood.

STORY #1 – The Gamer

This is what the coverage would look like if a neutral Sportswriter in Lexington wrote about the contest…..

Lexington. Va – Carroll County rode a balanced attack and a suffocating defense to defeat Spotswood High School 67-34 in a rematch of last years Class 3 Semi-final contest.

The two teams were paired up in the Annual Rock the Ribbon Round Ball Shoot Out held at Rockbridge County High School over the weekend.

The highly anticipated pairing between two of the Top programs in Class 3 in the Old Dominion failed to live up to the hype only in that the Trail Blazers had no answer for the team defense that Head Coach Marc Motley’s group played for the entire 32 minutes.

[ Right here there would be a two part quote from Coach Motley but because its 2am and I’m at my desk we will imagine the proud answer]

Virginia Commonwealth University commit Zoli Khalil proved to be a force both inside and underneath but there was no Robin to her Batman.

5″9 junior Alyssa Ervin led the Cavaliers offense early accounting for nine of the teams 21 points but she had plenty of help on the offensive end. Senior Ashton Richardson led the team in scoring in the second quarter as she flawlessly took the baton from Ervin ,scoring half of the Cavaliers 18 points.

Jaelyn Hagee [ a neutral reporter wouldn’t be able to say] played possibly her most complete game of the season, leading the team in scoring with 18 points. The 5’7 Senior proved to be both an offensive spark plug and a defensive demon from start to finish.

Lauren Alley was giving three inches to Khalil but her ability to box out Spotswood severely limiting the Trail Blazers ability to score second chance points. Khalil couldn’t get any of her defenders into serious foul trouble because Motley was able to rotate his players in that spot. Alley wasn’t just a rebounding force as she finished up with 14 points including a bucket on a shot she put up over her shoulder with her back to the basket.

[ Now because my story led with balance I would add a line about the fifth starter, which is very easy because Kalee Easter played a nearly flawless game]

Spotswood Coach Chris Dodson was in search of a number two player to step up but Motley”s effort went seven, if not eight deep. Senior Point Guard Kalee Easter is an extension of Motley and leads the attack as a floor general should. Easter only needed to score at certain points but it was her basketball IQ that made Motley smile.

[ Here, I would ask a question about the play of his point guard to get the quote that ties my story together].

One of the Cavaliers reserves that performed at a high level was another Senior, 5’10 Bella Crotts. Crotts took her shifts guarding Khalil and performed admirably.

Round one went to the Cavaliers last year and the sequel was almost over before it started after CCHS scored the games first nine points. Fans from both schools would welcome the trilogy finale because it would mean that the teams both would have had deep post season runs.

[ I would then ask both Motley and Dodson a final question about each other’s team to put the bow on my Gamer, this time I feel comfortable in that both Coaches are Class Acts.]

Motley -” I’m very proud of the effort that I received from my team today….That’s a very good program we beat today.”

Dodson – “The better team won today but I hope we get the opportunity to face them again.. If we do then I will try to come up with a better game plan”

Why do I feel Dodson would phrase it that way ? Because no Coach with his longevity would ever say something that would take away from his players.

I hope you enjoyed my take on how the gamer would have read from a neutral perspective. I am going to get some sleep 💤 then tomorrow morning give you a Carroll County Sports Report gamer.

Final Note – It appeared that Crotts took an inadvertent elbow to her face, here’s hoping that she is okay.

4:49 Tipoff….

First quarter in the books 📚!

CCHS early run 🏃‍♂️ Spotswood with a solid middle and Cavs close it out…..21-9

We have reached Halftime and our Cavaliers lead 39-16.

Ashton Richardson leads the way with 12 points after dropping 9 in the second quarter. Both Lauren Alley and Alyssa Ervin added nine each and Jaelyn Hagee scored seven as well. Bella Crotts added an early bucket to total out the Cavs 39.

Richardson 15, Hagee 12, Alley 11 after 3rd

Many a story to tell on the other side…….

Go Cavaliers !!!

The Easter family are here to support Sis Kaylee and the rest of the Lady Cavaliers here in Lexington.

The previous contest just ended at 4:26 so we should be underway around 5:50.

Davis Reitzel was heading down the court in the fourth quarter last night in a Three Rivers District contest versus James River High School. In a blink of an eye the Junior raised up in a manner that is my favorite part of his game – young fella can sky!, and finished with the perfect flush of a dunk that sent the already happy crowd into a state of bliss.

Many people have dunked before for that point Reitzel has dunked before but this FINISH was different. If I was a Hollywood Director he would have made the play in slow motion and there would have been clips of past endings to recent contests where the Cavaliers had fallen just short.

Barnes and the gentleman to his right ( who smiled after the game when it came up that he was the actual person running the team and that folks just let Coach B think he was in charge). See that line as an example of good natured humor that comes when a script goes your way from start to finish.

Back to the Dunk – the Dunk didn’t win the game, in fact it made the score at the time 76-50. A moment later Nathan Reed flirted with a follow-up dunk that was just as fun to watch and if he had finished it the amped up crowd might have lost it.

Every team has its own story or at least that’s how it should be. The story I try to frame for this group of young men is that they are well coached – play hard for 32 minutes and do our school proud!

Barnes might still be wondering why he is stuck with some old guy he doesn’t know following his team around and writing nice things about them??

I feel fortunate to not know the inner working of the unit – things like who hangs out with who or which player struggles with Algebra. I get to watch them play the game in the right manner from start to finish in a way that should make a Coach proud, a Parent proud and a School proud!

The main live blog from last night has much more from the game and after the trip to Lexington today I will actually write ✍ a Gamer about the 80-54 victory but I wanted to type this one before we head North – sometime a Dunk is more than a just a Dunk and in this case it was a team exclamation point that that capped a much needed joyful ending for a group of hardworking young men.

Next up – unlocking that who’s 👀 really Coaching the team ???? See, its easier to make jokes when the script plays out to perfection.

P.S. – I have to admit that I had my head down writing on the live Blog when Davis did his version of Air Jordan there at the end but the reaction from the crowd in general and my wife in particular let me know what had happened.

We will pick this up once the train 🚆 makes it to Lexington.