By : Homer McHomerson
Martinsville, Virginia – The genuis that is Carroll County High School Girls Basketball Coach Marc Motley was on full display Saturday evening in his team’s 55-45 victory over a tenacious Carlisle squad on the campus of Patrick Henry Community College.
Having already captured two State Championships and having an extordanaty talent in Senior Alyssa Ervin back for one Last Dance, the 2023-2024 season simply has to be one of all-in for the team.
The balance of the team has a talented group of young ladies who need time to adjust to their new roles. Fellow Seniors Madison Lyons, Katie Lam and Sarah Alderman have to grow from supporting cast to Senior leaders while Callie Harris, Corrie Delp, Laiken Burnett and Kacie Young have to learn their roles.
Motley is quite possibly even a better navigator for his program than a coach. The veteran works the sidelines as well as anyone coaching at the High School level but the effort off the court deserves a great deal of credit.
The Three Rivers District will hold one new challenge as Alleghany has already shown the effects of merging with Covington High School. Doubling down on your pool of Student Athletes already paid dividends for both the football program and volleyball program so there’s no reason to question if the team now called the Cougars will be able to challenge the Lady Cavaliers. Floyd County plays without fear against CCHS but can’t match the talent.
Knowing that the quickest path to getting his players adjusted to what he needs from them is finding the best game and opponent that is available. Last season the Non-District schedule was over the top and it showed when the post season rolled around.
The first opportunity to apply pressure on his team came against a Chiefs team that is possibly as fast as anyone the Cavaliers will face during the regular season. They are well coached and overly aggressive on both ends of the floor. Their guards can release a 3-pointer in the blink of an eye and their Center works hard on every possession.
The one thing worth noting about the contest Saturday that was different from the three Saturday games last season was this one was played in front of a large number of visiting fans.
Carlisle used all of their tools mentioned above to race out to a 10-1 lead and even worse, starting Center Lyons picked up two quick fouls.
Not sure how many times in the past four seasons Carroll County found themselves on the wrong end of a 10-1 score. Two things happened that turned things around for Carroll County that allowed them to take their first lead at 19-18 on their way to a 30-21 halftime lead.
Ervin poured in 16 points in the second quarter alone and at the break she was leading the Chiefs 22-21. Every opponent will have their own strategy for how to guard Ervin. Last night Pulaski County played a brand of defense that sent the Senior to the free throw line 19 times.
Carlisle chose to play her clean, occasionally double teaming her but only having Ervin attempt eight free throws on her way to scoring a game high 36 points.
The second game changer was the play of Casey Young. Lyons is at her best when she can play freely and without fear of serious foul trouble. Young, while not netting a single basket and eventually fouling out completely changed the flow of the game by battling a veteran player in a toe to toe manner.
The Chiefs outscored CCHS 15-14 in the third quarter to cut the lead down to eight but the 3-pointers stopped falling and the Cavaliers were matching the aggressive effort for every rebound and loose ball to hold their hosts at bay.
Lam joined Ervin in double figures with 11 points with nine of them coming after the break. Delp continues to grow into her role as the fifth starter with the four seniors, finishing the contest with six points. Lyons accounted for the final two points.
Carroll County (2-0) returns to action Tuesday night at Honaker. The game was originally scheduled to be played in Hillsville but the home and home games were swapped to set up a Championship ring ceremony later this month.
Carroll County… 8 22 14 11 – 55
Carlisle High ….12 9 15 9 – 45
3-Pointers – Ervin 4
A.S.P.N on The Hill 