Alyssa Ervin stood alone at the free throw line with Cavalier teammates on the other end of the court and connected on her last two shots from the charity stripe to push the CCHS lead out to 65-62. The score would be the final tally as Honaker could not get a good look at a game tying three pointer.
Ervin connected on five of nine free throws, all taken in the final frame on her way to scoring a game high 36 points. But the takeaway from the night should be how much growth was shown by the rest of the team.
Honaker was trailing 63-62 and managed to work the basketball into the post what could have been the go ahead basket before Kacie Young blocked the shot which lead to Ervin getting two more free-throw attempts.
Honaker(3-1) strung together three consecutive Class 1 State titles before falling in the Regional Semi-finals last season 43-40 to J.J. Burton to end the streak. They played excellent team defense from start to finish, never allowing the Cavaliers to create distance on the scoreboard.
The first quarter ended tied at 15-15 with Katie Lam leading the scoring with 7 points. Ervin added 15 in the second quarter to have 19 at the break and give the Cavaliers a 37-32 advantage. Sophomore Laiken Burnett netted her Varsity basket in the first half and Young scored her lone basket to round out the scoring in the opening 16 minutes.
The Tigers were leading 47- 46 when Coach Marc Motley called a timeout with 2:14 remaining in the third quarter. Not sure if it was what the veteran Coach drew up in the huddle but the Cavaliers converted a rare five point possession. Sarah Alderman found Madison Lyons with a perfect pass for a basket and a foul. Lyons missed the free throw but the rebound led to a Lam 3-pointer, her third long ball of the game. The five point play allowed the Cavaliers to regain the lead at 51-47.
The game remained close over the final eight minutes, allowing a Cavalier squad playing without injured starter Corrie Delp to all play clutch minutes. Callie Harris joined Burnett in the first Varsity basket club when the fellow sophomore calmly sank a fourth quarter 3-pointer. All seven to see game action scored with Lam finishing with 17 points.
Young replaced Delp in the starting lineup and finished up with two points and one possibly game saving blocked shot at the end.
The two teams will play the rematch on the Hill December 18th with the festivities including the Ring ceremony for the 2022-2023 season.
Carroll County (3-0) returns to action Saturday at Pulaski County as part of the quadruple header versus the Cougars.
On a separate note 📝, Debbie was proudly wearing her Galax gear ahead of their big Football game in Salem on Saturday evening.
Why does someone spend 10 hours to drive 🚗 271 miles round trip to watch two basketball games 🏀 and then write ✍ about them afterwards 🤔 ???? Because someone should to recognize the efforts of our Student Athletes.
I will check the Bristol newspaper 📰 tomorrow to see if there’s anything else out there.
Thanks to Kevin Burress during the JV game and the Harris Family 👪 for providing assistance throughout the night 🌙. Wishing Debbie and her family the Best of Luck on Saturday night!
A.S.P.N on The Hill 