First things First, I want to say Thank You to Mr Thompson and Mr DeHaven for their trust in me to set at the scorers table for tonight’s double header. While I do a great deal of announcing other places, I am the emergency fill-in for Hoops.
Always fun to do and I give it my Best Shot. With that said, let’s get to the victory that moves the team to a season high winning percentage of .750!!
Head Coach Jason Stockner took the time to check-in after the victory…
” Good win tonight against an improved Radford team. We had balanced scoring with 4 players in double figures and 9 players scoring overall. Our defense continues to create turnovers leading to easy baskets. We really liked how the guys responded after the timeouts in the second & third quarters. Looking forward to our afternoon tip against Galax on Saturday.”
Let’s take a closer look at the scoring of the 63 points. Coach mentioned four players in double figures, here’s the definition of balanced scoring :
Hayden Jackson – 15 points
Blake Reed – 12 points
Dane Leonard – 12 points
Colton Gravley – 12 points
Another piece of way cool news is that both of the 8th grade additions, Will Motley and Rowdee Payne, both netted their initial Junior Varsity basket 🧺.
16-8 was the first quarter score with Jackson and Leonard taking turns on the first seven points.
14-7 was the breakdown in the second quarter as the team continued their recent play of next man in.
Gravley dropped 10 of his twelve in the third quarter as the Cavaliers kept Radford in the rear view mirror.
Carroll County never let the Bobcats get back in the game, leading to a comfortable 19 point victory over Radford.
The team will have a short turnaround as they welcome Galax to The Hill for a Saturday afternoon matinee. 9-3 and looking forward to the next opportunity to open up for the Varsity squad.
Most people dread going to see the Doctor but I will admit that I actually look forward to seeing Dr Jeffrey Peele every 3 months out here in Laurel Fork.
Today was that day, when we discussed the results of my latest Labs. The battle to remain 💪🙏 healthy enough to chase my vision is a Day 2 Day thing and going to the Doctors office 🏢 means that I get to have a terrific discussion with a knowledgeable gentleman.
Today he had me in there on a High Point and I think he realized it. Doc knows that I’m trying hard to be a Preacher without a pulpit while also trying hard to be a teacher without a Classroom.
The dual task is a great challenge but everyday that God has it in his plans for me to wake ⏰ up, I set out in hopes of giving people a reason to smile or a reason for hope. Sometimes it is enough for a person to just believe that someone else cares ❤ about them.
When I get back home 🏡 at the end of everyday, I ask myself one question – did I accomplish my Goal ? The answer varies a great deal from day to day normally but not last night.
Big time College Basketball 🏀 fan, to the point that I’m always in search of a game to attend. Last night 🌙 was a great example because Radford University was hosting Longwood University in a Big South game. Entertaining game to watch (and I did after the games at Radford High School) but there’s no greater Good involved in just that.
No heartwarming moment was going to take place by just going to Radford University so naturally I turned it into a Triple Header.
Because I Love 💘 using the David Letterman Top Ten List from decades ago, I am now create a List that came out of last night 🌙…Drum Roll please…
#10 – It allowed me to ✍ a game story for Allen Worrell and The Carroll News. Allen is a HUGE part of our efforts everyday so anytime I can help him its a Win!
#9 – Showing support for Head Coach Howard Mayo in his first year back on the job at Carroll County High School. Mayo and I haven’t spend a great deal of time together over my time here but I understand the challenges he is facing so anyway I can show support…
#8 – Getting to hang out with my favorite Wingman Kevin Burress. Maybe after the Banquet more people will understand just how important the two of us are to each other.
#7 – Five of the eight Varsity players will cross the street when the seasons over and join us at Cavalier Park. I am proud of the manner that are handling playing a second sport while learning it on the fly.
#6 – Two young Ladies on the Junior Varsity team are also members of the Softball family 👪 – Miss Rodrigue and Miss Adkins. See reason seven.
#5 – Getting to see Mrs Adkins for the first time since her health scare and my return to town. She made my day when she told me that Macie had talked to her already about our Next Big Thing.
#4 – Getting to hang out with an Amazing young lady 👩 that I happily refer to as my 3rd daughter, Velvet Creed Leonard. If you spend any amount of time around her and don’t feel better from it……she also had her older Daughter, Husband (who will be joining the Band on 3/2 and Miss Carlie Beamer.
#3 – For this one, I will use the actual Coach response from the Junior Varsity team.
” We continue to face challenges offensively and a lot of the challenges are because we are so young. That’s okay though. That’s what I love about the game of basketball, it teaches you a lot especially during the challenging times. Things don’t get easier with experience, you get stronger. We are getting stronger every week.When faced with challenges in basketball or life you continue to be persistent and press forward. We are trusting the process and pressing forward.”
Wow, maybe I get that same level of response from the Coaches even if I’m not there in the Gym, who knows? But I love 💘 the fact that there’s a connection now !
Before I list the final two, it was great to see the Harris Family 👪, the Gallimores and the Goins as well ➕ everyone else that said Hello 👋.
#2 – Tammy Tobler picked last night 🌙 to come out to the Gymnasium and I would have missed out on a tremendous amount of time that was there for the taking. Tammy and I have a true bond that has been built over the years. It was that bond that allowed me to comfort her with my words after Jeff passed. Everyone around her was better for it and I believe Tammy was too.
#1 – Mrs Elizabeth Motley ❤ – Our entire effort here is based on the idea 💡 that one unprovoked act of Kindness can mean so much more than a person can imagine. There’s no greater proof of that then Mrs. Motley playing the role of Uber driver.
Please know if you see 👀me at a sporting event 🙏, there is a reason for me being there. In just a few hours I will head over to The Hill to announce the Boys 👦 Basketball 🏀 games. My target, in advance is to make the starting lineup for the Junior Varsity team to feel that they’re in Chicago Stadium when Michael Jordan was playing for the Bulls.
I will also be there for the Varsity game because it is the only time that Kris Richardson and I have the time to hang out. It takes Anthony Barnes having tolerance and thankfully he does.
Thankfully, I have my own platform for things just like this story because it allows me to say – Thank You Elizabeth Motley, and know that you earned a Five Star 🌟 rating from a number of us. Sadly, if someone doesn’t use the Uber app they might not get that reference but its all good!
I started out the story mentioning two Doctors, the second one is Dr Oliver McBride. Very excited about the opportunity for him and I to work on something together as he will be a large part of our Banquet on 3/2!
Radford – Carroll County faced the Sophomore guard that is destined to capture the title of Three Rivers District player of the Year before graduation and Kearson Carter proved to be quite the challenge. Carter led the Bobcats (4-5) to a 52-31 victory Wednesday night.
While the team fell short on the night there were some bright spots for the Lady Cavaliers. The easiest one to point to was Carroll County winning the 4th quarter by an 11-9 margin.
Radford jumped out to an early 16-2 lead and just when it appeared the game could get out of hand, the Lady Cavaliers began to settle down. After the early deficit they played the Bobcats to a 36-29 score.
Callie Harris led the attack for Head Coach Howard Mayo with nine points. Both Raylee Goins and Kenzie McMillan added seven points on the night.
” I thought we keep playing hard we need to continue to get better at the fundamentals like jump stopping, ball fakes and using both hands, ” said Mayo.” I thought we did a good job of continuing to attack the basket as we shot 14 free throws for the game.”
Carter is averaging 20 points per game but the challenge for Radford is to find a second scorer but they made up for it by playing a full court press throughout the contest.
Goins led the charge in the fourth quarter by scoring five of her seven points, including a three point play that was part of an 8-2 finish for Carroll County. The two belonged to Carter as she made sure that the Bobcats maintained a comfortable lead.
The good news for Carroll County is that it will be a while before they have to face a scorer like Carter again but opponents looking to press against them will continue. Madison Coleman and Laynie-Jo Leonard rounded out the scoring with four points apeace.
The Lady Cavaliers will have a quick turnaround as they will welcome Alleghany to The Hill on Friday night. The teams will meet for the second time in six days but this time it will be the Cougars looking to shake off a long and cold 🥶 bus ride.
A.S.P.N on The Hill 