Radford High School rallied in the second half to defeat Carroll County 47-34 in final game of the 2024 – 2025 season Friday night, ending the season for the Lady Cavaliers.

Head Coach Howard Mayo entered the twice delayed season finale with just six players healthy enough to face the Bobcats. Know that those six gave the veteran Coach everything he could ask for and more.

” I was tickled that we were leading at halftime tonight,” said Mayo. ” Especially when we were playing with just six players.”

Radford jumped to an early 9-2 lead and appeared on the cusp of a blowout victory when the Lady Cavaliers answered with an impressive 8-1 run 🏃‍♂️ of their own to pull within 10-9 at the end of the first quarter. Raylee Goins scored five of her seven points in the opening frame, including hitting on the first of four Cavalier 3-pointers.

Radford jumped out again to start the second quarter, scoring five quick points. Carroll County answered back for a second time, with quite possibly the best stretch of basketball played this season.

Trailing 15-9 with 7:00 minutes left in the half, Carroll County went on an 11-0 run that didn’t end until just before the break.  CC Mitchell ( 9 points) gathered a pass from Natalie Burress for a lay-up and followed up with the first of her 3-pointers. Madison Coleman( 4 points) scored a basket 🧺 to give CCHS its first lead at 16-15.

Callie Harris (team high 10 points) added a hoop and Kenzie Young ( 4 points) closed out the stretch with a field goal of a perfectly designed inbound play to make it 20-15.

” We were playing a box 📦 and one during the second quarter,” added Mayo. ” We were doing a great job on both preventing penitration and blocking out on the rebounds. “

Harris connected on a 3-pointer early in the third quarter to give Carroll County its final lead at 23-20. The third and final run for the Bobcats followed and the spurt was 10-0, giving the visitors a lead they would not relinquish. The total for the third quarter was 19-7 and that was the difference between victory and the 13 point setback.

Playing a game with almost as many players in street clothes as in uniform, one day after the official end of a long season, the Lady Cavaliers gave hope for the future.

” We gained a great deal of experience throughout the year,” added Mayo. ” We made strides in decision making and believing  in ourselves offensively.”

Tonight could have been Senior Night 🌙 if the team was void of Seniors. Mayo will look to welcome back all 10 players in the Gymnasium tonight and build from there.

” I am thankful to have coached this dedicated group of young Ladies,” noted Mayo. ” It would have been easy for them to lose interest as the season went on but the heart and character that they showed me was amazing.”

Faith Clontz, Aaliyah Hampton, Laynie-Jo Leonard and Kenzie McMillian were the four Lady Cavaliers that played the roll of spectators and Cheerleaders for the night.

Radford             10  7  19  11 – 47

Carroll County  9   11  7   7 – 34

Tonight the Girls 👧 Varsity Basketball season came to an end and we will have a Game Story later tonight. First, let’s try to reset the upcoming dates 📅 for Carroll County High School 🏫.

Spring Sports are ready to get underway, only if we can make it feel like Spring outside !

Boys Basketball 🏀 will host a Regional tournament Quarterfinal game Tuesday night at 6pm versus #7 Lord Botetourt. The Cavalier versus Cavalier tilt will have a fun sidebar as Assistant Coach Kris Richardson will have a Son (Ethan) playing against a nephew. If the home Cavaliers win the game they will move within one game of qualifying for the State Tournament!!

Samuel Collins and West Long know have a date 📅 and place for the State Tournament. They will be heading over to Lynchburg on Saturday March 1st. Between now and then, Coach Long will be taking four young Ladies to their State event on February 26th and 27th up in Richmond.

The Boys 👦 swimming 🏊‍♂️ team missed out on an opportunity to compete in nearby Christiansburg as their State Tournament will now take place in Richmond on March 4th.

March 4th will now double as a State quarterfinal date for Boys Basketball. This could once again create a Daily Double for our Ethan Richardson but I see this as a glass half full thought process. If Richardson is needing to be in two places on the same day it means that Head Coach Anthony Barnes and his team will have defeated Lord Botetourt and potentially Cave Spring before facing what should be defending State Champs 🏆Northside High School.

Given that the Cavaliers will be in the State Tournament for this to happen, I vote 🗳 Yes.

_______________________________________

The road map to March 2nd is getting more interesting by the minute.

Howard Mayo and Anthony Barnes will both be attending Regional meetings on 3/2 up in Roanoke. I assume that both will be arriving a little later than hoped.

West Long will now be returning from Lynchburg with the new date for the meet.

Lawrence Nesselrodt and our Golden Bears 🐻 Baseball team will be playing a doubleheader on Saturday 3/1. So there’s another obstacle.

Our above mentioned Athletic Director will be up in Blacksburg with the Travel Volleyball teams, playing the  role of Proud Papa. DeHaven will be preparing his remarks ahead of time, just in case.

Lin will be flying back from her current work trip out in the Midwest the night before.

Chris Carter will be doing a down and back from Page County, which is always fun.

Those are just the ones that I know about as of tonight but the show will go on even if some are a bit tired.

_________________________________

Dr. Mark Burnette now has his table set with his beautiful Bride (Dana) being joined by their Sons, Brock and Donavan ➕ Shane & Dr Samantha Reed ➕ Dr. Oliver McBride and Jennifer Sowers.

____________________________________

We canceled our Baseball ⚾️ games up in Beckley again today and are moving the remainder of the weekend schedule over to Kingsport, Tennessee. We are now playing two on Sunday and one on Monday.

___________________________________

Next piece of business is the Game Story on the season finale for our Girls versus Radford.

16:00 minutes on the countdown clock ⏰ as Head Coach Howard Mayo and his six healthy Hoopsters are set to take on the Radford Bobcats.

The game tonight was moved for a second time last night as the freezing 🥶 temperatures forced the final postponement in a season full of them.

Callie Harris, CC Mitchell, Madison Coleman, Natalie Burress, Raylee Goins and Kenzie Young are our six players suited up and ready to go tonight. Five starters and one substitute will make up the rotation.

We will be here until the conclusion

End of 1st quarter – Bobcats 10, Cavaliers 9…

1:37 (2) – TO – Cavs 18-15

6:34 – Halftime – Cavs 20’17 !

End of the 3rd quarter (7:04) – Bobcats 36, Cavaliers 27

Final Score – Bobcats 47, Cavaliers 34

Story to follow later tonight…

Congratulations 👏👏👏👏

Head Coach Howard Mayo is going to get one more opportunity to build for the future of his program. Tonight at 6pm the Lady 👩 Cavaliers will host the Radford Bobcats and its a chance to build on the teams performance at Christiansburg earlier in the week.

While the team fell at CHS, the final score was 57-51, it was one of the best performances of the season if not the best.

  It’s been a brutal few days with the deep freeze so if you are suffering from Cabin Fever, consider yourself officially invited to join us tonight on The Hill as we say goodbye to our 2024-2025 Lady Cavaliers.