The things one stumbles across at 4:30 am…. The greatest challenge to playing NAIA Baseball ⚾️ in February is finding away to get the games played.
Our four game series set to begin tomorrow afternoon at Linda K Epling Stadium 🏟 has been traded out for a two game set today up in Charleston, WV.
Go-Mart Park is another top notch facility with astroturf so it provides a back up plan.
The weather forecast for the weekend makes the hope of playing four games almost impossible so the next best thing is to try and salvage two of the set.
Let’s start with Roanoke College Freshman Katie Lam. Roanoke is currently riding a 7 game winning streak and sits at 13 – 10.
Lam (5’10) recorded a season high of 13 points and is averaging 2.4 points for the Maroons in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference. Two regular season games remain before the ODAC tournament.
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Elijah Cox is a 6’5 Sophomore at Randolph. The team currently sits at 7-14 with a game to be made up over at Ferrum.
Cox just recently netted 10 points in a contest, one of his season high of 11 points. Four games remain in the regular season, including two slated for this weekend that are close by
Alyssa Ervin is a 5’11 Freshman at Elon University and the team is slated to play later today at UNC – Wilmington.
Elon is 12-9 on the season and Ervin has logged minutes in 16 of the 21 contests with a couple of them being missed due to the flu.
Ervin also reached double figures with 10 points at Virginia Tech, giving all three of our former Cavaliers at least one game where the have scored in double figures this season. The team competes in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA).
The Phoenix have eight regular season games remaining before they play in the CAA post season tournament.
I feel fortunate to have taken in one game each for the trio this season and look forward to seeing how their seasons play out from here.
Buchanan – Isaiah Easter led a balanced Carroll County (20-1, 9-1 Three Rivers District) attack with 18 points as the Cavaliers secured a tie for the league title with a convincing 70-43 over James River.
Both Floyd County and Glenvar were eliminated from the chase with the latest CCHS victory, leaving just Alleghany as the lone team capable of catching Head Coach Anthony Barnes and his team.
” We are peaking at the right time, we are close to achieving our first set goal of District Championship back to back, ” said Barnes. ” Huge for the program the school and our community. Proud our our guys coming in off the bench engaged.Trace( Reavis) knocking down some nice 3’s with( Isaiah) Leagans and (Landon) Philips getting in the box score. “
Last time the teams met, Carroll County teamed up to go on a 10-0 run during the second quarter in which all five starters scored a basket 🧺. Fast forward to this time around the Cavaliers created another Team moment, early in the second quarter. Brayden Smoot (14 points) connected on a 3-pointer that made the score 24-9 and with 6:40 remaining in the second quarter, Smoot became the fifth and final starter to connect from behind the arc.
The shooting from deep did not end with the starters as Reavis (twice) and Kyle Bunn (3 points) raised the number of players to seven that connected from deep.
Carroll County lead 44-13 at the break, leaving Barnes with plenty of opportunity for each member of his 12 team roster. The starters were limited in the second half as one or two remained in the contest with the reserves. Reavis returned from a one game absence due to an injury and the Junior looked comfortable in his time on the court.
Floyd County and Alleghany are set to meet Friday night with a Buffaloes victory putting the Cavaliers over the top in their pursuit of a second consecutive league title.
If Alleghany stays alive with a victory then the Cougars will come to The Hill on Tuesday night for the home finale.
Back to James River, Ethan Richardson scored 12 points, including eight during the game deciding first quarter. Bryce Smoot finished up with eight points and Cody Reece added five. Each starter spent about half the game in action and the other half cheering on their teammates.
” Thought tonight we really played some TEAM ball, ” added Barnes. “We passed up shots to get a better shot and it showed. Brayden Smoot had a phenomenal game on both ends of the floor, lately in practice he has been on fire and he has worked his tail off this past summer and in practices to reap the benefits of it.”
Twelve players played, nine scored and seven hit from deep in a contest that helped shake off the effects of not playing once again due to the weather. As Barnes mentioned, the team is peaking at the right time.
Head Coach Jason Stockner led his team to their own version of a season sweep over the Knights. Colton Gravley (13 points) and Blake Reed (12 points) led the offense and every Cavalier contributed on the defensive end during a 59-31 victory. The defensive effort was highlighted by a 16-0 third quarter.
Both teams return to action 🎬 at home on Tuesday night vs Alleghany and wrap up the regular season at Radford on Thursday.
Buchanan – Carroll County JV Basketball 🏀 returned to action 🎬 Thursday night 🌙 and since they were playing the Knights it seemed a natural leap to jump to the times of King Arthur in describing the latest victory.
Camelot replaces Buchanan as the location and Jason Stockner gets cast as King Arthur 🤴.
” Very good win tonight. Everyone contributed to our success. We jumped out early in the first quarter but James River cut our lead to 12 by halftime. We talked about playing with more intensity on the defensive end and making the extra pass on offense.
We definitely turned it up in the third and held them scoreless in the third! Offensively we tend to force some shots so we’ll work to improve in that area. Nice win overall so the guys can celebrate by going back to school tomorrow after a few days off. Hopefully everyone gets their power back on soon. Go CAVS!.”
Protect the Queen 👸 would have been the theme in the third quarter as our Cavaliers played a perfect frame, outscoring the other Knights 16-0. Five different players scored in the 3rd and everyone pitched in on the defensive end.
Colton Gravley as Sir Galahad, led the offense with 13 points ➕ Blake Reed ( Sir Lancelot ) dropped 12 points beginning with the first arrow 🏹 of the evening.
Tristan ( Dane Leonard ) was still without his armor as he continues to recover from an ankle injury.
The troops rallied around Tristan as 10 Cavaliers landed a shot during an a jousting in which everyone carrying a shield 🛡 recorded minutes of game time.
CCHS raced out to a 23-3 lead after the opening 7:00 minutes, erasing any doubt of the final outcome. As King 🤴 Arthur described, James River rallied in the second quarter before his Knights took care of business.
Three Cavaliers netted six points each and we need to continue the process.
Will Motley as Sir Ector, Chanson Rakes as Sir Bedivere and Jayden Jones as Sir Gawain !
The Cavaliers still hope to play two more times this season, once at Radford and home 🏡 to Alleghany.
Please know that no Knights were injured in this Celebration !
A.S.P.N on The Hill 