The Fort – Carroll County High School fell short at the end of the late game on Saturday night at Fort Chiswell, dropping a 69 – 65 decision to Narrows. The setback sends the Cavaliers into the consolation bracket of the annual Christmas tournament hosted by the Pioneers.
Carroll County (3-3) took the floor as the Back 2 Back Champions but with a much different lineup than the previous years. Head Coach Anthony Barnes experienced six Seniors graduating last season and on that note we start the We’ve seen this story before phase of our story.
It was just three years ago when veteran Girls Coach Marc Motley watched his six Seniors, who also had played Basketball together most of their lives, graduate 🎓.
Motley returned Alyssa Ervin back then and would need four role players to step up and become starters. Enter Madison Lyons, Sarah Alderman, Katie Lam and Callie Harris. Ervin led the way and Motley coached up that team to a third straight State Tournament.
The challenge for Barnes is to build a team around Isaiah Easter and do so in a manner that will lead the team to a second straight State Tournament appearance.
While Motley had players who were already on the Varsity team that just needed to play bigger roles, Barnes will be counting on a number of players with zero Varsity experience prior to the season opener.
Last round of tying the story together comes with there being both a Motley and Easter in the mix once again. Big Sister Kaylee Easter and Coach turned proud Father, Marc Motley are playing the roles of Cheerleaders while Easter and freshman Will Motley take center stage.
The start Saturday night might have been as sad of seven minutes felt by the Cavaliers under the guidance of Barnes. Carroll County trailed 18 – 3 and had more fouls than points scored. Motley pumped life back into the effort by nailing a 3-pointer just before the end of the first quarter. The Cavs still trailed 19 – 6 after 8:00 but there were signs of life in the stands and on the bench.
Colton Gravley, one of the new faces on the team this season, did his best to get CCHS back in the game by halftime. Gravley scored 10 of his 15 points in the second quarter to lead the team to a 17-10 ,advantage. The Cavaliers still trailed but by just six at 29 – 23!
Barnes took his team into the lockeroom and pushed the right buttons. The team hit the court running 🏃♂️ and by the time the dust settled, Carroll County had gone from down 15 to up nine (44-35). The run of 21-6 was nothing short of near flawless Basketball and a number of players contributed key 🔑 minutes.
Easter started the second half with just six points and finished up with a team high 25. The first thing that stuck out was the transition game as the Cavaliers are at their best when they are turning defense into offense.
Motley picked his spots to launch 3-pointers and when the dust settled the shooting guard 💂♂️had connected five times, including one step back beauty. Motley joined Gravley with 15 points, giving Carroll County a trio of double figure scorers..
Blake Reed and Trace Reavis both added four points from their spots on the floor while Kyle Bunn, Eli Lark and Hayden Jackson each contributed in key 🔑 spots of the contest.
Narrows responded with two runs of their own and managed to pull back ahead by five points as they continued to bombard CCHS with 3-pointers and blocked 🚫 shots. The interior defense was their strong suit as they corralled nine blocks on the night.
Two things that will challenge the Cavaliers this season will be size and streak shooting. Narrows possessed both of those last night and while there wasn’t a flurry of points next to Reavis in the scorebook, know that the Senior was banging around inside on both ends of the floor from start to finish. Gravley took his share as well, to the point of needing stitches today.
Carroll County suffered an unfortunate dry spell down the stretch that led to five straight empty possessions. The Cavs were getting great looks but nothing would drop and this led to a 65 – 65 tie becoming a 69 – 65 setback.
Carroll County JV Basketball is also looking to defend its title under new Coach Ryan Phillips. The Cavaliers took a step in the right direction with a 38 – 31 victory over Narrows.
Both teams still have two more games to play beginning on Monday afternoon. The Varsity team will face Bland at 5:30 pm while the Junior Varsity team plays at 2:45 pm.
***** Still need to add the thoughtso of Head Coach Anthony Barnes to the story. Just landed in Phoenix and have a short layover before the next flight ✈️ to El Paso. Will finish up shortly.
This team will get there, no doubt about it !
Thank You to Samantha Lark – Smith, Bill Gallimore and Kevin DeHaven for his assistance with the JV results…
A.S.P.N on The Hill 