Mr. & Mrs. Smoot have joined the efforts and here are Mom’s pictures 📷 and Dad’s thoughts !

Hey Jerry it’s Russell!

Teams chemistry was on full display tonight. These boys have played AAU basketball together since they were in the 2nd and third grade!! Everyone can score and handle the ball!

Indeed and Indeed – both of their Sons finished the game with double digit scoring efforts 👏

Per the Norm – all pictures 📷 on the site are free for the taking !

A few random thoughts 🤔 ahead of my Game Story, separated because of the hope the story itself will get picked up by others.

Kris Richardson and Anthony Barnes

At the end of the day I am a Softball guy 👦 who enjoys working with both Rick Nester at the Varsity level as well as Kevin Burress and Company at the lower levels. Let’s not forget the Toblers and the Daltons plus this year Mr. Terry Warf. I played Softball, Coached Softball and married my second best player on my team 38 years ago. Past my partnership with Coach Nester the rest of my inner actions with folks in and around Carroll County is simply me trying hard to help other Programs gain more appreciation for their Coaches, Parents and Student Athletes.

The tricky part is dealing with roughly 20 different types of people and Coaches. The personalities are all different as are the goals for their programs and their desire to have coverage to begin with.

Why share that thought process before writing ✍ a story tonight about Anthony Barnes and his Basketball 🏀 program ? Because you can’t spend five minutes around Barnes and not hear the Love he has for his players and his program. It’s contagious to say the least and he’s even willing to share the spotlight with Laurel Fork’s most reckonizable Celebrity, Kris Richardson.

Here is a photo 📷 taken tonight of Mama Barnes and Richardson. Afterwards Richardson proudly claims she said he was her favorite Coach !

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Now to the actual Game Story :

Fort Chiswell, Virginia – Head Coach Anthony Barnes watched his basketball team play five dominant minutes Monday night at Grayson County. The Cavaliers led that game 17-4 but went into the break tied at 22-22. Barnes challenged them in the lockeroom and his efforts with his team produced a 25-3 third quarter on their way to a 55-39 victory.

The halftime speech Thursday night was a little different as the Cavaliers dominated Fort Chiswell High for the entire 16 minutes of the first half. His team led 56-15 at the half and coasted to an 81-40 victory to open the season 3-0.

“I believe by far this is the most unselfish group of ball players I have ever seen,” Barnes said after the lopsided victory. “They have bought in true team concept too the core, their Effort on defense is high energy and over the top. Proud of them and the work they and my Coaches (Richardson/ Redd ) have put in!”

The second half of the contest went 25-25 and was played under a running clock format late in the third quarter. There was no need to pile on after the break. Barnes had played nine of his twelve man roster before the break and each one had dented the score book.

The Cavaliers clearly feed of each others energy and are most effective when their defense allows them to create instant offense with Davis Reitzel controlling the defensive rebounds and quickly playing the role of Point Forward.

The unselfish play that Barnes referred to earlier was on full display early and often. Reitzel led the scoring in the first quarter with eight points but Bryce Smoot and Isaiah Easter both dropped seven each inside the 24-8 frame.

The balance attack continued in the second quarter as the Cavaliers netted a stunning 32 points while limiting their host to just seven. Bryce added seven more on his way to a team high 17 but seven of his teammates added at least one field goal while the team averaged 4.0 points per minute.

“We still working hard every practice , and I don’t think we have peaked by no means,” added Barnes. “Until then it’s fun to watch and be apart of!”

Paul Marshall led the team in scoring in the second half with nine points after connecting from deep on three attempts. Brayden Smoot scored seven of his ten points after the break and Easter played his most complete game of the season on both ends, finishing with 12 points.

Next up for the 3-0 Cavaliers is a Saturday rematch with Pulaski County up in Dublin. CCHS handled the Cougars earlier on the Hill, 66-48. In that contest the Cavaliers led 56-25 after three quarters but Assistant Coach Kris Richardson warns that nobody should expect a similar one sided affair in the rematch.

” Pulaski County is playing at a much higher level than when we saw them last,” noted Richardson. “They have beaten a couple of good teams in the past few games.”

PCHS defeated Floyd County by 3 points and Abingdon by 2 points and will enter Saturday with a 2-1 record.

Now we have a gamer and if it gets picked up by others it will have an official boxscore.

In the meantime here’s my highly unofficial score sheet

Next up – a Night 🌙 at the Fort through the eyes 👀 and camera 📷 of Mr. Greg Talley!

We hear 👂 there’s a chance that Mrs. Smoot could be sending along some of her pics going forward!

Safely back in Laurel Fork now so let’s get right to it – starting with the JV Boys 👦 gamer and then more photos 📷 and Varsity gamer.

Fort Chiswell – When playing basketball at the Junior Varsity level a team is prone to have nights 🌙 where the opponent is further along then they are and other nights were the match-up is in your favor. Carroll County traveled up US-52 and ran into a buzz saw in the Fort Chiswell Pioneers. FCHS moved to a perfect 4-0 on the season and have yet to be challenged by anyone to date.

Trailing 11-0 after one quarter and 25-6 at the break, Head Coach Jason Stockner took his squad into the lockeroom and focused on coming out strong in the second half.

Trailing by 19 points on the road to start the third quarter a team can easily give up on the game as a lost cause or they can play to win the second half. Carroll County continued to run their offense and tightened up their defense against a quicker opponent and their hard work paid off immediately. The Cavaliers started out the third quarter with a 10-6 spurt to trim the lead to 15 and eventually played their host to a 20-20 draw over the second half of the contest.

Playing on the road against an undefeated team minus one of your starters (Hayden Jackson recovering from injury) you look for games within the games to build for the future. Trace Reavis led the scoring for the Cavaliers with eight points and Dane Leonard chipped in seven as the team tried to dig out of an early 18-1 deficit.

Colton Gravely added 5 points while Blake Reed, Landon Kinder and Jayden Jones each finished with 2 points to round out the scoring for Carroll County.

The team will get one night off before traveling to Pulaski County for the back half of the home 🏡 and home 🏡 with the Cougars. The two teams played on the Hill earlier this season with the Cougars winning 46-25.

The fact that the younger Cavaliers played with their heads up after none of their early shots would fall is a very promising sign for the growth of the team!

A tip of the cap to the two fine men leading our youth !

Live in the Gym @ The Fort ! Running 🏃‍♂️ scores, gamers later.

Opening tip at 6pm sharp !

Assistant Coach Ryan Largen and Head Coach Jason Stockner ahead of the contest.

The internet inside the Gymnasium is hit and miss right now so the bulk of the photos 📷 might have to wait until later in the night 🌙.

Early on the Cavs are getting some good looks but the ball is refusing to drop. End of the first 6:00 has the Pioneers leading 11-0. The Pioneers are 3-0 on the season and play well as a unit.

We have reached the break with the score in favor of the home team, 25-6.

Our Cavaliers continue to put forth the effort on both ends of the floor but they’re facing a relentless defensive effort. We have two more 6 minute quarters to try and get closer.

6:37 – Second Half underway

Cavs score the first four points to cut the lead to 15. Make it the first 6 and Fort calls a TO at 4:29 (3).

Cavs leading the quarter 10-6 with 1:30 remaining

End of 3rd – 38/17 Fort

Fort pulls their starters at 4:00 mark and Coach Stockner continues to rotate his full roster.

3:19 – CCHS TO, 43-21

7:04 – Final Score, 45 -26….

Stay tuned for the Varsity !

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Cavaliers jump out to a 15-4 lead in the first four minutes! Right after this young Lady 👩 crushed our National Anthem

Cavs defense turns into instant offense for the first 8:00. CCHS leads 24-8

44-11 2:15 TO (2)

We have reached the Half, 56-15. We played nine in the first half and nine have scored!

64-18 TO @ 5:47, 8-3 start for Cavs

We are now playing with a running clock ⏰, score after third quarter is 70-30.

All 12 Cavaliers have seen the floor and 10 have scored….

Your Final score at 8:32pm is 81-40. The teams played the second half 25-25 with the clock ⏰ running 🏃‍♂️ non-stop.

Time to head home 🏡, stories later.