When a sportswriter is watching a game there can be multiple times when the storyline changes dramatically and that was certainly the case Friday night 🌙 as Furman University refused to lose against their neighbors and rivals, Wofford.

Alyssa Ervin, our former Lady 👩 Cavalier, finished with a game high 21 points with the final bucket coming on a well designed inbounds play by Head Coach Pierre Curtis. After Wofford took a one point lead at 64-63 with a made free throw, Furman called a timeout with 0:01.9 seconds on the clock ⏰ and Chantelle Stuart lobbed a pass over a 6’4 defender that Ervin caught mid-air and shot before landing for the victory.

It might not have been Grant Hill to Christian Laettner back in 1991 but it will be running on Furman highlight reels for a hot minute. The victory moves the Paladins to 6-1 in the SoCon at the midway pole, alone in second place !

Ervin also scored the previous basket to tie the game at 63 – 63 with 0:26 remaining but Wofford secured an offensive rebound after a late miss, allowing the home team to seemingly claim a hard fought victory.

Clare Coyle finished up with an impressive double – double ( 17 points, 11 rebounds ) and the 6’1 forward simply carried the ‘ Dins in the fourth quarter by scoring 11 down the stretch. Coyle set the table for Ervin and her Grand Finale in the closing seconds.

Wofford led most of the game but everytime the lead reached seven or nine, Ervin found an answer. When it happened again in the fourth quarter it was Coyle who said, ” Not on my watch”.

Furman University will now hunker down ahead of the pending storm as they are off until February 5th when league leading UT – Chattanooga comes to town.

Five of the seven regular season games left on the calendar 📅 will be played at Home 🏡.

The video 📹 of the basket 🧺 is available on ESPN for subscribers…

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1KaJL3FyT5/

There were four more events  originally planned for today and we see that the Girls Wrestling 👧 has been rescheduled. I will look to add more information on the remaining three as it becomes available.

****** All Events have been postponed, per Mr DeHaven…

Tough week for everyone involved with The Hill but say and 🙏🙏🙏 for the sanity of our Athletic Director, Kevin DeHaven as he is tasked with trying hard to find new dates 📅 for everything that cannot happen due to the weather.

So excited about Kristy Jones having some of her efforts to support ” Her Trenton ” and all of the West Long led Wrestlers land in The Carroll News !!! Kristy has been an absolute pleasure to work with all season 🙌 and I know how much her Children mean to her !

Saved by the Bell 🔔: The Cavalier College Years gets a late add today as Katie Lam and Roanoke College bumps their game up one day in hopes of beating the weather.

Spartanburg, South Carolina is set to host a 6pm Eastern Tip for the two teams currently tied for second place behind UT – Chattanooga.. Alyssa Ervin and Furman University will make the Midway turn in no worse than third place but a win tonight would give them second place all to themselves !

Meanwhile, SWCC was scheduled to host Guilford Tech tonight but that has been removed in one spot so not quite sure. But we can tell you that Bryce Smoot picked up some court time recently and added a rebound to his total. Both of our Smoot Brothers are finishing up their first and only season in Cedar Bluff as the Community College has announced that they will be ending their Athletic program at the end of the school year.

1 Samuel 2:2 There is none holy as the Lord: for there is none beside thee: neither is there any rock like our God.

Yesterday was Day 60 of 90 out here in the Desert 🏜, leaving us at the 2/3 Poll in our quest for helping my Doctor smile. The next lab work is set for March 9th in Laurel Fork and a great deal of progress has been made !

The goals were 1,350,000 Steps 🚶‍♂️ across the 90 Days with a minimum of 10,000 per day.

The total cleared 1,000,000 yesterday and now sits at 1,006, 124 !!!

Travis just sent in his Bible Verse so folks are waking ⏰ up back on The Hill. Stay warm and stay safe and have yourself a Blessed Day 🙌

Will close it out with a few pictures 📷 from yesterday in Cedar City, Utah

Carroll County High School graduate 🎓 Alyssa Ervin is having fun on the basketball court again with the latest proof being Furman University defeating homestanding Samford 70 – 62 on Saturday afternoon.

Most SoCon experts believed that the chase for the Women’s championship would be a three team race 🏁 and as the teams near the halfway point ( one game away), it would appear that is the case.

.They just missed out on the part where Furman University would be one of the three teams !

This weeks game with Wofford will decide second place and should be must see TV 📺.

We are going to borrow from David Letterman by describing why yesterday was a fun watch with a Top Ten List…

Reason #10 – The sheer size of the Bulldogs logo in the middle of the court. Easy on the eyes 👀 and a constant reminder that the Paladins were on the road once again. Winning a league game is always nice but when they happen away from home they are sweeter!

Reason #9 – The duo calling the game added something to the telecast, start to finish. One never knows what to expect from the folks calling the ESPN+ games and this pair had game.

Reason #8 – Our Lady Cavalier had to sit down for all but two minutes of the second quarter after picking up her second personal foul. The four point lead quickly became an eight point deficit at Halftime. Ervin understands that you cannot make a difference in the game if you are not in the game. Total fouls at the end of the game for Christy’s Girl? That would be 2.

Reason #7 – Pierre Curtis showed everyone watching the absolute best use of a Technical foul. Feeling that Samford was regaining control from lack of offensive fouls being called, Curtis was whistled for a “T”. It fired up his team, got his point across and in the end it only cost him 1 point. In the final minutes, Samford lost two starters to personal fouls.

Reason #6 – The opening minutes of the second half. Furman went on a 7-0 run 🏃‍♂️ in the first two minutes and Ervin scored five of the points after having only 3 at the break. Hitting the Floor running…

Reason #5 – The answer here is also FIVE as each of the ‘Dins starters finished up in double figures.

Reason # 4 – Basketball 🏀 IQ – Late in the game, Alyssa brought the ball down the floor and could have easily fired up a shot. Instead, she pulled the ball back out to dribble off more clock ⏰ and then took the same shot to make it 64-60

Reason # 3 – In the next possession, Kiddo found Coyle open under the basket 🧺 for the game clinching score! One of four assists on the game.

Reason #2 – The latest victory (5th straight overall ) allows the team to go into the game with Wofford on a high note 📝. Playing a long way from home, this Senior less team has found a bit of a Grove and this keeps its moving.

Reason # 1 – I see a great deal of myself in this impressive young Lady. DRIVEN is the word and if you look it up in the dictionary you might see a 📷 of her.