The Hill – Radford High School came out of the game in overdrive, sinking five 3-pointers in the opening minutes and did just enough to hold Carroll County at bay in their 66 – 56 victory Friday night.

Isaiah Easter (20 points ) scored the final basket of the first quarter to trim the deficit to 19 – 11 and give Carroll County hope that they had weathered the avalanche of shots from deep.  But a second run of 12 – 4 by the Bobcats pushed the hole 🕳 to 31 -15, leaving the Cavaliers with a serious uphill climb the rest of the night.

”  Tough battle with a very athletic group in Radford, ” said Head Coach Anthony Barnes. ” They are very deep and continually run different guys at you fresh.We switched lineup, played different defense all night definitely different than normal just gotta figure out our slow starts and rebound better, they had 13 offensive rebounds,(too our 17 total) hard to win high school games that way, your gonna give up some rebounds in zone but just too much.. Also bad decisions down the stretch, shot selection, unforced turnovers. I feel like a chemist trying to figure out a cure just haven’t yet. “

Carroll County was down by 16 but still showed plenty of fight left in them. Easter scored six of his points during an 8 – 1 run to close out the half. The half ended with Hayden Jackson ( 4 points ) getting a great look from deep that would have cut the lead down to six but it rimmed out.

Blake Reed scored the bulk of his 18 points in the second half and his 3-pointer and old school And One version  cut the deficit back to nine at 40 -31. Radford answered again with consecutive 3’s to push it back to 15. The quarter ended with an air ball attempt from half court that Radford gathered in stride for a lay-up to make it 53 -39 with 8:00 to play.

Carroll County put together as impressive run as they have had all season to open the fourth quarter. The team shined on both ends of the court during the 9-0 run that pulled them within 53 – 48, forcing Radford to call a timeout.

Reed started the stretch with his initial DUNK as a Cavalier, then dove to the floor to force a jump ball that led to an Easter And zone. Kyle Bunn gathered a pass from Easter to score and Reed finished up the run by hitting a floater to force the break.

Unfortunately. Radford came out of the timeout with their tenth and final 3-pointer to create separation once again. Radford finished up by making eight of twelve free throws to finish the game.

Both Trace Reavis ( 8 points) and Easter connected from deep to keep the Cavaliers within sight of the Bobcats down the stretch but it just wasn’t quite enough to complete the comeback..

” Easter earned all 20 pts he got tonight as he was pushed on and banged, still got 5 rebounds 2 assits ” added Barnes. ” Blake ended with 18 pts, 7 rebounds. Trace came off the bench tonight, chipped in 8 , 2 steals. They are working hard in practice, my Coaches are pushing them hard, we making strides just not quite got right recipe just yet.Gotta dig in and gets some wins and I know we can.”

Radford opened the night with a 51 – 27 victory over the Carroll County JV team. The Bobcats led 14 – 4 after one quarter and never looked back in cruising to the victory.

Both Cavalier teams are slated to play Martinsville on Tuesday, Galax on Thursday and at James River on Friday.

Carroll County … 11. 12  16  17 – 56

Radford High ….. 19  13  21  13 – 66

Cavaliers (56) – Easter 20, Reed 18, Reavis 8, Motley 4, Jackson 4, Bunn 2, Lark,Gravley.

Carroll County made the trek up Highway 100 with yet another Lady Cavalier on the sidelines due to an injury as Laynie-Jo Leonard is in a walking boot 👢 for the next week. Yet, the remaining players looked to challenge the homestanding Bobcats and did so in an impressive manor for the opening 16:00 minutes.

Carroll County took a 31 -27 lead into the break and hope filled the air inside the Bobcats Den.

” We played a good first half, and we shared the ball well,” said Head Coach Howard Mayo. “In the second half we struggled with the press. We played very hard and are taking steps in the right directions hopefully we will get over the hump again in the next couple of weeks..”

The 24 – 4 third quarter sealed the fate for Carroll County but one would have not known the outcome was out of reach with the way the Lady Cavaliers finished up across the final quarter.

There’s no bonus points for winning any given quarter  but its worth noting that Carroll County won three of the four frames.

Callie Harris scored seven points in the opening 2:03 of the fourth quarter to pull Carroll County to within 54 – 42. Radford answered back with a 5-0 run and held CCHS at arms length the rest of the way.

Bree Campbell – Zendejas scored seven of her points in the final four minutes as the Lady Cavaliers finished up strong 💪.

Madison Coleman and Raylee Goins each added two points during the 18 point outburst in the fourth quarter.  The team finished north of 50 points scored for the first time since dropping 67 against Patrick Henry last month.

Carroll County scored 23 points in the second quarter in the Patrick Henry game, leaving the 18 fourth quarter points in second place for the season.

The offense is starting to look more comfortable and the healthy Lady Cavaliers are getting tougher by the minute.

Kenzie McMillian and Faith Clontz are out for the season with injuries but there is still hope for Leonard once the Boot comes off.

**** It’s my hope to mix in some more stats to this one before it is a done deal.

Here’s the breakdown of the First Half

16:00 Solid Minutes with Howard Mayo and our Lady Cavaliers ! 1st quarter at Radford ends with a 15 – 14 lead…Half at 31 -27… Looking back at last night 🌙

6:40 remained in the fourth quarter….

Proud moment for Shane & Samantha Reed, maybe even for Grant ????

Carroll County … 6. 4. 9.   7  –  26

Radford High   –  14 3  9  18 –  44

Unofficial scoring for Carroll County (26)

Rylee Woodard 13, Milli Parker 7, Madison Adkins 2, Hayden Heflin 2, Maeli Parker 2.

Carroll County JV played their third game without having Kate Holderfield available as the teams leading scorer recovers from an ankle injury. The remaining Lady Cavaliers are continuing to grow in their expanded roles.

The team won the middle two quarters 13-12 and Woodard pulled the team to within 26 – 21 when she scored the opening basket 🧺 of the fourth quarter.

Radford iced the game with a two minute flurry that included a trio of 3-pointers during a 13 – 0 run 🏃‍♂️. Carroll County regrouped to close out the contest with a 7 – 5 answer but the damage had been done.

The Lady Cavaliers (7-3) return to action 🎬 next Tuesday night versus Martinsville, weather permitting…Two words nobody wants to hear…