Jr. 'Toppers turn away T.A. Dugger
By Ivan Sanders
STAR CORRESPONDENT
isanders@starhq.com
The snowy weather is great for kids wanting to
sleigh ride and have snowball fights, but when a basketball
team cannot stay in a rhythm during the course of their season
it's almost like having to start from day one for their coaches.
In the eighth-grade game between T.A. Dugger
and Science Hill on Tuesday evening, the statement above could
have been easily proved as the Jr. Cyclones simply weren't
able to keep up with the speedy Jr. Toppers, who ran away
from the Jr. Cyclones on T.A. Dugger's home court by a score
of 58-42.
"We haven't been on the court since last week
and the tiredness showed," said Jr. Cyclone coach James Jacobs.
"I am really pleased though because the first game we trailed
21-5 at the half and tonight we were only down by six points."
Indeed, T.A. Dugger hung tough in the early going
as they only trailed 12-8 after the first six minutes. Austin
Taylor collected four points in the quarter while Brent Shaver
and Travis Bishop tallied a basket each. Daveon Rhyans led
Indian Trail with six in the first period of play.
The second quarter was an exciting six minutes
of basketball as both teams resembled lightweights going toe-to-toe
with Indian Trail sliding by in the period by outscoring the
Jr. Cyclones 14-12. Emanuel Reid kept the edge for Indian
Trail as he dumped in five in the quarter and nine in the
half. Micah Collie also added five for IT in the period.
Taylor once again paced the Cyclones with six
points to finish the half with 10 while Preston Smith drove
the paint effectively in totaling four points for TAD as well.
The second half of action was where the legs
started going for the Jr. Cyclones as Indian Trail applied
a full-court press that wore TAD down in just getting the
ball across midcourt. IT used the aggressive press to outscore
the home team by an 18-6 margin in the period that pretty
much salted away the victory.
Reid went on a scoring spree in the period in
burning the cotton for 8 points. Rhyans also aided the Jr.
Toppers cause by inking four more points in his column. Bo
Carter and Josh Pirtle with three points and two points respectively
lead TAD in the low-scoring stanza for the Jr. Cyclones.
Several fresh legs saw playing time in the final
quarter as the benches emptied and the Cyclones outscored
the Toppers 16-14 as a result. Smith led the scoring in the
quarter with four for TAD while Reid added four more to his
ledger.
Reid finished as the game's high-scorer with
21. Rhyans finished with 12 for Indian Trail as well.
Taylor led the Jr. Cyclones in scoring with 12
followed by Smith's 8 points. Carter contributed with five
while Pirtle finished with four points. All but two of the
Jr. Cyclones got in the scoring act.
Winning coach Rusty Barnett was pleased with
his team's output in staying unbeaten on the season.
"Early on, you could tell our absence from the
court came into play, but the second half was a much better
half as for as out intensity went," said Barnett. "I thought
Reid stepped up big as any big-time player should and I was
really pleased with Daveon Rhyans' defensive effort and overall
effort in general."
7th Grade
Indian Trail 49
T.A. Dugger 24
In seventh grade action, the Jr. Toppers used
an aggressive press to force the Jr. Cyclones into numerous
turnovers for easy baskets and take a big 25-point victory.
Diante Grey led all scorers with 17 points with
teammate Alex Jacobson chipping in with 12 points for the
victors. Jake Peters paced the Jr. Cyclones with 9 points
while Wendell Loving and Aaron Bradford each contributed with
six points each.
The difference of the game was the second half
where Indian Trail outscored the Cyclones to the tune of 32-15.
