Having led the entire 32 minutes of regulation, it would have been easy for Carroll County to close up shop Wednesday after Alleghany sent the game into overtime on three free throws with no time on the clock.
But after the Mountaineers scored the first bucket of overtime, Carroll County (3-15, 2-7 Three Rivers District) finished the extra period on a 10-2 run to earn a much-needed 51-45 Three Rivers District victory over Alleghany (3-16, 1-9 Three Rivers District) in Low Moor. The win snapped a seven-game losing streak for the Cavaliers. The Mountaineers sent it into overtime when leading-scorer Shawn Spinner was fouled by Adam Horton on a 3-point attempt with triple zeroes showing on the clock.
“He was trying to make a play and you can’t fault him for that. Unfortunately, he just got a little too close to the kid with no time left on the clock. He made the first one, we tried to call the timeout to ice him, and he knocked down the next two,” Carroll County head coach Tee Jackson said. “It is a hard thing when the momentum swings like that at the end of the game against you to fight through it in the overtime. I was really proud of the fight we showed in overtime.”
The Cavaliers limited Alleghany to just four points in the first quarter and held a 17-13 halftime lead in a low-scoring affair. Carroll then scored the first five points of the third quarter to build its biggest lead of nine points.
Led by Weston Burcham’s team-high 17 points, Carroll outscored Alleghany 10-4 in overtime to earn the victory. With leading-scorer Adam Horton battling the flu, Jackson said Burcham has continued to step his game up.
“Weston played really well. He was 7-of 8-from the floor. He was driving to the rim and shooting his little floater that he is so good at. He had it going last night,” Jackson said. “He had six rebounds and a really key basket for us in the fourth quarter on a press break. He is a kid that has so much potential. He reminds me a whole lot of Adam when Adam was a sophomore with the potential that he has. I think the sky is the limit for him. He has had some huge games for us this season. He had a double-double against Radford the same week he scored 19 against Glenvar.”
Adam Horton added nine points for the Cavaliers, while Ian Herman and Luke Johnson both scored seven. Spinner led all scorers with 22 points in the loss, while teammate Chris Tingler chipped in 11 for the Mountaineers. Jackson said Horton fouled out midway through overtime in the win and the Cavaliers played with four sophomores and a freshman the remainder of the game.
“Adam has been battling the flu and teams are really loading up to try to stop him and I was really proud of the kids. It was a total team effort last night. We had a lot of guys chip in and give us some positive minutes, just a team effort all the way around,” Jackson said. “Adam fouled out about halfway through overtime and we finished the game with four sophomores and a freshman on the floor. I was proud of them. These kids are a resilient group. I couldn’t ask for a better group of kids. Our practice on Tuesday, we had the same enthusiasm as the first week of practice, which really says something about the character of the kids to fight through all these losses and keep trying to do things the right way. I am definitely thankful for that.”
Carroll Co. 11 6 9 15 10 — 51
Alleghany 4 9 9 19 4 — 45
Carroll County – Burcham 17, Horton 9, Herman 7, Johnson 7, Motley 4, Hull 4, Garland 2, Phillips 1. 3-pointers – Herman 1, Hull 1.
Alleghany – Spinner 22, Tingler 11, Gibson 6, Worley 3, Wright 2, Lane 1. 3-pointers – Spinner 2, Worley 1, Gibson 1.
Giles 71, Carroll Co. 57
Cole Meadows scored a game-high 32 points Jan. 29 to help Giles defeat Carroll County 71-57 and avenge an early-season Three Rivers District loss to the Cavaliers.
Giles (11-9, 6-4 Three Rivers District) limited Carroll County to eight points in the first quarter en route to a 39-23 halftime lead. Adam Horton scored 24 points to lead the Cavaliers. Weston Burcham and Ian Herman also cracked double digits for Carroll with 11 and 10 points, respectively.
Giles 17 22 14 18 – 71
Carroll 8 15 19 15 – 57
Giles – Meadows 32, Weddle 9, Lang 7, Beidleman 6, Wilson 6, Shelor 5, Stubbs 4, Mann 2. 3-pointers – Meadows 2, Lang 2, Weddle 1, Shelor 1.
Carroll County – Horton 24, Burcham 11, Herman 10, Johnson 5, Phillips 4, Marshall 2, Motley 1. 3-pointers – Herman 2, Johnson 1.
Allen Worrell can be reached at (276) 779-4062 or on Twitter@AWorrellTCN
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