Miranda H. Lewis
Carter County Times
East Carter proved to be too much for Elliott County in a 74-45 home win on Friday night.
The Lions hung with the Raiders early, but East Carter reeled them in and cruised the rest of the way in their district opener.
Following a quiet start, the court heated up for the Raiders in the final minute of the first frame with the one-two punch of Evan Goodman and Blake Hall.
A teardrop runner by Goodman followed by Hall’s grab-and-go ignited an offensive spark to close out the first stanza.
Leading by only six points, Goodman turned it up another notch in the second quarter, starting the period on a personal 4-0 run.
Taking matters into his own hands, sharpshooter Gavin Sexton picked up his dribble at the top of the arc to drain his first of three treys for the contest to give the Raiders an eleven point advantage at the 3:54 mark.
On the ensuing possession, the senior got a steal and ran to the hoop for two, drawing the foul and completing the three-point play from the charity stripe, capping a 5-0 run to elevate East Carter’s lead to 33-20.
Hall deflated any of the Lions’ hopes to offer some type of counterpunch by ushering the teams into intermission with an explosive 8-0 run, giving the Raiders a 43-21 advantage at the half.
Riding the momentum of a strong second quarter, East Carter jumped right out of the gate in the third, producing a 6-0 run to widen the gap to 49-21.
“It was good to see,” said Coach Cole Brammer alluding to the offensive balance displayed by a well-seasoned Raider team.
“When you play that hard and you play in that kind of rhythm you can get out in transition and do some things. I thought when we got in transition our offense started hitting its stride,” he continued.
The Raiders opened the final stanza with a hefty 65-35 lead.
With the game in hand, Brammer looked to his bench and found production.
Brammer was able to get creative with his player combinations and foster some depth for the remainder of the game.
William Burton scored a deuce in the lane, Gavin Menix finished strong in transition, and Colton McGuire went coast to coast to contribute to the Raiders 39 point victory.
“It was good to get our guys minutes, they’ve been working really hard,” said Brammer. “It was also good to rest a few legs to stay as fresh as possible to get on the bus tomorrow morning.”
Brammer was pleased with his squad’s defensive performance.
The change in East Carter’s defensive intensity late in the first frame created pressure on the Lion guards and forced twenty-one turnovers, of which the home team capitalized.
The Raiders (4-4) featured four double-figure scorers as Hall paced the team with sixteen points while Sexton added fourteen, Goodman recorded thirteen and Tate Scott tallied ten-points for the night.
Three days removed from a three-point loss to 16th Region rival Lewis County, it was evident that East Carter was looking to get back into the win column.
“We just had to get back to being more familiar with being East Carter and how we play the game,” noted Brammer. “That was my message tonight.”
The Raiders return to the hardwood on Thursday as they travel to Prestonsburg.
East Carter 18 25 22 9 – 74
Elliott Co. 12 9 14 10 – 45
