Miranda H. Lewis
Carter County Times
There are some things you simply cannot replicate or produce in practice. Unfortunately, one of those things is experience.
East Carter returned a large portion of their roster this season and that gained experience paid dividends on Thursday night at John “Hop” Brown Court.
The Raiders opened with a 19-2 lead, connecting on eight of their first ten field goals. West Carter struggled to create scoring opportunities and convert them into points, they were one of nine from the floor at the start. The Raiders used their positive momentum to carry them to a 59-35 victory over the Comets.
The Comets lacked significant varsity experience entering the 2022-23 season, aside from Brett Dailey and Kaleb Rayburn said Coach Jeremy Webb. He acknowledged that his team is “very young and inexperienced.”
However, he noted, “the only way to gain experience is to go through the grind of a season.”
This game was the 44th East/West matchup of Webb’s coaching career.
“East vs. West is always exciting,” he said.
Coach Webb said he hoped for a large turnout in support of both teams. He noted that crowd sizes are down post-COVID as many spectators now prefer watching sports via streaming. He emphasized the importance of community support to local sports.
“There is nothing like experiencing a big rivalry game like this firsthand,” Webb said.
Prior to the game, East Carter Coach Cole Brammer, said his team was ready to compete. Noting his starters, Evan Goodman, Connor Skaggs, Blake Hall, and Tate and Ty Scott – four of which are juniors — are earning “valuable varsity minutes.”
This game marked Brammer’s third East/West game as head coach of the Raiders.
“East vs. West never gets old,” Brammer said.
Goodman led the Raiders with seventeen points, his efforts helped his team advance with a 7-6 record for the season. The raiders are now 1-0 in the 62nd District. Hall joined him as the second highest scorer of the night with ten points. Hall also helped the Raiders dominate the glass as East out-rebounded West, 30-19.
East Carter made 62.9% of its field goals (22 of 35), 71.4% of its foul shots (10 of 14) and 45.5% of its treys (5 of 11).
Dailey, Rayburn, and Jacob Waddell each scored seven points for West Carter. The Comets are now 2-9 for the season and 0-2 in the 62nd District.
West Carter made 30.2% of its field goals (13/43), 50.0% of its foul shots (5 of 10) and 10% of its treys (1 of 10).
The Raiders will host the Comets for a rematch on January 27.
E. Carter FG FT REB TP
Goodman 7-10 1-3 4 17
Hall 3-4 4-4 9 10
Sexton 3-4 0-0 1 8
Ty Scott 3-5 0-0 2 7
Ta. Scott 2-5 3-3 2 7
Messer 2-2 0-0 1 4
Skaggs 1-1 0-2 3 2
Yoak 1-1 0-0 2 2
Layne 0-0 2-2 0 2
Adams 0-0 0-0 2 0
Steele 0-1 0-0 0 0
Menix 0-1 0-0 0 0
Tussey 0-0 0-0 1 0
Johnson 0-0 0-0 1 0
Morgan 0-0 0-0 0 0
TOTAL 22-35 10-14 30 59
FG PCT:64.7 FT Pct.:71.4. 3-pointers:5-10 (Goodman 2-3, Sexton 2-3, Ty Scott 1-3, Menix 0-1) PF:17.Fouled out: None. Turnovers:15. Technical foul: Hall.
W. Carter FG FT REB TP
Dailey 3-10 1-3 0-7
Rayburn 3-7 0-0 0 7
Waddell 2-3 3-5 6 7
Webb 2-7 1-2 2 5
Fuston 1-5 2-2 1 4
Maddix 1-5 0-0 2 2
Parker 1 -4 0-2 1 2
Bledsoe 0-0 1-2 0 1
DeHart 0-0 0-0 1 0
Fields 0-0 0-0 0 0
TOTAL 13-43 8-16 19 35
FG Pct.:30.2%. FT Pct.:50.0%. 3-pointers:1-10 (Rayburn 1-3, Dailey 0-3, Webb 0-2, Maddix 0-1, Parker 0-1). PF:14. Fouled out: None. Turnovers:13.
E. CARTER 19 9 18 13 – 59
W. Carter 4 8 9 14 – 35
Officials: Michael Whisman, Charlie Graham, and Kenny Huddleston
Email the writer at news@cartercountytimes.com