Miranda H. Lewis
Carter County Times
The Raceland Rams (11-9) snapped a four-game losing streak with a 62-58 victory over the West Carter Comets on Tuesday at “The Palace”.
The teams were evenly matched across the board coming into the 16th region match-up, with Raceland having a slim advantage shooting beyond the arc and at the free-throw line and West Carter holding a rebounding edge.
The game displayed an impressive offensive showing that involved masterful shot-making on both sides.
The Rams torched the nets early in the first frame with back-to-back triples from Landyn Newman and Jonah Arnett, taking things to 6-1 at 6:34.
The Comets wasted no time responding as they embarked on a 6-0 run of their own.
Jacob Waddell’s ten-footer at 5:22 cut the Rams lead to three, followed by a nice give an go from Brent Dailey to Jordan Fuston making it a one-point ball game at 4:30.
Kaleb Rayburn capitalized on an opportunity to give West Carter its first lead at 4:20 with a bank shot in transition.
That would not last long though as Thacker converted a three-point play on the ensuing possession, taking back the lead and making it a 9-7 game.
Dailey countered with a shot at the elbow to knot the game 9-9 at the 2:35 mark.
Raceland held a 13-11 advantage at the end of the first.
Dailey connected on a triple to put the Comets back up by one to open the second frame.
Freshman, Parker Ison, canned his first three to push the Rams to a 16-14 lead.
Nick Parker responded with a bucket to knot the game at 6:49, 16-all.
On the ensuing possession, Ison’s second trey of the night put the Rams back up, 19-16.
The two teams traded baskets in the back-and-forth second quarter.
The teams went into intermission with Raceland leading 25-22.
A combined effort from Nathan Webb and Waddell knotted the game 27-all to start the third quarter.
Connor Thacker pushed the lead back to three in favor of the Rams, 30-27 at the 4:30 mark.
Fuston grabbed an offensive rebound and returned it strong for a bucket.
Dailey’s floater in the lane cut Raceland’s lead back to one at 3:17, 32-31.
Ison embarked on a personal 5-0 run to give the Rams their largest lead of the night 37-31 at the 2:46 mark in the third frame.
West Carter’s Waddell clapped back at the charity stripe, cutting Raceland’s lead back down to four points.
Following suit, Jordan Fuston, sank a pair of free throws with under two minutes to play in the third frame, taking the score to 37-35.
Ethan Bledsoe opened the final stanza with a bucket to cut Raceland’s lead to two, 39-37.
A triple by Newman pushed the Ram’s lead back to six.
A Dailey triple followed on the next possession, making it 44-40 at the 6:10 mark.
Senior, Jacob Gauze, extended Raceland’s lead with a tough finish off the backboard, making it 48-40.
Gauze continued his offensive pursuit, pushing the lead to 50-40, marking Raceland’s first double-digit advantage of the game.
Waddell’s third triple in the final stanza led to a resurgence for the Comets, trimming the game to 53-51 at the 2:50 mark.
Waddell’s offensive explosion came on the back of West Carter shooting 56% from beyond the arc in their upset bid.
Gauze made it a three-possession game with 13 seconds left in the final frame, 62-55.
Waddell continued his prolific shooting performance nailing a three with less than ten seconds remaining in the fourth, for a 62-58 final score.
Waddell had a game-high 18 points and Dailey tallied 15 for West Carter.
Raceland showed resilience in the final minutes of the second half, weathering the storm as West Carter came marching back and were able to count on their playmakers coming up clutch when the team needed it most.
Thacker led the Rams with 15 points. Ison, Newman, and Gauze had 11 points each.
West Carter’s Jeremy Webb credited his youthful team’s fight to the end.
“I’m really proud of how our guys fought and played hard till the buzzer. It got to ten and they had the momentum, we were on their heels, and we were reeling a little bit. Jacob came down and made a shot and we get a turnover and another turnover,” said Webb.
“We had fight in us and for a young team to have the record that we have, as many losses that we have, to still have the fight at this point and time in the season, that’s encouraging,” he continued.
West Carter returned to the floor Friday for a 62nd District rivalry game against the Raiders at East Carter High School. (See story in this edition.)
Raceland 13 12 14 23- 62
West Carter 11 11 13 23 – 58
Raceland (62) – Thacker 15, Ison 11, Newman 11, Gauze 11, Arnett 7, Large 7. 2-Pt. FG: 47.8. FT: 62.5. 3-Pt. FG: 8-18 (Neman 2-3, Arnett 1-2, Thacker 1-5, Ison 3-5, Large 1-3). Fouls:16. Fouled out: None. Turnovers:12.
West Carter (58) – Waddell 18, Dailey 15, Fuston 8, Webb 8, Carter 3, Rayburn 2, Parker 2, Bledsoe 2. 2-Pt. FG: 40.4. FT: 68.8. 3-Pt. FG: 9-16 (Dailey 2-4, Waddell 4-4, Webb 2-4, Rayburn 0-2, Carter 1-2). Fouls: 18. Fouled out: Rayburn. Turnovers: 15.
Contact the writer at news@cartercountytimes.com
