By Leeann Tanner - Staff Writer
The Raiders took down West Carter Friday night, 58-48. The victory is the fourth straight for East over their cross-county rivals.
The Comets took a 12-9 lead in the first quarter and held on to lead by two at the half.
“We played well in the first half,” West Coach Jeremy Webb said. “We left too many easy baskets open and missed too many free throws. You can’t do that against good teams like East. You have to take advantage of every opportunity.”
The Raiders put up 21-points in the third, holding West to 10 and taking the lead. East never looked back, outscoring West 18-17 in the final round for the win.
“It’s really good to see how we did respond coming out of halftime,” East Carter coach Brandon Baker told the Ashland Independent. “If we play like that, we’re going to create some things for us from defense to offense.”
Turnovers dashed the Comets’ hopes. West suffered 20 in the match up while East had just 13. The Raiders grabbed 13 steals while the Comets had eight.
Although statistically West did better at the free throw line (62-percent) the Raiders went to the charity stripe more often, hitting 17-for-33. West nailed 39-percent from the field and East hit 42-percent. The Raiders’ went 5-for-12 from the perimeter, giving them the point advantage over West. The Comets’ solo three came from Harrison Bond.
Colt Barnhill led the Raiders in scoring with 20 points. Kyle Bair put up 14 and Koty Buck had 10.
Derrick Lawson led the Comets with a double-double 15 points and 10 rebounds. Bond sank 10 and Justin Jarrell had eight.
The loss puts West at 5-11 on the season. The Comets are struggling through without their top scorer Aaron Rayburn, who has been out with an injury.
“Keeping morale high after losing the last 10 of 11 games is difficult,” Webb said. “But our underclassmen have come a long way. They know that it will pay off for them in the post season.”
Rayburn is expected to return to the court next week. The Comets traveled to Bath Tuesday (after press time) and are slated to host Bourbon County on Saturday. Tip off is set for 7:30 p.m.
East stands at 13-4 on their season. The Raiders played host to Ashland Blazer Tuesday (after press time) and will host Boyd County Friday at 7:30 p.m.
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