Feb. 6, 2013 — The East Carter Raiders Boys Basketball team dropped its fourth straight contest Monday night, losing 66-44 on the road to Fleming County.
East Carter Coach Brandon Baker said his team stood toe-to-toe with one of the best teams in the region early on.
“We battled,” Baker said. “We were right there and we just had trouble scoring in the second half.”
“Our guys knew who they were playing and they wanted to play well against Fleming,” Baker said. “They have a very talented team and they are very tough to defend and get stops on.”
East Carter shot 15-45 from the field, including 10-19 in the first half to trail the Panthers by just 31-26 at the break.
“When our execution is there, we were able to get a good shot,” Baker said. “When we got a little loose with it, that’s when we had trouble finding the basket. We’ve just got to keep playing.”
A big third quarter by Fleming extended the lead to 15 and East could not climb out of the hole.
“We didn’t shoot it well enough to give us a chance,” Baker said. “But I like the fight in us and we’re going to keep playing.”
The Raiders were led in scoring by Trenton Welsh’s 17 points. Cole Brammer and Connor Greene had seven points. Quinn Huddle scored six points. Wyatt Tackett had three points and Kendall Lewis scored two to round out the scoring for East.
The Raiders lost Kyle Stewart to an ankle injury in the first two minutes of the contest. He did not return.
“He sprained it pretty badly,” Baker said. “We don’t know how badly at this point.”
Baker said the injury bug has hit his team at the wrong time of the year. The Raiders are already without Jordan Burchett because of an injury as well as some minor injuries to a few players.
“That’s part of the game,” Baker said. “We can’t feel sorry for ourselves. We’ve got to figure it out and guys have to step up and we have to get comfortable with who is on the floor and that’s what we’re going to work on the next few weeks.”
East Carter falls to 9-14 on the season. The Raiders were back at home against Raceland on Tuesday and will be back at home Thursday night against Boyd County.
MacKenzie Bates can be reached at mbates@journal-times.com or by telephone at 1-800-247-6142.
