Dec. 19, 2012 — Last Thursday night in Olive Hill, it was a battle of youth against experience at West Carter as senior guard Kyle Brown and Morgan County freshman guard Jordan Perry lit up the scoreboards.
Thirty points from Brown should have been more than enough to claim victory, but Morgan had four others make double figures, enabling a 71-60 win for the visitors on the scoreboard.
Throughout the game, the Cougars threatened to pull away from the Comets on several occasions, but West Carter kept battling to keep the game close.
West Carter Head Coach Jeremy Webb says this is something he is proud of.
“We showed a little toughness here tonight,” Webb said. “At one point we were down 11, and we could have gave up, but we didn’t. We grew up a lot here tonight.”
Perry and Brown duked it out in the first period, as Brown hit two straight threes to cut Morgan’s lead to 6-5 before Perry knocked down two baskets to end the period, including a buzzer beater to put his team up 13-10.
Following a basket by Aleksandar Malinic, Perry hit another three before Brown responded once more.
Sophomore forward Tristen Mitchell did a good job in the second period trying to bottle up the 6’ 6” Malinic, while also dropping in six points in the period to lead West.
A big jumper by Mitchell just before the end of the half kept his team within striking distance, with West Carter trailing Morgan County, 31-26.
Junior Comet guard Jacob Layne cut Morgan’s lead to three following a jumper to start the third.
Morgan County’s largest advantage of the game came late in the period, as Malinic converted once more inside. Having not scored in the quarter, Brown was able to keep the Cougars' lead under 10 headed into the final period, when Dustin Black hooked up with Brown on a fast-break layup just before the first 32 minutes was up.
A big-time three by Black midway through the final period gave the Comets hope of picking up a victory.
Black’s three cut the lead to 56-55, but this would be as close as West Carter would come, as the Cougars hit 12 of its 13 free throws down the stretch.
Despite a 15-point fourth quarter for Brown, the Comets came up short.
Brown led all scorers with 30 points, while Black was next in line with 11 and Mitchell had eight for West Carter.
Perry had 24 points for the Cougars, while foreign exchange players Malinic and Samuel Aguirre made their presence felt with 16 and 12, respectively.
Brown is averaging a double double with a stat line of 25 points and 11 boards per game.
“Kyle has been playing great and we’re starting to see our other guys come around,” Webb said. “You can see it every game that we play. We’re getting more and more confidence, and getting more comfortable.”
West Carter won its first game Monday night, defeating Menifee County 68-50 in Frenchburg, before heading to Cannonsburg last night after press time for a matchup with the much-improved Boyd County Lions.
We will have more Comet basketball in next week’s edition of sports.
Grant Stevens can be reached at gstevens@journal-times.com or by telephone at 1-800-247-6142.
