McCracken County came away with the doubleheader sweep over Graves County at home Friday night, as the girls pulled away late for a 54-46 win, and the boys doing the same, winning 74-62.
LADY MUSTANGS 54,
LADY EAGLES 46
The girls’ squads were still shaking off the new year’s rust in the early going. Both teams were having a hard time finding the bottom of the net, but starting to ramp things up in the middle stages of the first quarter. Graves’ only basket through the first five minutes was a three by Ella Kemp, while Ava Hughes and Mason Clements knocked down threes for McCracken, who were out in front 12-10 at the end of the period.
“That was a grind it out type of game,” McCracken head coach Scott Sivills said following the win. “I thought we did a very good job in the first half of getting our defense set and also scoring. I thought the second half was the total opposite. Graves took the momentum from us, and it took us three or four minutes to adjust to that. Overall, we made some plays when we had to make them. To have four scorers in the double figures, that’s huge.”
The second frame was the highest scoring for McCracken. A sequence of a LeZharia Bolen three, Hughes and-one, and another Clements three had them up 25-12 halfway through the quarter. A free throw from each side maintained that 13-point lead at the half, but the Lady Eagles did anything but roll over.
Graves just kept chipping away at their deficit to open the half, and were very successful from the three point line. Kemp and Isla Manning each nailed a three, turning McCracken’s 10-point lead into four very quickly. Reagan Hill made a nice play to rebuttal with a block on one end and layup on the other, but a Kinsey Burgess three made it 36-34. Bolen went 2-2 from the free throw line in the late stages, so the Lady Mustangs held a 38-34 lead with just one quarter left.
“We could have folded very easily, but I really loved our kids toughness. They didn’t panic. We came out and made some adjustments defensively, and created some separation there. We made some big shots in the fourth quarter to go from two to 12.”
In the fourth, a 9-0 run to open the quarter practically sealed it for the home team. A Clements three and Bolen and Hill layups made it 47-34 with just five minutes left. from there Graves tried to get their offense moving, but could not mount a comeback, finalizing the score as 54-46.
Mason Clements led McCracken with 12 points, all of which coming from behind the arc. Three Lady Mustangs, Ava Hughes, LeZharia Bolen, and Reagan Hill, all netted ten. Carli Goatley led Graves with 21 as the only scorer with over ten.
Coach Sivills praised the true collectiveness of the win on Friday night, crediting the entire team for their timely plays throughout.
“That’s the key thing, timely plays. We had multiple kids make timely plays when it mattered, and that’s huge. We had buckets from everybody, so it was a great team effort,” Sivills said. “LeZharia Bolen has been big for us all year. She’s played some big games. Mason Clements has been big time for us, making some timely threes. Reagan Hill was also very, very solid.”
Now on a seven-game win streak, the 9-3 Lady Mustangs have a quick turnaround in their Saturday matchup against Murray High, with that game tipping off at McCracken at 1:30 PM. Then they will face St. Mary on Tuesday in their first district contest in just over a month.
Graves County, now 2-7 on the season, will look to snap their five-game skid on Tuesday, when they take on Fulton County in their first home game since December 9th. After that, they will go back on the road to face Mayfield on Friday night.
MUSTANGS 74, EAGLES 62
The first quarter looked to be the start of an intense, tight matchup. After a sluggish start, Graves settled in and was exceptional at finishing at the rim, four different players finding the bottom of the net in the period. Miles Woodfork took over for McCracken, burying two threes and scored 11 of the Mustangs’ 13 points in the first. The consistency of paint play by Graves had them up 14-10, when Woodfork converted an and-one with just 20 seconds left in the first. After a stray ball went out of bounds with 0.6 seconds on the clock, Ty Cavette caught a pass mid-air with one hand, and flicked it into the hoop as time expired, extending Graves’ lead to 16-13.
“Just come out and play Mustang basketball,” is what McCracken assistant coach Terry Shumpert told his team after getting down early. “I thought we gave up some easy ones. As a coaching staff, we thought we might come out a little lackadaisical after our walk through earlier, but we right the ship. The message is defense always, and our defense leads to our offense.”
Now halfway through the second and the game tight, Jackson Diaz went on a quick run with two consecutive baskets inside to give McCracken the lead. Woodfork did the same just a minute later, but a six-point quarter from Trevor Frick kept it close, as McCracken had the 30-26 lead at the midpoint.
McCracken started to pull away in the third. Once again Woodfork made a strong impact with eight in the frame, but collectively, six Mustangs found the bottom of the net, creating a total of 22 points to just 15 by Graves. The Eagles were fighting back and forth to keep it to within single digits, but junior Maxx Tanner hit a three at the buzzer to give McCracken a 52-41 lead.
Another 22-point quarter from McCracken kept the Eagles at bay the remaining time, Graves scored 21 points in the quarter, their highest of the game, but could not come up with stops on the other end to attempt a comeback. McCracken finished with game ahead by 12, the scoreboard displaying 74-62.
Miles Woodfork finished with a game-high 30 points, and continues to add to his scoring totals, now averaging over 24 PPG. His impact has been immediate and consistent as he continues to be a scoring leader on this Mustang squad.
“Miles has been great all season. He’s a scoring machine. He gets to his spots. He finishes well, different angles,” Coach Shumpert said. “He’s shown that whoever we’re playing, he’s able to score the basketball, and he did the same thing tonight. He’s been averaging about 24 or 25 this season, and had 30 tonight. He does what he does.”
Jackson Klope, who celebrated nabbing his 500th rebound, and Jay Martin both finished with 10 points, Aaron Adams, Jackson Diaz, and Maxx Tanner all adding six.
Graves’ scorers consisted of a big three, Ty Cavette leading the way with 19 points. Trevor Frick finished with 17, and Bodie VeuCasovic right behind him with 16.
Now sitting at a 10-2 record, McCracken has a tough challenge in Bowling Green on Saturday, as they will face a premier team in the state in Daviess County. That game has a tip-off scheduled for 5:45.
“We’ve figured out our roles. We know who our scorer is and everybody else plays their role. We’ve got big guys, we’ve got guards, we’ve just got guys that know how to play,” Shumpert said about the hot start. “We have a very big game tomorrow night. We play a top five team in the state in Daviess County. We have to come out and play a full 32 minutes, so hopefully we can do that.”
Graves County returns to home on Tuesday to face Fulton County. Following that they will go back on the road to compete against Mayfield in their first look at a district opponent