It would be safe to say the basketball nets in the Cave Spring gym came away no worse from wear after Tuesday night’s matchup between the Knights and visiting Pulaski County Cougars.
Missed shots, turnovers galore and few trips to the charity stripe had the twine hanging like a flag on a breezeless summer afternoon.
In the end, Cave Spring got just enough push from a trio of first half 3-pointers from junior guard Jared Steele, a trio of fourth quarter dishes from sophomore Devin Beckner that led to scores and a game-high 13 points from senior Brody Hicks to outlast Pulaski County 42-30.
“We played uninspired basketball tonight,” Cave Spring head coach Jacob Gruse noted in the Knights’ locker room afterward. “Fortunately, we had some guys off the bench step up. Our depth gives us an advantage over a lot of teams.”
Cave Spring found itself in an early hole when Pulaski jumped out to an 8-4 lead in the first quarter as the Knights were plagued by some nasty turnovers.
The Cougars led 12-10 after the opening frame, but missed shots and misfired passes sidetracked Pulaski in the second quarter as Cave Spring outscored the visitors 15-5 to go to the halftime break up 25-17. Key for the Knights was the three hits from behind-the-arc by Steele that accounted for 9 of Cave Spring’s first half points.
Both teams struggled to start the second half. 5 1/2 minutes in, each squad had only managed to score four points, and when Pulaski closed with a 3-0 run, the Cougars were within five, 29-24, heading to the final 8 minutes.
Beckner fired up the Knights with his slashing drives and dishes in the final quarter, with scores by 6-ft-7 Cave Spring junior center Baker Haviland pushing the Knight lead to 33-24, as Pulaski County helped the Cave Spring cause by not scoring their first points of the fourth quarter until the 4:00 mark.
The Cougars still trailed 35-28 late in the fourth, and with just over two minutes left Pulaski County was forced to foul the Knights four times just to get Cave Spring into the one-an-one at the line. The Knights finished the deal with a 7-2 run down the stretch.
Despite the sketchy play, Pulaski County head coach Andrew Hart came away with a positive approach.
“We battled the entire game and we played good defense,” Hart said of his Cougars, who had come into the contest undefeated at 4-0. “Cave Spring had some length and depth that bothered us. On offense we had some good looks that just didn’t go. I think we got a little frustrated.”
“We could have scored a lot more points,” Gruse added. “We were getting great opportunities and just couldn’t finish around the rim. We missed a bunch of cheapies right around the rim. In the first half we had seven unforced turnovers, but those three 3s by Jared Steele were a huge spark for us.”
Senior Hesus Hickman and sophomore C.C. Grubb paced the Pulaski offense with 8 points each.
Bill Turner
