Cave Spring opened defense of their Region IV Division 3 title Tuesday night with a 35-point blowout of Southwest District foe Marion at the Knight’s gym. And it could have been a lot worse.
The Red Hurricanes, which took Cave Spring deep into the fourth quarter in last year’s regional final before falling ,were reduced to a light breeze against an upstart Knight team that roared out of the gate and never looked back.
Using their speed and superior height advantage, Cave Spring led 24-10 at the end of the first quarter and increased the margin to 23 (44-21) by halftime. When the Knights weren’t racing the ball up court for easy baskets in the paint, the Cave Spring offensive ball rotation led to open looks from long range. Cave Spring hit 12 bombs from behind the arc.
At one point in the fourth quarter the lead had mushroomed to 80-38 and, if not for the liberal substitutions throughout the contest, the century-mark bulbs on the Knight scoreboard would have been easily dusted off.
Cave Spring was led in scoring by Clay Lacy’s 23 points. Josh Henderson added 22 and Adam Hager chipped in 12. Knight’s Head Coach Billy Hicks attributed the tough River Ridge District as a key factor in the win.”The teams in the River Ridge are battle tested,” he noted.”Our district is strong top to bottom. You have to be prepared every game.
“I was extremely pleased with our play tonight,” Hicks added.”We had great starts to both halves, and it helps to be able to go to our bench to give the starters a breather.”
Photo and Story by Bill Turner [email protected]
