One well established way to win in high school basketball is to get to the free throw line.
Friday night in the Cave Spring gym, Carroll County not only had the path well trodden, but also converted with the opportunity.
Hitting 17-of-20 from the charity stripe, the Cavaliers prevailed 57-51 in the River Ridge District win over Cave Spring. The Knights only made their way to the line 7 times, connecting on 3.
“That’s a telling statistic right there,” Cave Spring head coach Billy Hicks noted afterward of the free throw disparity. “Carroll County is a very experienced team. They are used to winning. We battled hard, but we’re a young team that’s still learning.”
The Knights kept things close for most of the first half. They went inside for their first six points before junior Alex Emery hit a pair of 3-pointers that left Cave Spring down 15-12 after the opening frame.
Senior Zac Foutz gave Cave Spring its first lead since 2-0 when his free throw midway through the second quarter put the Knights up 18-17.Cave Spring eventually led 22-19 before Carroll County closed the half with a 9-0 run, going to the break with the 28-22 advantage.
Carroll County drove to the paint to start the third quarter, drawing fouls and scoring their first six points from the free throw line. Blake Dalton completed the Cavs third quarter scoring on a pair of free throws with under 10 seconds left that sent Carroll County to the final 8 minutes with a 42-32 lead.
“We wanted to keep them out of the paint,” Hicks said. “We knew if they had the lead late in the game they would spread the floor.”
Carroll County was in the bonus in the fourth quarter and they used their free throws to keep the Knights at bay. Emery’s 3-pointer got Cave Spring to within 51-44 with three minutes left, but the Cavaliers went on a 6-2 over the next two minutes to put the game away. Cave Spring scored the final five points on a Brody Hicks old-fashioned 3-point play and Adam Sledd basket to reduce the final margin.
“In the second half we started making free throws,” Carroll County (16-4) head coach Brad Hawks pointed out. “We like to stress crashing the boards. It got us a lot of second and third shots and drew some fouls. Cave Spring is a well-coached team, so we’re fortunate to get a win. Our move to the River Ridge has made us a stronger team. The competition is so much better.”
Gunnar Beamer led the Carroll County scoring with a game-high 16 points, while Cody Keith added 14 and Connor Lundy 13 points for the Cavs.
Foutz paced Cave Spring with 13 points and 11 rebounds, his third double-double in as many games. Sledd added 12 points for the Knights.
– Bill Turner