Roanoke College had all the Wright stuff Sunday afternoon in the RC Bast Center.
Maroon senior Carter Wright led a blistering Roanoke 13-for-23 performance from behind the arc, hitting 5-of-7 himself, as Roanoke captured the 2016 Morris Cregger New Year’s Classic with a 90-84 win over the McDaniel Green Terror.
There was no bigger moment for Wright’s shooting prowess than with just under seven minutes left in the second half.
Roanoke had rallied from a 72-64 deficit midway through the frame to close to within 72-70.
Wright was fouled and sank both ends of a one-and-one to forge a 72-72 tie with 6:56 left. Moments later, the former Hidden Valley player hit from long range to put Roanoke up 75-72, and the Maroons never trailed the rest of the way.
Wright, who was a member of a Hidden Valley team that reached the Group 3A VHSL final, gave credit to former Hidden Valley head coach Troy Wells, who was in attendance Sunday to watch his former player earn the tournament’s Most Valuable Player Award.
“Coach Wells has worked for us at practice,” Wright said inside the Maroon locker room as other teammates nodded in agreement. “I remember when I was a sophomore at Hidden Valley and Coach Wells would have me in the gym at 7am, three days a week, to practice those shots. It has definitely paid off.”
McDaniel was a pesky opponent Sunday.
Roanoke led 44-43 at the half before the Maroons fell behind on some hot shooting by the Green Terror.
After Wright’s bomb finally gave the Maroons the lead, senior Cameron Smith got hot from long range, hitting three 3-pointers, the last coming with 1:56 left that put the Maroons up 86-80.
Although McDaniel closed to 86-84 with 35.6 seconds left, Maroon sophomore Joey Miller sealed the deal with four straight free throws to secure Roanoke’s tenth straight win.
“McDaniel was as solid a team we have faced this year,” Wright added. “We had to just put our head down and go. We have some tough games in the ODAC coming up. It’s one game at a time.”
“We’ve got some shooters on this team and Carter rose to the occasion this weekend,” Roanoke head coach Page Moir said afterward. “We were good offensively and were swinging the ball around well, that’s how we got the 3s.”
“This game was tight when we started hitting those 3s,” Moir noted. “I love having players who are gutsy enough to make plays. It makes the coach look good when the ball is going in. When you shoot the ball well, you play better defensively.”
Wright’s game-high 23 points was followed by 13 points apiece by Smith and sophomore Dustin Hassell. Miller and freshman John Caldwell added 12 points each for the Maroons.
Next up for Roanoke is a road game at W&L on Wednesday night.
“They got us three times last year,” Moir said of the rival Generals. “I’ve put that out of my mind.”
Bill Turner
