Cougars fall to Cavaliers
By Greg Hoffman Contributing sportswriter

Cougar ball Carroll Boys Varsity players #4 Jason Hazel and #22 Jacob Craig battle for a rebound as #22 Jason Stitz and #11 Brandon Crimmins of Tri County try for the ball. The Cavaliers defeated the Cougars 50-44. Phil Benson photo

Saturday night the Carroll Cougars finally got to play their first game after a month of practices. They opened at Tri County where the Class A, 4th ranked Cavaliers beat the Cougars 50-44.

Tri County gave Carroll all kinds of chances to come back and win the game, but the bigger Cougars were sluggish on both ends of the court for most of the game.

Tri County runs a deliberate offense and the Cougars were always a step behind. The hosts worked the ball for the open shot. The Cavaliers were 5 of 8, 63% from behind the arch and 15 of 24, 63% overall. Carroll, on the offensive end, could not get itself in a groove. They struggled getting the ball in the basket. They shot a poor 4 of 20, 20% from behind the arch and 15 of 46, 33% overall. They did not block out on the board as the smaller Cavaliers out rebounded the Cougars 22 to 16.

The Cougars started out with a trey by Carson Spesard. Four ties and four lead changes later, the Cougars held a 13-12 advantage after one. It was more of the same in the second period with 3 ties and 3 lead changes before Tri County opened up a 27-24 edge at halftime.

Baskets by Adam Tussinger and Riley Eller after intermission gave the Cougars their final lead of the game at 28-27. That lead was short-lived as Tri County took the lead for good at 29-28 and extended it to 8 points at 38-30 and led 39-32 after three.

In the fourth quarter, Carroll fell behind by 11, but a 7-0 run pulled them to within 4 at 48- 44, but it was too late even though Tri County opened the door, turning the ball over and missing 8 free throws. The Cougars were 0 of 7 on treys and 3 of 15, 20% overall from the field.

Eller was the only Carroll player in double figures with 15 points. Kevin Ives had 7 points and Jacob Craig and C. Spesard had 5 points each. Spesard also handed out 4 assists and grabbed 4 rebounds.

Next up for Carroll is a pair of home games - Friday vs. Caston and Saturday vs. Lewis Cass. Carroll leads the Caston series 21-16 and trails Cass 16- 33 in that series.

JV

Carroll Junior varsity defeated Tri County 34-23. The Cougars never trailed. They jumped out to an 8-0 advantage and held off the Cavaliers the rest of the way. Quarter scores showed 10-7 after one, 16-13 at half-time, and 26-15 at the end of three.

Kyle Geheb led all scorers with 11 points. Jordan Brumbaugh had 8 points, Dallas Butcher 6, and Primmer Zook added 5 for Carroll.