Carroll homecoming royalty Carroll’s homecoming king and queen are pictured above – Brandi Flora and Michael Myer. Members of the court were Drew Yoder, Mitchell Cottrell, Travis Marvin, Zach Cline, Carly Yoder, Jill Griffin, Hannah Brewster, and Brittany Rund. Photo provided by Carroll yearbook staff Carroll (8-7) entertained Tipton (12-3) Thursday night. The Cougars stayed within striking distance of the Class 2A, 4th ranked Blue Devils in the first half despite poor shooting and nine turnovers, but Tipton put the Cougars away in the third period for an easy 72-56 win.

The Cougars never led in the game. They found themselves down 9 to 1 early in the contest. A three by Tim Ruby and a basket by Noah Allen helped Carroll close the gap to 3 points at 9-6. Seven unanswered points by the Blue Devils pushed their lead back out to 10 points (16-6). Tipton led at the first stop 16- 9.

Senior leadership Carroll senior No. 10 Abby Reinke makes a drive during a fast break in Monday night’s Sectional final. The Lady Cougars defeated Seeger 40-35 to win their third sectional championship in a row. Photo provided The Cougars played the Blue Devils even for most of the second quarter as Tipton outscored Carroll 17 to 15. A three-pointer by Kyle Geheb pulled the Cougars to within 5 points with 3 minutes left in the first half at 27-22. Tipton pushed its lead back out to 9 points by half-time, leading 33-24.

The roof fell in for Carroll in the third quarter. The Cougars missed their first 15 field goal attempts to start the second half. As a result, Tipton went on a 15 to 0 run to take a 48-24 lead. With a team of Tipton’s caliber, that meant the game was over for the Cougars, who shot 2 of 18, 11% from the field in the quarter.

“We could not get our inside game going tonight and in the third period I was disappointed in how our kids reacted when Tipton got things going. We got our daubers down and we should be beyond that this late in the season,” said Carroll Coach Jeff Hodson.

Ruby led Carroll in scoring with 12 points. Geheb added 11 ponts and Chad Griffin 8 points. Carroll also lost the rebound battle. The Johnson brothers, Seth and Riley, had 8 boards each. The Cougars had their worst night shooting wise, connecting on 15 of 51 attempts, 29%, while Tipton was 26 of 56, 46%.

Next up for the Cougars are three games in four days (that started last night, Feb. 16). First up was (13-3) Frontier. Wednesday is a make-up game at home against (7-7) Delphi. Friday Carroll travels to (11-6) Taylor. The Cougars also have a home make-up game against (4-12 Clinton Prairie next Tuesday.

JV falls to Tipton

Carroll’s Junior Varsity fell to 8-7 after losing to Tipton 47-32.

The young Cougars stayed with Tipton for most of the first half and led 8 to 7 with 3:07 left in the second quarter. With the score tied at 10, Tipton went on a 12 to 0 run and held a 22-13 lead at the end of the first half.

Carroll made a push for the lead in the third and closed to within 5 points at 29-24, but Tipton scored the next 11 points, putting the Cougars away.

Blake Cromer led Carroll with 10 points. Blake Seward added 7 points and Aaron Spesard and Jarrid Robertson had 6 points each.