Eagles find home sweet enough in narrow win

Local Sports

Discussion

February 2, 2010

By MARK MAYNARD — The Independent The Daily Independent Tue Feb 02, 2010, 10:47 PM EST

WESTWOOD — Raceland was the visiting team at Tuesday night’s boys’ basketball game at George Cooke Memorial gymnasium.

Fairview just seemed like the guest.

Playing only their second home game of the season, the Eagles held off Raceland 43-40 to win for the 16th time in 19 games.

Neither team seemed real comfortable with points being hard to come by.

Raceland shot only 30 percent but had a chance to tie the game on an open 3-point look in the last 30 seconds. Poor foul shooting — a yearlong bugaboo — also hurt the Rams again.

“Neither team was making shots,” said Raceland coach Scott Floyd. “We had a lot of open looks. Foul shots hurt us, too. That’s been our M.O. A couple of games, if we’d made our free throws, our record would be a lot better.”

Fairview did finish well at the free throw line, making eight of nine in the last 30 seconds, to secure the win in front of the home fans.

“I don’t think we were ever in synch,” said Fairview coach Derek Cooksey. “But if you’d told me we’d be 16-3, with only two home games, I wouldn’t have believed it.”

The Eagles struggled to put together any spurts and that allowed the Rams to hang around to the end.

Fairview took the lead for good at the start of the second quarter when Ceth Gunter scored off a nice pass from Chase Fannin. It would be the first of three consecutive buckets for Gunter, who started for Brent Jackson (bronchitis).

The Eagles’ largest lead came at 36-28 but the Rams answered with five consecutive points, including a three-point play from Cody Barker that made it 36-33. Fairview missed two free throws and Tyler Farley missed a 3-point attempt that could have tied it for the Rams.

The Eagles paraded to the free throw line the rest of the way.

“We never could get over the hump,” Cooksey said. “We let them hang around.”

Fairview sophomore Mike Terry finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds and Caleb Collins scored 10. Gunter added nine points and six rebounds.

Raceland trailed 27-20 in the third quarter and missed six consecutive free throws. The Rams had only 10 points in the second and third quarters combined.

“But we had the chance to tie it and got an open look (on the 3-pointer),” Floyd said. “The kids played extremely hard and competed.”

The pace was where Floyd wanted it.

“We have to keep it a low-scoring game,” he said. “We have a hard time scoring the basketball.”

A strong first quarter from Darius Jackson helped the Rams to a 12-11 lead. Jackson had six points and four rebounds by himself.

“We looked a step slow early,” Cooksey said. “They wanted it more.”

Cooksey said the Eagles’ rebounding concerned him.

“The last two games we haven’t rebounded very well,” he said. “We need to get back to work.”

Barker scored 10 of his 12 points in the fourth quarter for the Rams (6-12).

Fairview plays at home Thursday against Ashland in a makeup game.

MARK MAYNARD can be reached at mmaynard@

dailyindependent.com or

606) 326-2648.

Text Only

Local Sports

Full speed ahead for Fleming
Half-sacks are recognized as official statistics in football. How about a half-dunk in basketball?

February 11, 2012
Ashland rolls over Johnson Central
Ashland makes chaos look good — real good.

February 11, 2012
Vikings turn back inspired Lions
State runner-up Rowan County is getting everybody’s best shot around the 16th Region this season.

February 11, 2012
Fairview holds off East Carter, 55-48
For Fairview coach Derek Cooksey, the student finally defeated the teacher.

February 11, 2012
Pairings set for 62nd District
The girls and boys 62nd District Tournament pairings are set for the week of Feb. 20. All games are to be played at Elliott County High School.

February 11, 2012
Boyd tightens up, downs Lady Devils
Boyd County girls basketball coach Pete Fraley felt inclined to call for a maintenance check when Russell climbed to within six points of his Lady Lions in the third quarter.

February 11, 2012
Tomcat wrestlers head to regionals with momentum
When the high school wrestling season opened, Ashland coach Tony Love didn’t know what to expect.

February 10, 2012
Fourth-quarter getaway
Cody Stamper swiped the ball away, tipping it to a teammate who had a clear view of the landscape.

February 10, 2012
AARON SNYDER: ‘Untouchables’ can be touched
On Tuesday night, I was just another awestruck observer of the show, just another dumbstruck face in the crowd.

February 9, 2012
Ashland’s Whetsel signs to play at KCU
Turns out, Kentucky Christian University has what Ryan Whetsel wanted all along.
Namely, a football program not far away that provides an opportunity to earn playing time right away. And just as importantly, a nursing program to help him reach career goals.

February 9, 2012
More Local Sports Headlines

Local Sports

Search Results

Discussion

Eagles find home sweet enough in narrow win

Site Map

Contact Us