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| Clark pressure cooker tenderizes Tribe |
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1/20/2017
By Dan Manley
Advocate Sports Editor
The streak was bound to end.
Montgomery County had beaten Clark County 11 consecutive times in boys’ basketball and the rivalry is simply too good for that to last much longer.
So Friday night at the Letcher Norton Gym in Winchester the Cardinals turned up the defensive pressure in the second half and overcame a 22-19 halftime deficit to top the short-handed Indians, 56-44.
“They’ve got a really nice team and we didn’t handle their defense, that pretty much sums it up,” said Coach Matt Daniel.
The Indians, who finished with a jaw-dropping 26 turnovers, actually had more turnovers in the first half. But the Tribe was able to overcome that fact with some three-point shots, a rebounding advantage and some pretty good defense of its own.
In the second half the Cardinals turned turnovers into points and got 6-4 center Will Philpot involved in the offense after he not only failed to score but failed to get a shot in the first half.
Montgomery County junior guard Tucker Norris hit a pair of three’s in the opening period and the Indians’ defense was outstanding as the Tribe took an 11-8 lead after the opening eight minutes.
Clark sophomore guard Jordan Graham scored all eight Clark points in the opening period and that would turn out to be a sign of things to come as the talented 6-2 wing player finished with 25 points and simply dominated the MCHS defense.
In the second period Clark County managed to ease ahead 16-13 before the Indians battled back for a 22-19 lead.
The third quarter turned out to be a nightmare for the Indians.
Clark County raced right to the lead at 23-22 before Jerryd Jones hit a jumper to put the Tribe back in front for the final time at 24-23.
The Cardinals scored 10 unanswered points to take a 33-24 lead with 3:31 to play in that period.
Jones got open for a lay up to make it 33-26 and then the Cards finished with a 10-0 run that left the Indians too far behind at 43-26.
That third period saw the Indians make two of seven field goals and turn the ball over seven times while Clark County hit nine of 11 from the field and five of seven free throws as they out-scored Montgomery County 24-4.
To the Indians’ credit they battled back to get the game to within nine at 53-44 late in the game before the Cards scored the final three points.
“No, we didn’t quit,” said Daniel, “but we let their defensive pressure stop our offense and then our defense wasn’t nearly as good in the second half.
“We’ve just got to keep working to get better,” he said. “I see a lot of improvement in individual players but we’ve got to put those things together in the team concept. I know these kids will keep working and we’ll see where we go from here.”
The Indians did get some favorable news about standout sophomore Brennan Canada, their leading scorer, who has missed seven games with a broken bone in his leg.
Canada moved from a cast to a boot and it appears he’ll return well before the end of the season.
Norris led the Indians with 15 points against Clark County while Jones added 13 in his third game back from an ankle injury that forced him to miss the first 14 games of the season.
“Injuries are a part of the game and nobody’s going to feel sorry for us because we haven’t been at full strength,” Daniel noted. “I hope we get everyone back in the line-up with some time to get some team chemistry to make a strong finish.”
Clark County’s Will Philpot didn’t take a shot in the first half Friday night and then scored 15 points and grabbed six rebounds in the second half in support of Graham.
MCHS (44) — Tucker Norris 5-13 2-2 15, Myron Ralls 1-5 1-2 4, Hayden Chism 1-3 0-0 2, Jerryd Jones 5-8 3-5 13, Evan King 0-1 0-0 0, Landen Barber 0-0 0-0 0, Jon Kosier 1-1 0-0 3, Pharaoh Davis 3-5 1-1 7. Totals 16-36 7-10 44.
Clark County (56) — Ryan Cooper 2-7 0-0 5, Jordan Graham 10-12 5-6 25, J.J. Johnson 0-0 2-2 2, Will Philpot 6-8 3-4 15, Chase Taylor 0-7 2-6 2, P.J. Williams 1-6 0-0 3, Tydarius Clark 2-2 0-0 4, Jehdon Jenkins 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 21-43 12-18 56.
MCHS 11 11 4 18—44
Clark 8 11 24 13—56
Three-point field goals — MCHS 5-14 (Norris 3-7, Ralls 1-2); Clark County 2-11 (Cooper 1-3, Williams 1-5). Rebounds — MCHS 26 (Davis 6, Jones 5); Clark County 27 (Philpot 8). Turnovers — MCHS 26, Clark County 13. Total fouls — MCHS 15, Clark County 13. Fouled out — None. Technical fouls — None.
Region’s best?
The 10th Region is blessed with some outstanding young talent as evidenced by Jordan Graham’s performance last Friday night against MCHS.
Graham, along with fellow sophomores Dontai Allen of Pendleton County and Brennan Canada of Montgomery County, are three good places to start when looking ahead to the next couple of years.
One significant development in the region has come at Mason County where junior guard Isaiah Garrison has left the team. Garrison was the Royals’ second leading scorer, averaging just under 17 points per game.
Fans need to be reminded that the 40th District Tournament, boys and girls, will be played at Paris High School’s Earl Redwine Gym this season.
The girls will play both of their semifinal games on Monday night of district week and their finals on Thursday. The boys will play a semifinal game on Tuesday and Wednesday and the final Friday.
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