COLONELS GAIN KEY DISTRICT AND NON-DISTRICT WINS

By Jim Greer

Sports Writer

COLONELS 64, Brookville 45

ALTAVISTA- It was the final game in this 3 game series that was split going into this game, but Tristin Tanks and Kenny Hunt took control of this game early and each added 21 and 20 points respectively as the Colonels coasted to a 64-45 victory over a good AA squad from Brookville in which a lot of Colonels saw significant playing time in. The victory put the Colonels at 8-2 on the campaign, 2-1 in the District.

“Having fresh legs made the difference late in the game,” said Head coach Mike Cartolaro after the game. “Having people come off the bench will make a difference down the road, it was a good effort with solid intensity,” Cartolaro added.

The Colonel defense was felt immediately as a Deshea Witcher steal would lead to a Tristin Tanks tip in for a 2-0 lead at the 7:23 mark of quarter one. Kenny Hunt would follow with a tip-in of his own to make the score 4-0 with 6:36 left in the first quarter. The Bees got on the board on a Josh Schrue basket that cut the lead to 4-2 before a pair of Tanks baskets, the second on a nice pass from Troy Harris that made it 8-2 at the 5:22 mark of quarter one. Harris would add a basket of his own and Tanks and Hunt follow each with baskets that made the score 14-2 and the rout was on. A pair of Josh Davis foul shots trimmed the lead to 14-4 before Ryne Cook added a basket to make it 16-4. Brian Viar would add a pair of foul shots and a basket to make it 16-8. Beau Frazier would close out AHS’ scoring in the first quarter on a pair of foul shots that came from excellent battling under the boards and a pair of Kory Lovitt foul shots closed out the quarter 18-10 AHS.

Witcher would start quarter two the same way he did with quarter one with a steal only this time he added the lay up for a 20-10 lead. A pair of baskets later by Hunt, the second on a steal and lay-up had the score at 24-10 with 5:53 left in the half. After a Bee basket by Michael Trent, Tanks would add a turn around jumper and Hunt yet another basket and the AHS lead swelled to 28-12 with 4:09 left in the half. A pair of foul shots by Viar cut the lead to 28-14, before Hunt added yet another steal and a lay-up to make it 30-14 at the 1:51 mark. Trent and Tanks would trade a foul shot each and a Davis basket by the Bees cut it 31-17 before a Hunt basket with 2 seconds left in the half made the halftime score 33-17 AHS.

Tanks would convert a pair of foul shots 6 seconds into quarter three for a 35-17 margin. Tony Rose would then make some noise with a basket to cut the lead to 35-19, and Rose would add 8 points for the quarter. Hunt would add a turn around baseline shot, and Witcher would get a basket and feed a nice pass to Tanks on the next possession for a basket and the score was 41-19 at the 4:46 mark. Rose would end the run with a basket before Tanks canned a pair of foul shots for a 43-21 lead. Ryan Arnold would then make some noise for the Bees with a pair of consecutive baskets before Hunt countered with a pair himself. Rose would add the quarters final 4 points for the Bees and Troy Harris would sandwich in a 3-pointer between Arnold baskets as the quarter closed 50-29 with AHS in command.

The game would not get any closer but Tristin Tanks left an exclamation point with a dunk at the 6:06 mark. A brilliant pass by Hunt led to a Witcher basket at the 5:00 mark which made the score 56-36, and the starters would be pulled at the 3:53 mark to a much deserved ovation from the Colonel faithful. A.B. Hubbard would add a 3-pointer with 3:38 left as the Colonels would pretty much run out the clock at this point and the final was 64-45.

Coach Cartolaro was pleased with his performers off the bench and starter Deshea Withcer. “Deshea did a nice job on defense and had some steals. Sinclair Hall and A.J. Davis did a nice job out in front for us. Alan Grzenda did a nice job underneath coming off the bench, and A.B. Hubbard hit that 3-pointer,” Cartolaro said of his players.

The Colonels play a key of road District games this week. Last nights game at Chatham was not available at press time and will play at William Campbell Friday night. “Both teams are tough and with both games on the road, they will no doubt be a battle,” Coach Cartolaro said.

Brookville 10 7 12 16 45

COLONELS 18 15 17 14 64

SCORING: COLONELS- Tanks-21, Hunt-20, Witcher-6, Harris-5, Cook-4, Hubbard-3, Frazier-2, Booth-1; Brookville- Rose-12, Viar-6, Trent-6, Arnold-6, Davis-4, Marston-4, Hildreth-3, Schrue-2, Lovitt-2.

COLONELS 56, Nelson County 46

LOVINGSTON- In a game that was much closer than the score indicated, Kenny Hunt had a season high 32 points, but it was his clutch foul shooting down the stretch that gave the Colonels a 56-46 District road win at Nelson County last Friday night. Hunt would go 8 for 8 in 4th quarter foul shooting with four of them coming in the last 30 seconds. Tristin Tanks continued his solid play underneath defensively and added 16 points to the winning cause.

“They (Nelson) kept chopping away at our leads, but our defense stepping up was the difference,” Head Coach Mike Cartolaro said. “They did a nice job taking the post away from us, and the fourth quarter foul shooting ended up being the difference. When you can win at Nelson, you have to feel extremely good since it’s tough and winning on the road in the Dogwood is a must,” Cartolaro added.

The Governors would get off to an early lead on a pair of Andrew Boor baskets to make the score 4-0. Troy Harris would then respond with a 3-pointer to cut the Governor lead to 4-3 and a Kenny Hunt basket would give AHS it’s first lead of the night at 5-4. Boor would respond to give the Governors a 6-5 lead which would be their last lead of the night. Tristin Tanks would respond with a basket at the 3:02 mark of the first quarter giving AHS a 7-6 lead. Ryne Cook would then put back an offensive rebound for a basket and Tanks would follow that with a steal and a lay-up to make the score 11-6 before Nelson’s Mike Martin hit a pull up jumper to close out the first quarter 11-8 AHS.

After a Hayes Page basket cut the lead to 11-10, Hunt would take control in the second quarter. Hunt’s first basket upped the margin to 13-10 and a Martin basket by Nelson cut the lead back to 13-12. A Hunt 3-pointer followed by consecutive baskets by Tanks and Hunt extended the lead to 20-12. Tanks would make his defensive presence felt with a great rejection at the 3:33 mark before a Seth Haxel basket cut the Colonel lead to 20-14. Hunt would nail another 3-pointer to give AHS a 23-14 advantage before Nelson closed the half out on a 5-0 run with a basket 3 foul shots by Daniel Blevins to make the score 23-19 at half time.

Nelson would keep coming in the third quarter as Thomas Harris would get a basket on a give and go to cut the lead to 23-21. Hunt would stop the run converting a 3 point play at the 6:20 mark of the third quarter for a 26-21 advantage. Blevins would respond for Nelson with a basket and a pair of foul shots to once again trim the AHS lead to one at 26-25. Hunt would as usual take charge when needed as he added a driving lay-up and followed that with another basket on a nice inbound pass from Troy Harris to make it 30-25 at the 3:49 mark of quarter three. A Tanks basket would get the lead to 32-25 before Nelson would mount a 4-0 run on a pair of Boor foul shots and a basket to make it 32-29 with 2:52 left. A Hunt steal and lay-up got the lead back to 5 and a Withers Tolliver basket trimmed the lead back to 3 at 34-31. Hunt would then convert a pair of foul shots to make it 36-31 and a Deshea Witcher basket with 58 seconds left in the quarter made it 38-31. After a basket by Page cut the score to 38-33, Hunt would close out the quarter on a foul shot with 4 seconds left making it 39-33 AHS.

Baskets by Martin and Tolliver in the opening minute of the fourth quarter trimmed the AHS lead to 39-37 before Hunt responded with a pair of foul shots at the 6:53 mark making it 41-37. Haxel’s basket cut the lead to 2 and a huge tip-in by Tanks kept Nelson at bay with a 43-39 lead with 6:10 left. The Governors would not quit though as a Martin basket and a Boor foul shot put the lead back to 1 at 43-42. Hunt would come through once again as he nailed a pair of foul shots for a 45-42 lead. Page’s baseline basket once again cut the lead to 1 before Tanks responded to the pressure by nailing a pair of foul shots and a 47-44 lead. A Boor hook shot with 2:28 cut the lead to 47-46 and that’s as close as Nelson would come on the night. The Colonels would end the game on a 9-0 run as Tanks would can a pair of baskets, the last with 1:01 left making it 51-46. Harris would then add a foul shot with 44 seconds left capping off a hustling performance on his part and Hunt would close it out with 4 foul shots in the last 29 seconds capping off a hard fought victory for the Colonels.

In addition to being complimentary of his star players Hunt and Tanks, Cartolaro also had praise for Troy Harris. “He made some big plays in the second half. He does a nice job of things that don’t show up in the stats that help us win,” Cartolaro said of Harris.

COLONELS 11 12 16 17 56

Nelson County 8 11 14 13 46

SCORING: COLONELS- Hunt-32, Tanks-16, Harris-4, Cook-2, Witcher-2; Nelson-Boor-13, Blevins-9, Martin-8, Page-6, Haxel-4, Tolliver-4, Harris-2.

Holiday Tournament Results:

COLONELS 69, Fieldale-Collinsville 53

COLONELS 60, Brookville 42

ALTAVISTA- The break between Christmas was festive for the Colonels as Kenny Hunt and Tristin Tanks each went into double figures in both games as the Colonels defeated Fieldale Collinsville in the first game of the tournament 69-53 behind Hunt’s 22 and Tanks’ 19. Deshea Witcher also turned in a good game with 12 points. The Colonels would get revenge on the next night against a Brookville Bee squad who defeated them earlier in the year 60-42 behind a game high 28 from Tanks and 17 from Hunt. The victories put the Colonels at 6-2 overall.

“In the F-C game, we were concerned about their perimeter players who are quick and fast. We wanted to make sure they couldn’t penetrate on us, and we got a huge early lead on them they could not overcome,” Head Coach Mike Cartolaro said. “Against Brookville, we made them play against full court pressure, and it wore on the a little bit. The combination of pressure and rotating people in and out helped us,” Cartolaro added.

After a pair of early baskets by Beau Frazier and one by Witcher, F-C would come back for it’s only tie of the night at 6 with 4:27 left in the first quarter. A 3-point play by Tanks gave AHS the lead for good at 9-6, and the first quarter would end with AHS out to a 19-12 lead.

Hunt would get things started in the second quarter on a steal and a lay-up, and his foul shot converted a 3-point play and a 22-12 lead. Hunt would have another great night with 6 rebounds and 7 steals to compliment his 22 points. The half would end with the score 38-22 as Ryne Cook would add the final 4 points in the last 1:30 of the first half.

Hunt would lead the Colonels with 11 points in a high scoring third quarter for both squads. The highlight of the quarter came at the 3:16 mark when Witcher took a steal in for a lay up and a 51-30 lead. The quarter would end 57-39 with AHS in control. On the play of Witcher who had 12 points in this game, Cartolaro said, “ Deshea had a very nice game and did an excellent job. He chipped in on defense and was very good on offense. He’s very improved from last year and has done a nice job so far this year for us. He got a couple of rebounds earlier in the game and got after the ball.”

The Colonels final basket would come on a Tanks dunk and a pair of free throws by Hunt upped the margin to 69-44 at the 4:50 mark. F-C would add the games final points as this one was over much earlier. Other players who made their marks in this game include Sinclair Hall, of whom Cartolaro said, “Sinclair did a nice job with pressure on the point guard and taking care of the ball. A.J. Davis also has done a great job getting offensive rebounds and going after the ball,” Cartolaro added of these players.

The next night AHS would avenge an earlier season loss with an outstanding game from Tanks, who poured in a game high 28 points. “Tristin was great around the basket the entire tournament,” Coach Cartolaro said. “He had 10 rebounds against F-C and a good weekend finishing shots going 21 for 27 from the field in the 2 games,” Cartolaro added. “Our perimeter guys are getting better and overall we had very good intensity for four quarters,” Cartolaro would add about the Brookville game.

Tanks and Hunt were the first quarter of the Brookville game. Tanks would get it started with a foul shot and would get a basket on an offensive rebound for a 3-0 lead. Hunt would then bring the crowd to it’s feet on a thunderous dunk at the 6:33 mark and a 5-0 lead. Hunt would later add a steal and a lay up just when it looked like Brookville was closing the gap at the 2:06 mark for a 16-12 lead. Moments later, a Hunt steal would lead to another Tanks basket and Tanks would close out the quarter on a basket at the buzzer and a 22-15 lead. Tanks would have 15 first quarter points.

Tanks would also make his defensive presence felt in the second quarter with a pair of blocked shots and Troy Harris would come up big defensively with a pair of steals and his 3-pointer at the 5:28 mark made the score 27-18. Hunt would add the AHS’ final eight points of the half on a pair of 3-pointers, the first off a corner shot on one of his steals that made the score 34-18 at the 3:01 mark. The half would end 39-22 AHS.

Tanks would continue his dominance well into the third quarter with the first 7 points, the last two on three throws at the 4:30 mark and a 46-27 advantage. Russ Farmer would then make his presence felt as he would add the final 4 points on a pair of baskets, the first one off a Tanks block and the quarter would end 50-30 AHS.

After a final basket by Tanks upped the lead to 52-30, Harris would extend the lead with his customary solid defense on a steal and lay up at the 7:34 mark with a 54-30 lead. Harris would add a final basket at the 4:29 mark of the final quarter, and Sinclair Hall would contribute a driving lay-up and Jeremi Booth added the final basket of the night at the 1:34 mark for a 60-42 win.

On the play of Harris who had 7 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 steals, Cartolaro said, “Troy was very active defensively. He played a solid floor game.” Cartolaro was also praiseworthy of Hunt’s passing game to go with his scoring. “Kenny always plays a solid game, and did a nice job of finding Tristin underneath, making us that much better offensively,” Cartolaro added.

COLONEL NOTES

With Jim Greer

J.V. BASKETBALL

The Colonels lost a pair of games this past week, 39-27 last Friday night at Nelson County and 27-20 on Saturday night to Brookville at AHS. The losses dropped AHS to 4-4 on the campaign, and 1-2 in the District.

Trae Travis had an excellent offensive night against Nelson County, scoring 17 points with five 3-pointers. Cedrick Brooks would add 5 in the losing cause. “We struggled to get the ball in the hoop in both games,” Head coach Brian Freeland said. “The good news is that we’re holding our own on defense, which I’m pleased with. “We really fought hard in this game,” Freeland added.

Travis would shine again offense wise in the loss to Brookville, with 12 points including a 3-pointer. Drew Puckette would also add a 3-pointer in this game. “The size was the difference in this game,” Coach Freeland said. “We’re playing hard and learning everyday, which is important to us being a young team,” Freeland added.

The J.V. squad’s game last night at Chatham was not available at press time. The next game is Friday night at William Campbell beginning at 6:00 preceding Varsity action.

B-TEAM BASKETBALL

The B-Team resumes play tonight at home against Gretna. They will host Brookville M.S. on Friday and Chatham on Monday before traveling to William Campbell on Tuesday. All game times are 5:00 starts.

Reprinted with permission - The Altavista Journal