CARROLLTON – The Carrollton Warriors boys basketball team improved to 2-1 on the season after a 10-point road victory over the West Holmes Knights Saturday night.
The Warriors trailed 10-8 after the first quarter of action, but went on to outscore the Knights in each of the final three quarters of actions.
Carrollton held a 24-21 lead at halftime and added 17 more points in the third quarter. The Warriors outscored West Holmes 17-11 in the final quarter of regulation.
“Proud of the effort of our young men,” Carrollton Coach Mike Aukerman said following Carrollton’s 58-48 defeat of West Holmes. “It was a long trip on a bus Saturday and we came out a little lethargic, but we got to half with a slim lead and knew we had to adjust a bit and get back to what we do.”
Adam Chaney finished as the leading scorer for Carrollton, putting up a game-high 19 points. He also hauled in a game-high nine rebounds.
The Warriors outrebounded West Holmes 33-22.
Carrollton senior Brady Benner followed Chaney’s scoring effort with 17 points of his own.
Jimmy Birong recorded nine points and Gage Poole scored eight.
“Brady did a great job again handling the point and Adam controlled the boards with some help from Jimmy and Brady,” Aukerman said. “It was an effort based win because we just wanted to come home with a victory. Gage had a big game for us and Talen [Timberlake] provided some big minutes off the bench.”
Carrollton played host to Malvern Dec. 3 in the second consecutive battle of Carroll County schools.
The Warriors managed to take a 22-21 lead into halftime, despite only scoring six points in the second quarter.
Malvern’s defense held Carrollton scoreless in the third quarter, as the Hornets took a 31-22 lead entering the final quarter.
The Hornets poured it on in the fourth quarter, scoring 20 points, defeating the Warriors 51-37.
Birong led Carrollton’s scoring effort with nine points. Chaney followed with seven points and nine boards. Griffin Bagozzi added six points for the Warriors.
John Browning led the Hornets with a game-high 16 points. Malvern junior Derk Hutchison scored 13 and Michael Minor recorded 14 points.
Chaney, Benner and Birong all recorded a three-pointer for the Warriors.
The Warriors are set open Eastern Buckeye Conference (EBC) play this Friday, Dec. 13 at home against Marlington.
“We have a big week ahead as we play two very talented opponents in Marlington and Ridgewood,” Aukerman said.
