Cavs late rally pushes them past Cougars

LOW MOOR – In a battle of two of the top boy’s basketball teams in the Three Rivers District, Carroll County outlasted Alleghany with a fourth quarter rally to defeat the Cougars on the road 72-65 last Monday night.

 

With the game tied heading into the fourth quarter and one that was filled with back-and-forth energy with each team clinging to the other, Carroll County closed out their big district win by outscoring Alleghany 9-3 over the final 63 seconds, including a 19-8 scoring run by the Cavaliers over the final few minutes.

 

Alleghany led 57-53 with just over three minutes remaining following a Mason Hale bucket inside the paint.

 

It would go on to be the last time that the Cougars controlled the game as Bryce Smoot and the Cavs would take over.

 

Smoot, who scored a game-high 26 points, started the Carroll County rally with an old-fashioned three-point play and then helped put the Cavs ahead as he dished a perfect pass to Ethan Richardson who connected on a go-ahead 3-pointer to put the Cavs ahead 59-57. 

 

Both teams would go on to exchange points as the game once again got evened up with under two minutes to play when Hale scored again inside to tie it all up at 63-63.

 

With just over a minute remaining the Cavaliers took the lead for good on another three-point play, this time from Cody Reece he put his team back in front 66-63.

 

Then in the final 60 seconds of the game Smoot would ice the game by knocking down 4-out-4 free throw attempts.

 

Between the two teams, there were eight players in double figures scoring.

 

Alleghany was led by Bubby Entsminger team-high 26, while Hale scored 14, DePriest added 12, and Xzavier Hayslett had 10.

 

Outside of Smoot’s game-high 26, Isaiah Easter scored 16, while Reece had 14, and Richardson added 12 for Carroll County. 

 

Free-throw shooting was a key factor in the Cavs win as the team shot 11-for-13 from the charity stripe, while the Cougars were only 2-for-10.