Published: March 12, 2008 03:06 pm            

Raiders crush Rams, look for more

East avenges earlier season loss, beats Rams to gain semifinal clash with Ashland; Boys championship game slated for tonight, 7 p.m.

MOREHEAD - Ashland Paul Blazer and East Carter came out on top in first-day action of the 16th Region Boys' Basketball Tournament last Tuesday night at Morehead State University's Ellis T. Johnson Arena. The Tomcats slipped past Bath County, 51-46 and East Carter ran over Raceland, 68-42.

“We just challenged our players to mentally focus and prepare themselves to compete every possession on both ends (of the floor),” said Raider head coach Brandon Baker. “I thought we were just mentally sharp. That always makes the physical part of the game a little easier, any time you are ready to compete.”

East Carter (23-7) jumped out to a 17-8 first-quarter lead and never looked back as the Raiders routed Raceland (19-11) 68-42 in the nightcap.

East Carter pushed its lead up to 24 points in the second half, before taking a 36-15 advantage at the half. The Raiders shot 57.7 percent from the field in the first 16 minutes, while the Rams connected on just 19 percent of their attempts.

Raceland out-scored the Raiders 12-9 in the third quarter, and closed to within 14 points 45 seconds into the fourth period, but the Raiders finished the game on a 10-3 run to cap off the 26-point victory.

“I just thought we had that edge on us to get out there and get after it and be the aggressor. I thought whoever came out aggressive and got the ball to the basket and really played assertive offensively was going to make the game a little easier for themselves,” said Baker. “We were fortunate enough for that to happen tonight.”

The victory was redemption for the Raiders, who dropped the previous meeting between the two teams (64-48) on Feb. 12 at Raceland.

“I just think we were mentally focused to compete (tonight) and credit Raceland the previous game we played, they are a good team,” he said.

“They are a really good team and they really took it to us and they played harder than we did. They just played better than we did and they put a whipping on us. You have to credit them for that game, but I think that got stuck in the back of our players’ heads and they wanted to redeem themselves. That kind of was our driving force. I didn’t have to get their attention. That previous game already had their attention and we were ready to get after them.”

Drew Johnson made 9-of-10 shots from the field for a game-high 25 points to lead East Carter. Kyle Bair added 15 points and six rebounds. Tyler Boyles paced Raceland with 14 points and seven rebounds.

East Carter finished with a distinct advantage in shooting from the field (51.1 percent to 24.0 percent) and rebounding (41 to 30). The Raiders also held a 32-16 edge in points in the paint.

The semifinals were held last night with East Carter facing Ashland Paul Blazer and Elliott County squaring off against Rose Hill Christian. The finals will be tonight at 7 p.m.

        

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