ROGERSVILLE – The North Greene boys had to fight off a physical and determined Phelps, Kentucky squad on Saturday afternoon, but behind a terrific performance from Lance Carrico the Huskies finished the Big H BBQ Bash with a 65-52 win in the tournament’s fifth-place game.
The Huskies may have finished with a 13-point win, but that did not tell the story of the contest as both teams traded blows for 30 of the 32 minutes before the Huskies finally pulled away at the end.
“I thought we played really hard today, and that’s what I’ve been asking after a little lull over the last three games,” North Greene coach Sam Tarlton said. “We had good energy today, and after the first quarter we matched their physicality. Matching that physicality was really important against this team. I’m proud of them today.”
Carrico was the star of the show on Saturday as he stepped outside and knocked down six triples as part of a 28-point effort. But where Carrico shined brightest in Tarlton’s eyes was in the paint on the other end of the floor where he kept Hornet big man Tyler Weddington in check.
“I think this is why I get so mad at him sometimes. Lance is a really good player and we know he can do this every night,” Tarlton said. “Most people probably came away impressed with his shooting today, but being physical on their big man and and rebound the ball was so important for us. He was amazing today.”
Phelps took control of the early going, jumping in front 7-2 behind five points from Jahmar Stewart. Carrico breathed some life into a struggling Huskies’ offense when he sank his second triple with 1:08 left in the period to give North Greene its first lead at 8-7.
Phelps end the opening frame leading 12-10.
Through the early portion of the second quarter the teams traded buckets, with the Hornets having an answer every time North Greene closed the gap.
With 1:43 left in the half Carrico took an inbound pass and drained a triple from the top of the key to close the gap to 22-21. Carrico evened the score at 24-24 with another three-pointer, and Lawson Davenport gave the Huskies a 26-24 lead going into halftime when he got a turn-around jumper from the block to fall.
“We struggled a little early, and they were killing us on the offensive glass. Once we started making a few shots and we started getting the first rebound things started to turn around. That allowed us to catch them. We just kept pushing and we finally broke through,” Tarlton said.
The Huskies played from in front for the entire second half, but the Hornets made it hard to hold onto to that lead.
Thomas Darnell got the Huskies’ offense going with four points in the first 1:13 of the second half, but Weddington closed the gap 31-30 with back-to-back buckets for Phelps.
The Huskies’ lead again stretched to 40-34 when Tyler Britton slashed through the paint for a lay in. Phelps again found a way to narrow the margin, and when Joshua Caines made two at the foul line North Greene’s lead was down to 40-39.
With 25 seconds left in the third quarter Carrico drained a corner three. Going the other way Britton jumped a pass with 11 seconds remaining. The Huskies worked the ball up the floor and at the horn Britton knocked down a three-pointer to give North Greene a 46-39 advantage.
With 5:20 left to play in the contest the Hornets closed the gap to 49-48 when a steal by Stewart turned into a transition layup from Jayden Robinson.
Britton answered with a corner three, and North Greene went in front 55-50 when Darnell drove to the rim.
With 2:19 left to play Jaiden Bailey made the play that seemed to break the backs of the determined Hornets. He leaped across the floor for a loose ball and before he slid out of bounds Bailey flipped it ahead to Davenport for a breakaway layup.
North Greene scored the game’s final 10 points to collect a 65-52 win.
In addition to Carrico’s 28 points, Davenport scored 17 points, Darnell had nine and Britton put in eight points.
The Huskies head into a short break with a 10-4 record and will look to improve on that as they move into the more important portions of the season.
“We’re through the first third of the season, but these next two thirds are way more important,” Tarlton said. “We have to focus on consistency. I think we have shown that we can be a good team. Now it comes down to doing it more times than not. If we can bring it every day with consistency, we can be a good team.”
