Grant Co. Braves run over the Calvary

By Jerry Morris

Luke O’Nan battles to the basket past a Calvary Christian player. Right, Logan Cummins races his opponent to the ball. Photos by Jerry Morris

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Tyler Carr throws up a basket in the Braves 66-18 win over Calvary Christian.

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The Grant County Braves came out to play very focused on what they needed to do at the Dec. 13 meeting against Calvary Christian after a disappointing loss Tuesday night to the Ryle Raiders.

“We want and need to play hard to get better,” said Grant County Coach Jim Hicks. “We know that we should (have) won this game tonight.”
Hicks said he likes where the team is right now and wants to focus on getting the team going again.
“Defense and playing hard are the keys to win and we lacked this against Ryle,” he said.

Tyler Carr, a junior, had 17 points to help the Braves put a win in the book with the final score of 66-18 over Calvary Christian.
“This game helped us get back on track for the upcoming game against Bourbon County,” said Carr.

Hicks said the key to a win against Bourbon County was whether or not the Braves contained Charles ‘Snoop’ Johnson and Chris Gillespie, leading scorers for Bourbon County.
“These two players are two of the best players we will see,” Hick said. “Our kids need to come out and play hard and play as a team.”
The Braves beat the Bourbon County Colonels 73-50.

“Our half court defense was really good. We had our hands full guarding Bourbon’s all-region point guard Charles Johnson, but Logan Cummins and Austin Anglin did a good job guarding him,” said Hicks. Hicks said the Braves managed to hold Bourbon’s other all-region guard (Gillespie) scoreless, which contributed to the win.

“Tyler Carr and Aaron Hicks led the way offensively,” Hicks said.
Carr lead all scorers with 34 points, while Hicks chipped in 13.
The Braves move onto to the McCreary County Arby’s/KFC Classic Dec. 19 through Dec. 22.

The 8-1 Braves will face Rowan County in their opening game of the tournament. Hicks said the team is looking forward to the tournament and have been focusing on getting better in each practice.

Hicks believes Pulaski Southwestern will be the team to beat in this tourney.
“We are going to have to play good solid basketball to have a chance to win the tournament. Our main focus is to just focus on us and for us to continue to get better every practice and every game,” Hicks said.