By Gaylen Duskey
realfang@citlink.net
The last time Calhoun won a season-opening game the Red Devils' three-time all-state player Marcus Davis was a junior.
Perhaps its fitting he was in his first game as a Calhoun assistant Wednesday night when the Red Devils walloped Roane County 58-40 pulling away with a blazing fourth quarter.
While Davis watched from the sidelines with coaches Danny Bunch and Zach Hupp the Red Devils had three players hit double figures to lead the team to a hard fought but impressive victory.
Zach Moore and Chuckie Kendall led the way with 18 each while Kyle Keesler tossed in 14 more. They were backed by Justin Gerwig with five, Anthony Richards with two and Bronson Clark with one. Cai Clothier, Daniel Sims and Randy Fluharty also played but did not score.
Calhoun jumped on the Raiders early and by halftime was on the verge of blowing them out with a 13-point lead.
But instead of putting the Raiders away early in the fourth quarter the Red Devils sputtered and several players ran into foul trouble which allowed Roane to get back into the game and at one time closing the gap to two points.
A Calhoun spurt near the end of the third quarter put it up by six, 34-28, and Roane seemed to run out of gas.
What actually happened was the Calhoun starters who had been sitting on the bench with foul problems were allowed back into the contest and the contest ceased being a contest as Calhoun enjoyed a 24-12 fourth quarter advantage over the Raiders.
Kendall led the way with nine fourth quarter points while Moore added six. Keesler had four and Gerwig, who was extremely limited in playing time by the fouls, had his only three points of the night.
The Red Devils were able to avoid things that bothered them last year -- mainly turnovers. Calhoun only had 11 turnovers on the game while getting 11 steals from the Raiders with Moore leading the way with four. Kendall added three and a blocked shot while Fluharty had two and Clark and Keesler one each.
Calhoun also held its own on the boards with 28 rebounds. Moore had 10 to lead the way while Kendall and Gerwig had six apiece. Moore led Calhoun with four assists while Fluharty and Keesler added two each and Clark, Gerwig and Richards one.
Roane County was led by senior Rhett Atkinson with 16 points and eight rebounds. He was the only Raider to score in double figures.
Roane County won the junior varsity game by a 52-14 margin.
After a Caleb Schoolcraft basket gave Calhoun a 2-0 lead Roane blew the Red Devils' doors off by jumping to a 29-4 halftime lead.
Schoolcraft led Calhoun with seven points while Trent Phillps added four and Tyler Bennett three. Stewart Fitzwater, Quentin Murphy, Ricky Hall, Caleb Richards, Luke Moore and Derek Dawson all played but did not score.
Roane was led by Adam Abbott with 10 although every player on Roane's team scored.
For Calhoun Phillips led the way with 10 rebounds while Bennett added eight and Hall seven.
Calhoun, now 1-0, will entertain Braxton in a doubleheader Friday night at Mount Zion.
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