By Gaylen Duskey
realfang@citlink.net
Beating yourself is never a good thing but it is worse one way than it is
another.
Case in point: Thursday night Calhoun beat itself in a 66-28 loss to
Buckhannon-Upshur in the first round of the Ritchie Invitational Holiday
Tournament by showing no spirit, no spunk or no fight.
Friday night the Red Devils missed 23 free throws and turned the ball over
30 times in a 51-37 loss to Doddridge County in the consolation game of the
same tournament.
While both losses were bad and dropped the Red Devils to 0-8 on the season
while running the losing streak to 30 games the Thursday loss was much worse
because there was no nothing there ⦠just a team willing to accept a
beating.
That was not the case Friday night as Calhoun gave Doddridge all that it
wanted before finally succumbing to the error of its own ways - the missed
shots and turnovers - in a hard-fought loss to the Bulldogs.
How hard?
One Calhoun player sliced open his chin yet played with a bandage and tape
wrapped around his head while two others gave all out efforts before fouling
out. That effort was especially pleasing to Coach Danny Bunch.
While saying he wasn't thrilled by saying a loss was a positive step, the
Friday night game was a positive step.
With the exception of the final score the Red Devils did do a lot of things
right starting with going all out on offense and defense the entire contest
even if at times part of the team was running one defense while the rest was
in another.
Bunch said that was a "mess."
Yet the lack of success (not winning) was not for the lack of effort.
The game started extremely slowly as neither team could hit a shot and
Doddridge was only able to take an 8-5 first quarter lead. The second
quarter was more of the same as the senior-laden Bulldogs were able push the
lead to 20-14.
Calhoun had hoped to bounce back in the third period but that's when the
wheels came off the offense and the players on the floor were undecided
whether they were in a press or a zone defense.
That quarter allowed Doddridge to push the lead out to the 14 points it
finished at.
Ryan Slider, despite slicing his chin open, led the way for Calhoun with 17
points. He also had seven rebounds for the Red Devils.
Tyler Gerwig backed him with seven points and a game high 10 rebounds.
Trent Phillips had a good game with five points and five rebounds before
fouling out while Lucas Wilson added three, Caleb Schoolcraft and Ricky Hall
two and Derek Dawson one.
Luke Moore played an excellent defensive game but did not score before
fouling out. William Bennett, Zach Thomas, Ray Davis, Sam Brady and Tyler
Tanner all played but did not score.
For Doddridge, 2-3, Corey Aichele led the way with a game high 24 which
included three three-point goals.
He was the only Bulldog to score in double figures although Clayton Yeager
had nine, Shane Yeater seven, Daniel Plaugher and Will Thaxton four each,
Jeff Bonnell two and Ashton Hinzman one.
Calhoun returns to action Wednesday at Wirt County with the junior varsity
game schedule to start at 4:30 and the varsity game at 6 p.m.
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