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By Gaylen Duskey
realfang@citlink.net
Somewhere between a solid first half and Clay's march to the foul line in the late going the wheels came off Calhoun's basketball team. The result was a 74-55 setback at the hands of Clay County Tuesday night in Clay.
Calhoun was on top of things before intermission and were up on the Class AA Panthers by three, 31-28, at halftime.
Then something terrible happened to the Red Devils as turnovers, missed shots and porous defense combined to give the Panthers 44-38 lead after three quarters. That was all that was needed as the march to the foul line took over.
While free throws didn't decide the winner or loser the Panthers' 39-7 advantage on free throw attempts in the second half sure did have a lot to say about the margin of victory. For the game Clay shot 45 free throws making 26.
The biggest beneficiary of the free throw onslaught was senior Clay guard Chris Cole, who was the leading scorer with 24 points which included 15 of 18 at the charity stripe. Steve Cole was next for the Panthers, 8-12, with 15 while Storm Carver added 14 and Gavin Nichols 10.
For Calhoun, 8-13, Ryan Slider led the way with 18 while Ethyn Miller added 10. Mason Sheldon had nine, four of which came wheN he stole the ball and drove the length of the court for layups. Sam Brady hit for eight while Tyler Gerwig and Tyler Sims had five each. Lucas Wilson, Luke Sheldon and Cody Starcher all played but did not score.
Clay won the junior varsity game by a 63-42 count after taking a 38-9 halftime lead.
The game was much the opposite of the varsity game as Calhoun lost the fist half badly only to outscore the Panthers 33-25 after intermission.
Austin Gribble led the way for Calhoun with 16 points. He was backed by Dylan Heiney with seven, Nick Watkins with six, Dakota Jarvis with five, Zack Yanero and William Baker with three each and Luke Sheldon with two. Chris Thornton, Christopher Kirkland, Jerry Jones and Austin Hicks all played but did not score.
In was the last game of the season for the junior varsity.
Calhoun has a varsity only game at Williamstown Saturday at 7 p.m. In the first round of the sectional tournament.
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