By Gaylen Duskey
realfang@citlink.net
Ethyn Miller had a driving lay up to break a fourth quarter tie and Austin Gribble canned a three-point shot to give Calhoun a lead it never relinquished in Calhoun's 43-40 home opening victory over Braxton County Friday night.
But the victory did not come easy as Braxton failed on a three-point shot at the buzzer that would have tied the game. With the victory Calhoun goes to 2-1 on the season while Braxton drops to 1-2.
Calhoun led most of the way but were unable to put away the pesky Eagles who battled back to knot things at 36-36 late in the fourth quarter setting up Miller's driving basket which gave the Red Devils the lead for good.
Miller led Calhoun with 15 points. He was backed by Zack Yanero with 11 points and 13 rebounds.
Ben Frederick came off the bench to score nine for the Red Devils after leading the reserve team to a 57-39 victory with 19 in that game.
Gribble had six while Dakota Jarvis added two points and nine rebounds.
Dylan Heiney started but did not score as did Caden Hicks who came off the bench.
Cole Browning led Braxton with 15. He was the only Eagle in double figures, Jacob Oates added eight for Braxton while Heath Cottrill had seven, Seth Arnold six, Brent McMillion five and Garrett Shingler one. Blake Withrow and Drew Taylor both played but did not score.
In the reserve game Frederick led the way. He was backed by Trevor Carder with 13 and Hicks with 10. Calhoun also had four each by David Marks and Soney Wilson while Hayden Richards added three and Nick Murphy and Levi Gregory two each. Jon Long and Noah Allen both played but did not score.
Marks and Hicks had six rebounds each to lead the Red Devils, 1-2, while Frederick and Carder had five each.
Danny Hacker led Braxton, 0-3, with 12 while Jeremiah King had seven, Jay Cooper six, Austin Carter four and Aiden Watson one.
Calhoun returns to action Monday night in the first round of the Doddridge Tournament facing the host Bulldogs in the second game. In the first game Clarksburg Liberty will play Pocahontas County. The winners will meet for the title Tuesday night while the losers play for third place. Braxton will also return to action Monday night with a game at Clarksburg Lincoln.
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