Knox County Boys Win At Brashear

Knox County Boys Win At Brashear

By David Sharp
Knox County won a battle of turnovers and attrition, taking a 72-52 varsity boy’s victory at Brashear. The February 19 contest was rescheduled from January 31.
The Tigers (7-13) turned the basketball over 32 times according to courtside stats. Jay Scudder scored the game’s first four points. Brashear led 8-4 after the 6’7” senior center scored his sixth point of the contest at the 3:25 mark of the first quarter.
Leighton McCabe helped turn the tide for Knox County with at least three steals mid way through the opening quarter. Knox County popped off a 13-2 run to a 24-13 lead with six minutes to go until intermission.
Brashear harmed their chances for victory by missing numerous inside shots. Both sides contested hard in the first half. Knox County may have been able to wear a shorthanded Tiger team down in the second half.
Senior Cody Snelling did not participate due to a disciplinary suspension.
Knox County sophomore forward Kellen Gillaspy left the game with 2:58 showing on the second quarter clock after suffering an apparent knee injury. Gillaspy was unable to return to the contest.
Knox County (8-13) outscored the host Tigers 13-3 in the final two minutes of the first half, opening a 43-24 chasm.
Royce Poore gave the Eagles a 51-29 lead with a third quarter three ball. Zach Reeves answered for Brashear with an inside shot at the 2:30 juncture of the third period.
The Eagles led 57-34 after three quarters of play. Knox County opened the game to a 64-37 count with a series of made three pointers. Brock Couch, Cole Sutton and Leighton McCabe snapped the nets from the arc.
Taren Treasure canned a home run ball for Brashear with 5:38 to play in the game for a 64-40 Eagle lead. Knox County coach Garet Nunan inserted his JV into the contest with 4:33 to play in the game, leading 64-47.
“We had turnover fever tonight,” Brashear coach Jayd Frazier said. “We didn’t hit our shots. Knox did. Day in and day out, you have got to take care of the ball if you want to win basketball games.”
“I think Knox came to play a good game of basketball. I just think our guys didn’t show up to play a good game,” Jayd Frazier said. Taren Treasure led Brashear with 12 points. Zach Reeves came off the bench and contributed ten Tiger points.
Hayden Housman scored nine points. Brashear canned five three pointers, and were 5-9 from the free throw line. Jay Scudder and Joseph Woods scored six points each.
Nick Thomas scored five points. Adam Songer and Joe Clarkson scored two Brashear points each.
Royce Poore was 8-10 from the free throw line, scoring a game high 20 Knox County points in three quarters. Justin Reeves scored 15 of his 19 points in the first three periods.
Cole Sutton had another strong game for Knox County, scoring ten points. Leighton McCabe and Brock Couch scored seven KCHS points each. Jesse Miller scored four point while Jaron Holman canned a fourth quarter home run ball.
“Mentally, we were ready to play today,” Knox County coach Garet Nunan said. “I thought it showed on the floor.”
Knox County sank 12 of 17 from the free throw line, tossing in six three balls as a team. The KCHS win evened the season series between the Tigers and Eagles at one game each.
“We wanted to key in on our defense,” said Knox County coach Garet Nunan.
“We came in here and lost to Brashear a couple of weeks ago. We knew exactly what we had to do. We knew what they were going to bring at us,” the Hurdland area native and former Eagle star player said.
“The guys were ready to come out and show how we are capable of playing. We had a tough loss last night.” Knox County absorbed a loss at conference rival Scotland County.
“We played good, solid strong defense. I thought we pressured them really hard,” Garet Nunan said. “We just made smart decisions. I thought the guys responded really well after (Kellen Gillaspy) went down. Kellen is one of our important players. Hopefully he will be all right.”