MONTICELLO —   McCreary Central picked  up their first win against district competition this season last Tuesday with a hard fought 58-47 victory at Monticello.

  The Raiders held the lead throughout most of the contest but could not put together a run that would allow them to pull away from the Trojans.

  Much of the Raiders difficulties would come from their inability to convert from the free throw line where they were just 10-25 up until the final 2:30 of the game.  At that point the McCreary held a slim four point lead after the Trojans had came all the way back from a deficit of thirteen points to tie the score  at 45-45 with 5:16 remaining.  

  Central had gone 2-7 from the free throw line in the third quarter and would go 2-7 again to start the fourth quarter.

  Monticello, who had trailed by a 35-22 score with 5:31 to play in the third made the most of McCreary’s missed opportunities and closed the gap to 39-36 by the end of the period.

  The Trojans continued to close the gap early in the fourth until finally drawing even when senior Aaron Perkins ironically scored on a put back following a pair of missed Trojan free throws by Travis Edwards.

  McCreary would regain the lead as junior Noah Duncan scored twice but missed a pair of free throws in between baskets.

  The scored by Duncan would begin a run of thirteen unanswered points by the Raiders to pull away and secure the win.

  After missing 17 attempts from the line to that point the Raiders suddenly got hot just in time and sank 9-10 in the final 2:30 to put the game away.

  Monticello would lead only once in the game when they took a 4-3 lead  just less than three minutes into the game.  The Raiders would miss four of seven free throws attempts in the opening quarter but baskets by Alex Barnett and Dylan Strunk to close out the first period gave McCreary an 11-6 lead.

  They would extend the lead to as much as nine point in the second quarter after guard Ryan Strunk hit from both outside and inside the three point line to make the score 18-9 with 5:44 to play in the half.

  Monticello would reel off five unanswered points  to cut the lead to four.

  With McCreary back up by a 20-14 score things began to get heated.  After Monticello lost the ball out of bounds under their own goal Barnett and Edwards began to exchange words as they began walking to the other end.  A moment later they were face to face and close enough for Edwards to give a solid two handed shove into the chest of Barnett.  Other players and the officials quickly stepped between the two with Ewards having to be escorted away from the crowd wrapped in a bear hug from one of his teammates.  After a lengthy deliberation by the referees it was determined that both players would be assessed a technical foul and play would resume.  Both players went to the bench at that time but they would each return later in the game.

  That flurry of activity may have been instrumental to another technical being called just a few minutes later.  This time Monticello’s Gabe Denny was hit with the T after he had been fouled by McCreary.  Denny would hit one of two free throws on his trip to the line but his technical would allow Cody Ross two shots from the line for McCreary.  The junior guard would convert both attempts to end the half scoreing with the Raiders holding a 27-19 lead.  Ross’s two free throws were the only time in eleven opportunities prior to the final 2:30 that a Raider player hit both free throws in a trip to the line.

  Ryan Strunk started the second half with his second three pointer of the game to give McCreary a 30-18 lead.  After Monticello trimmed the deficit down to eight Dylan Strunk hit a three pointer then scored inside to give the Raiders their largest lead of the game at 35-22 with 5:31 left in the third.

  Monticello would pull back even just more than eight minutes later but thankfully their efforts were also hampered by missed opportunities at the line.  While the Raiders were hitting just 4-14 free throws the Trojans would hit only 5-11 during the same stretch in which they were erasing a  thirteen point deficit.  For the game Monticello would hit just 9-24 for 38% while the Raiders finished 19-37, 51%.

  Playing without leading scorer and rebounder Tyson Williams McCreary was led by Ryan Strunk’s 15 points.  Josh Gregory and Dylan Strunk spent much of the game in foul trouble but still finished with 12 and 11 points respectively.

  The win got McCreary back over the .500 mark at 9-8 and left them 1-2 in district play.

McCreary  72

Jackson Co. 55

  Last Monday night McCreary picked up a win over Jackson County at home by a score of 72-55.

  The Raiders took the lead early with a 22-17 first quarter advantage and continued to add on untile the game was well in hand.

  The Raiders led 40-27 at the half and built the lead to 55-37 after three quarters of play.

  Ten different players reached the scoreing column for McCreary led by Josh Gregory’s 20 points.  Dylan Strunk added 14 and Brad Corder 10 as the Raiders evened up their record at 8-8.