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Chris Hollis
Second Half Surge Leads Raiders Over Lincoln
McCreary Central used a 24-6 third quarter run to pull away from visiting Lincoln County last Tuesday evening. The Raiders led by as much as twenty points at two separate points of the fourth quarter before posting the 66-48 final score.
The Patriots were looking for a measure of revenge against the Raiders who knocked them out of the regional tournament last year on their home floor preventing them from making a third consecutive trip to Rupp Arena and the “Sweet 16”.
This years Lincoln team has undergone some significant changes in personnel with the graduation of six seniors from last years team. Despite the changes the Patriots have managed to play somewhat surprisingly well coming in with an 11-6 record which included wins over Wayne County and West Jessamine who along with McCreary comprise two of the top three teams in the 12th Region.
Lincoln played well early jumping to an 8-4 lead on a three pointer by senior Matt Cooper. The Raiders quickly found the range from outside the three point line though and hit a trio of three point bombs, two of them by junior Jacob Dixon from the left side and a final one from point guard Ben Wright, putting Central on top 13-8 with 2:12 left in the first quarter.
Lincoln rallied back though with a run of their own to take a 15-13 lead into the second quarter.
After an early basket by Zack Hill to complete a 9-0 run to put the Patriots up 17-13 McCreary got baskets by Aaron Watts and Zack Roark to tie the score at 17-17.
Lincoln pushed back into the lead as Hill scored four more points but while doing so also missed two free throws.
The Raiders got a huge momentum swinging run to end the half scoring the final seven points over the final 2:11 to take a 24-21 lead into the locker room. Baskets by Watts and Wright started the run and then Watts buried a huge three pointer in the final minute of the half.
McCreary was able to extend the lead after a nice feed from Wright to Dixon early in the second half to give the Raiders a 26-21 lead.
A pair of three pointers and a Raider turnover helped the Patriots quickly close the gap to 31-29 with 5:12 still remaining in the third but Watts responded with a three pointer to start McCreary on a 10-0 run that eventually grew into the 24-5 run that put the game away for McCreary.
Freshman Tyson Williams scored on a put back and then with a short jumper while Watts added another three pointer to push the Raiders to a 41-29 lead.
A three pointer by Cooper with 2:00 remaining in the third stopped the Raider run and briefly pulled the Patriots back to within single digits.
Roark drove the lane for a basket and Williams followed with a three point play to put McCreary back up by fourteen. A Zack Hill three point play was countered by a three pointer out of the left corner in the final seconds by Jacob Dixon to give the Raiders a 49-35 lead heading to the final quarter.
McCreary continued to expand the lead in the fourth with Roark and Watts scoring in the first minute and then Roark scoring again on a put back with 6:34 to play giving the Raiders their largest lead at 55-35. From there Lincoln would not be able to get closer than fifteen points the rest of the way. The Raiders would again push the lead to twenty with 1:30 to go on a basket by Williams.
Aaron Watts scored 23 points to lead all scorers while Roark and Dixon added eleven each for the Raiders who improved to 16-5. Cooper led Lincoln with 16 points and Hill finished with 14.
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Turnovers hamper Raiders in 42-6 loss in season opener
The McCreary Central football season kicked off Friday night along with the coaching debut of new Raider head coach Derek Smith. Coming into the season Smith was aware of the challenges that lay ahead after the graduation losses the Raiders
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Raider Football Season Kicks Off Friday
After a seemingly short month and a half on the practice field the McCreary Central Football team will step on the gridiron for real Friday evening as the season begins with the Raiders hosting Pineville.
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Raiders Battle Casey & Heat in First Scrimmage
After some 45 minutes of waiting until the searing heat index dropped to a playable level McCreary Central’s football team finally got to experience some action Friday night in their first preseason scrimmage at Casey County.
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Lady Raiders Open With Win
The McCreary Central Volleyball Team got their season underway on with a two games to one win at Burgin on Thursday night.
McCreary dropped the first game of the best of three match by a score of 25-18 but bounced -
Volleyball and Football Teams Ready For Action
As summer break winds down the fall sports season begin to wind up and for the McCreary Central Volleyball and Football programs the season is practically upon them.
The Lady Raiders will travel to Burgin to open their season on Thursday evening and will play again -
Saturday Night Short Track Action
Just as they do nearly every sweltering summer Saturday night racers and race fans from around the region converged on Burnside’s Lake Cumberland Speedway for a night of dirt track racing. Some 50 + cars competed in five different classes including one from McCreary County. James
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Gearing Up for Elementary Football Season
With the abbreviated summer vacation for McCreary County students nearing an end many of those have already gone back to school to begin preparing for the soon approaching fall athletic seasons.
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Raider Baseball Team Sends Two More to College Ranks
Following one of the most successful seasons in the schools history the McCreary Central Baseball team placed two of it’s 2010 senior class into the college ranks this past week.
David Hayes who played shortstop and pitched for the Raiders in his senior season signed to play -
Local All-Stars Continue Successful Summer
McCreary County’s 7-8 year old coaches pitch all-star team continued their summer tournament play over the weekend in a twelve team event in Columbia.
The tournament was set up with four pools of three teams each. Each team would play the other two in their pool to begin the tournament -
McCreary All-Stars Take 2nd Place
McCreary County’s 8 years of age and under “A” All-Star team brought home a runner-up trophy after competing in a seven team coaches pitch tournament Saturday at Russell Springs.
The team blasted their way to the championship game by winning two games in pool play which earned them a first round bye in the - More Sports Headlines
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