Cougar hunters… Elizabethton rides hot start to 61-44 win over Central
Published 12:23 am Tuesday, December 17, 2019
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Star Photo/Dawn Lambert Elizabethton's Bryce VanHuss pulls up for a jumper in the Cyclones contest with Central.
Star Photo/Dawn Lambert Elizabethton's Nico Ashley goes up for a two-hand flush in the Cyclones win over Central.
Star Photo/Dawn Lambert William Willocks goes high for a jumper over a Cougar defender.
BY IVAN SANDERS
STAR SPORTS EDITOR
ivan.sanders@elizabethton.com
Much like a hunter stalks its prey, the Elizabethton Cyclones hit the Sullivan Central Cougars in a blindsided attack in the early going of Friday’s game at Elizabethton and the Cougars simply couldn’t recover.
The Cyclones broke out front 14-1 at the end of the first quarter and took a 28-19 lead into intermission as Coach Lucas Honeycutt’s Cyclones picked up their first Three Rivers Conference win of the season over Central, 61-44.
Jake Roberts, fresh off the football field, looked like he had been in the gym for months as he ripped the nets for three treys and 11 first-half points to set the pace for Elizabethton.
William Willocks also had played a significant role in the Cyclones uprising totaling eight in the first half.
Bryson Crabtree did his best to keep his Central team in the contest scoring 11 points in the second quarter to help make up for the cold start.
A highlight of the game came in the second half when senior Nico Ashley brought the Cyclone student body to its feet with a two-handed rim shaker. Ashley finished with 10 points in the game.
Roberts finished with 19 points to lead the Cyclones while Willocks, Ashley, and Parker Hughes scored 10 points apiece in the win.
Crabtree was the game-high scorer as the Cougar scored 22 points in the contest.
“I’m pretty pleased overall,” said Honeycutt about his team’s performance. “Intensity early and late was good but in the middle there we had some spurts where we lost that intensity.
“That’s to be expected because we have a lot of people not in shape as they transition from football to basketball and the chemistry is not there but we saw flashes of what is going to be there.”
