Carlisle County’s Heath McBride nails this hook shot Thursday night in the Comets 62-53 win over Murray to make it their 11th straight to close out the regular season.
JARED JENSEN | The Sun
An impressive win Thursday night marked the 11th straight win for the Carlisle County Comets as they closed out their regular season slate. A 62-53 win over the 19-6 Murray Tigers would mark their second big win on the week as they defeated Graves County 53-51 on Tuesday.
“We’ve been playing some of our best basketball since that snow storm hit a few weeks ago,” Carlisle County head coach Brian O’Neill said. “I noticed it from our very first practice, they had more energy, and from there we made it a goal to finish off the regular season undefeated.”
The Comets did just that, winning 10 games since that break, which included region wins over Calloway County, Ballard Memorial, Mayfield, Graves and now Murray.
“I knew it was going to be a tall task, but we just took it one game at a time and we did it,” O’Neill said. “These guys have been locked it and are really getting it done on the defensive end.”
That defense made an appearance in a major way Thursday night, as the Comets held all but one Tiger to single digits all night long. Senior Maddox Mitchell was the only Murray athlete to break double digits, an impressive feat as the Tigers boast multiple double digit hoopers.
Maddox Mitchell drives to the basket Thursday night against Carlisle County. Mitchell led the Tigers with 14 points in their loss to the Comets.
JARED JENSEN | The Sun
Carlisle held the Tigers to just six points in the opening quarter as they forced turnovers and got fast break layups on the other end and getting second chance opportunities when the first wouldn’t fall.
The Comets led from start to finish as junior big man, Wyatt Rickard opened up the game with a pair of buckets. He would have an important first quarter, tallying 10 of the Comets 13 in the opening frame on his way to an eventual 15-point night.
Fellow junior Brennan O’Neill would add a bucket and a free throw of his on in the opening quarter which started a steady performance where shots were nearly automatic. The guard would lead all scorers with 22 points with 13 of those coming in the second half.
A halftime score of 28-18 in favor of the Comets would led to a crucial third quarter where the Tigers would start to see some important shots fall.
Mitchell would hit a pair of 3-pointers in the frame as part of an 11-point quarter, with Henri Acreman-Nyamwala adding a triple of his own for a 16-point third quarter for the Tigers. Murray’s trap defense would continue to wear down the Comets, but by the second half, the Comets seemed to have figured the trick in getting to the hole.
“There was a little stretch there in the second quarter where we had a few turnovers and a stretch there in the second half as well,” O’Neill said. “There’s not many teams that we’ve seen that press like Murray does. We worked on it a little bit in practice on Monday, but really emphasized that once we get through the press we have to attack the basket and I thought we did a really good job at that.”
Carlisle County’s Brennan O’Neill led the Comets with 22 points including a 6-of-10 performance from the charity stripe.
JARED JENSEN | The Sun
O’Neill would be the driving force of that attack game, using his speed to get down the floor, as well as stings from Dax Garrett, Heath McBride and Rickard.
Down the stretch it was all free throws for the Comets, as they were held to just 10 field goals in the second half while tallying 14 free throws.
For Murray however, they found their best shooting performances in the second half behind Mitchell, Aiden Armstong, Micah Wyatt and Harris Moore. A 19-point fourth quarter would cut the deficit to within eight points a few different times, but the Comets held their own to get the victory.
Carlisle now turns their attention to First District play where they are currently undefeated. They will play Fulton City Monday night.
“These two games this week were perfect in helping us get ready for these next two weeks,” O’Neill said on facing Graves and Murray. “We all know in the regional tournament games are barely in the 40’s or 50’s, so we are going to see some grind-it-out games in the next few weeks.”
For Murray, they will take on Calloway County Tuesday night whom they have held off so far this season.
CARLISLE COUNTY 13 | 15 | 15 | 19 — 62
MURRAY 6 | 12 | 16 | 19 — 53
CC: B. O’Neill 22, W. Rickard 15, J. Neeble 7, D. Garrett 6, H. McBride 5, K. Perez 4, J. Bruer 3
MUR: M. Mitchell 14, A. Armstrong 9, H. Moore 9, H. Parker 8, K. Cunningham 4, R. Walls 4, H. Acreman-Nyamwala 3, M. Wyatt 2