WINCHESTER — Just two days after playing a physical game against Routt, the Carrollton boys’ basketball team played a rougher game against Greenfield-Northwestern and came away with a 52-42 win in the opening round of the Winchester Invitational Tournament Saturday.
“We didn’t expect anything less,” Carrollton coach Jeff Krumwiede said. “when we found out Wednesday night at the seed meeting that we had drawn Greenfield, we were very concerned about the fact that: A) they are talented; B) they are well coached; and C) if they are ranked lower than we are, they are going to be motivated. so it was a concern for us, and we were fortunate enough to survive.”
Carrollton was shooting double-bonus free throws before the first quarter was over as Greenfield-Northwestern racked up 10 fouls in the first eight minutes.
“We don’t go out saying we are going to have a game where there is going to be 30 fouls,” Krumwiede said. “sixty free throw shots. The officials don’t like it, the fans don’t like it and the coaches don’t like losing players to disqualification.”
The two teams combined for 47 fouls in all. Carrollton starters Jordan Harr and Cody Kraut fouled out in the fourth quarter, as did Greenfield’s Bubba McEvers.
“That was a typical Tigers/Hawks intense battle,” Greenfield-Northwestern coach Joe Pembrook said. “There is really no way to sugar-coat it. it was intense. We didn’t play with a lot of heart and desire on Thursday night. We worked on that yesterday in practice and I thought our kids brought the intensity, (Carrollton) did as well, and that’s what you should expect from a great rivalry like that.”
The two teams combined for 60 free throws. Carrollton was 19-for-32 at the line while Greenfield-Northwestern was 20-for-28.
“We executed, and they did as well,” Pembrook said. “We missed some front ends of one-and-ones that kind of hurt us, but my hat’s off to Carrollton as they executed a little better than we did down the stretch.”
Carrollton lost Joey Coonrod midway through the second quarter when the senior came out of the bottom of a loose-ball pileup with blood streaming down the side of his face. Coonrod cut his head right above his eyebrow.
“We have an extra uniform for blood situations,” Krumwiede said. “then we started stripping the freshmen. The unfortunate part about that is we only had 12 players dress and only 11 available because Cody Leonard is still out with the sore shoulder, so we didn’t have a whole lot more uniforms to go through. We would have been wearing Winchester Wildcat white if it had gone much deeper.”
Coonrod laughed when asked about the jersey situation.
“There probably were a few other players that would have given up their jerseys for me,” Coonrod said. “They are good teammates.”
Coonrod was out for the remainder of the first quarter, but returned at the start of the second quarter with his head bandaged, wearing jersey number 40. he was in and out of the game throughout the second half as the bleeding continued, and started the fourth quarter wearing jersey number 30.
Coonrod required 13 stitches after the game; his status for Tuesday’s game is uncertain. his status for Saturday’s game was certain: he was determined to play.
“I thought I needed to come back in,” Coonrod said. “it was a close game, and it wasn’t like I couldn’t walk or anything.”
Coonrod finished with nine points, including a big 3-point shot at the 6:50 mark in the third quarter that increased Carrollton’s lead to 41-22. The Tigers were forced to play catch-up for the rest of the game.
Krumwiede said he was pleased with the way his players responded with Coonrod out of the game.
“all the times Joey was in the locker room with the trainer, I thought our guys really stepped up and played well,” the coach said.
Carrollton held a two-point edge at 13-11 by the end of the first quarter, then slowly started to pull away in the second. Greenfield tried to claw its way back in, and got as close as 23-20, but never any closer.
Carrollton outscored Greenfield 14-11 in the second quarter and widened the gap by outscoring the Tigers 16-11 in the third quarter. Each team scored nine points in the fourth quarter.
Carrollton’s Tyler Watson and Luke Palan each scored 12 points to lead the Hawks. Isaac Masters led the Tigers with 11 points.
“I can’t say enough about Luke Palan,” Krumwiede said. “he is the one that hit the jump shots and took care of the basketball. he played solid defense and emerged and matured. he is a freshman who has been getting some varsity time and having some spots of excellent play.”
Carrollton will move on to play Griggsville-Perry in the championship bracket Tuesday. Greenfield-Northwestern (5-9) will play Western on Wednesday in the consolation bracket.
<a href="http://www.myjournalcourier.com/sports/showdown-6315-jjcvarsity-survives-winchester.htmltag:news.google.com,2005:cluster=http://www.myjournalcourier.com/sports/showdown-6315-jjcvarsity-survives-winchester.htmlFri, 13 Jan 2012 07:00:50 GMT”>WINCHESTER INVIATIONAL: Carrollton survives showdown with Greenfield-NW, 52-42