Carrollton's Jerrett SmithCARROLLTON - There was no killer instinct for so long. Jerrett Smith and the Carrollton Hawks wanted to come out strong and aggressive. That led to Smith producing one of his best nights of the season.

“I scored a lot tonight, but I also was aggressive and missed some shots that I shouldn’t have, but that’s because I hadn’t been that aggressive all year,” Smith said. “I think the team fed off of everyone being aggressive and going to the hole, and we ran well pushing the tempo.”

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The senior forward was beating defenders off the dribble all game long, which led to 15 points and 74-56 win for Carrollton over the Calhoun Warriors in front of a packed Carrollton High School on Friday night.

“I think the points that I scored tonight came off of everyone else’s energy and just having the attack mindset made me do those things.”

Despite Smith’s 15 points, as usual, Jeremey Watson led the Hawks scoring output this time with 16 points. He was followed by Matt Campbell's 14. Campbell missed the Hawks last game against Jerseyville because he was feeling unwell, while he had been carrying minor injuries.

“The last time we had a home game [Jan 5] Campbell had 23 points and 11 rebounds so we reminded him we were at home tonight and he did a nice job,” Carrollton head coach Jeff Krumwiede said. “He’s been worn down and his quality of play, particularly offensively hasn’t been what we have expected, and it was good to have him back tonight.”

However, a majority of those 74 points came off of defensive turnovers or energy according to Smith.

“I said to each person defensive focus tonight. Put all of your energy on defense, and then the offense will come. Normally, we slow it down and play lackadaisical defense and then go as hard as we can on offense.”

Calhoun defeated Carrollton 58-51 on Jan 28 in the third place game of the Beardstown Invitational Tournament and tonight was an entirely different outcome.

 

Carrollton preached defensive intensity, and that’s what Calhoun faced all night long. The Warriors turned the ball over 23 times, and the Hawks 1-3-1 defense forced most of them.

“We shot well in the first half, but the big thing was our 1-3-1 was effective tonight,” Carrollton head coach Jeff Krumwiede said. “They [Calhoun] got some easy shots when they busted through and [Jared] Brackett did a great job getting to the rim. For the most part, we were offensive with our defense, and I thought it made the difference in the game.”

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Most of the first half was hotly contested. Calhoun opened the scoring within the first few seconds as Wes Klocke guided the tip off to a streaking Easton Clark for a layup. Carrollton proceeded to score the next six points, but Brackett scored eight straight points and would finish with ten before the quarter ended at 16 all. Brackett finished as the leading scoring in the game with 17 points.

Calhoun’s biggest lead of the game was a four-point lead in the second half, but it was quickly erased and eventually Carrollton gained the momentum and grabbed a 36-26 lead at halftime. Undeterred, Calhoun stormed out of the gate with a 7-0 run that led Krumwiede to call a full timeout less than two minutes into the second half. Whatever he said worked as Carrollton outscored the Warriors 20-11 the rest of the quarter.

Warriors head coach Ryan Graner cites foul trouble for key players that ultimately undid his ball club.

“Foul trouble doomed us in the second half. We stretched and went with Clark and Klocke a little bit longer than we normally do, and that let us stay in, but you saw when they left the floor the wheel fell off. They went on a 10-0 run to end the quarter and never could recover.”

Two players that performed well off the bench for the Hawks was sophomore Gabe Jones and freshman Ethan Brannan. Jones was plenty active on defense as he forced a couple of turnovers and scored eight points all on transition layups. Brannan made his presence known by knocking two three-pointers and the second one was at the third quarter buzzer to give Carrollton a 56-44 lead going into the fourth quarter.

“Ethan had shown that ability. He came in 3-for-19 tonight, and that was a welcome site. He’s shot the ball well at times in JV games this year and in practice,” Krumwiede said. “It was nice to see that because what it does offensively for us is that we’re not as one-dimensional and Watson can give the ball up to somebody else who can do something with it. That’s been our bugaboo all year is getting consistency out of the rest of our guys.”

The Hawks never let Calhoun get within single digits and held serve throughout the fourth quarter and capped off the win with a late layup by Brant Varble that sent the home crowd to their feet.

The historic 2011-2012 Carrollton Hawks boys basketball team was honored before the game, and their presence was felt by the current Hawks as they wore replica warmups and shook everyone’s hands, but more importantly wanted to win it for them.

“We didn’t want to let them down,” Smith said.

Carrollton and Calhoun will meet for a third time this season as they face off in the first round of regional play on Feb 20.

“We made a lot more poor decisions tonight and kept doing everything we won’t supposed to do repeatedly,” Graner said. “Carrollton had a much better effort tonight, and I thought they dictated the game with their intensity and physicality, and we did not step up to meet it. If we can fix getting out-rebounded, turnovers and match their intensity, then we’ll be okay.”

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