Get The Latest News!
Don't miss our top stories and need-to-know news everyday in your inbox.
CARROLLTON - Three days ago Kyle Price was calmly sitting on the bench being an assistant coach until all of a sudden head coach Matt Goetten was ejected from the game with 1:19 to go.
That meant he would take over the reigns of a game because Goetten was forced to sit out and not even be present in the gymnasium for the next contest.
Price was in command Friday night and guided the Carrollton Hawks past the Roxana Shells 52-40 in Carrollton on Friday night to improve to 1-1 on the season. The Shells fell to 2-3.
“It’s kinda like old times. I’ve been a coach for 13 years, but it’s been ten years since I was in charge. It didn’t take me long to get back in the groove,” Price said. “I’m just happy to get the win. We needed it tonight."
Judging by the rosters, you would’ve thought this was a JV game.
Besides seniors Kyle Waters and Blake Struble, Carrollton started two sophomores and two juniors, while rotating in two more sophomores. On the other hand, Roxana started freshmen Gavin Huffman and Drew Beckman with sophomore Jake Golenor. Other freshmen that played were Parris White and Braeden Wells, while Brayden Davis was the only senior that appeared on the court for the Shells.
“We’re starting three freshmen. These kids have never stepped on a varsity floor until this year, so they’re coming straight off of eighth-grade basketball,” Roxana head coach Mark Briggs said. “[Carrollton’s] young, but our young is a bit different. I’m pleased with our kids and their effort. They played with a lot of intensity and made some plays.”
Huffman led the Shells with 17 points and 12 was off of four triples. Golenor added nine that all came in the second half. Beckman and White each chipped in five.
Carrollton sophomore Hunter Flowers led all scorers with 20 points, including 4-for-5 from downtown and collected seven rebounds. Gabe Jones battled foul trouble and sat quite a bit after taking a knock on his left knee during the game, but still scored eight points. Blake Struble and Ethan Brannan each tallied seven points while Struble hauled in six boards.
Flowers is the leading scorer for the Hawks through the first two game and he’s a little surprised with how he’s contributed thus far.
“I was expecting somewhere around the 10-point range, but nothing like what’s been happening Flowers said. “We’re trying to get into that transition, fast-paced offense and getting back quicky on defense, and getting turnovers. We’ll get into it as the season the progresses and we’ll get better.”
“It’s kind of a carryover from the football field. This is a team [where] not really anybody is an outspoken leader, but I think even though he’s a sophomore he has the potential to do that,” Price said. “Whether it’s Hunter, Gabe, Nathan [Walker] or whoever it had to be Hunter tonight and I think that makes us dangerous because it could be one of four guys on any given night.”
The Hawks got out to a 14-7 lead, but the Shells battled back with two triples from Huffman to cut the deficit to one at 14-13. In the second quarter, helped by a pair of three’s from Flowers, Carrollton expanded their lead to 22-13 part of a 9-0 run, but turnovers and cold shooting helped the Shells back into the game as they took advantage of their trips to the free throw line.
“We’re a young team and we make young team mistake. In the second quarter we were stuck on 22 points for an eternity and during that stretch, we got in foul trouble. I think we had four players get two fouls when went into halftime,” Price said.
With the score tied 22-22 coming out of the halftime, Carrollton hit their stride and went on a 19-6 run that last midway through the fourth quarter. Roxana put one last run together and got as close 41-36 with 4:47 to play.
The young Hawks were put into an inevitable situation of having to hold onto a lead late in the game, but they would end up passing the test. They kept the pressure up on defense but would slow down and look for the open man on offense as the Shells had to gamble and double-team the ball-handler, which led to open layups for Jones, Struble, and Walker.
“I just thought we played better and smarter in the second half,” Price said. “We made better decisions and stayed out of foul trouble, and made just enough decisions to win the ballgame.”
Like so many instances in years past, the football teams success has inadvertently but inevitably hurt the basketball team’s preseason preparation being a small school with 212 students. However, the Hawks have dealt with that and have enjoyed great success, but right now is the growing pain part of that process.
There may well be quite a few mistakes and tough times, but then everyone on the staff agrees that these young Hawks will grow in time and look a lot different for the better later in the season.
“We’re not where we need to be yet. With the football team we started a week later, we had a couple of kids get sick and missed two or three days, and our legs still aren’t under us,” Price said. “This is a work in progress, so the W was a plus, but we got a lot of room for improvement. This team will get better.”
