Smith, Brannan power Hawks past Greenfield
CARROLLTON - It’s been a recurring theme for the Carrollton Hawks that they’ve struggled with their shooting out of the gate, which is never good.
Get The Latest News!
Don't miss our top stories and need-to-know news everyday in your inbox.
The Hawks are coming off a disappointing Beardstown Tournament performance by going 2-2 when they won the tournament last season.
Despite the negative vibes the Hawks were back home in Carrollton for just the fourth time this season out of 23 games and took on their long time Greene County rivals the Greenfield-Northwestern Tigers.
The Hawks prevailed 52-37 over the Tigers on Tuesday night and go to 18-5 and 4-0 in the WIVC.
Jerrett Smith led the Hawks with 18 points and Cole Brannan was right behind him with 17 for the night.
“I felt good,” Smith said. “If felt good to be back home instead of on the road. The home atmosphere is always different.”
The six-foot junior had one of his better games of the season and did a valiant job of going up against Greenfield’s six-foot-four-inch forward Connor Shade.
“He’s been leading us in a lot of ways over the last couple of weeks,” Carrollton Coach Jeff Krumwiede said. “I hope that not only will he do it on the floor, but off the floor. He’s been a big difference.”
The Carrollton versus Greenfield rivalry is always one to watch in Greene County and the Hawk players are always ready for the challenge.
“Greenfield is Greenfield. Smith said. “We’re going to get up for them no matter what sport it is. The seniors, four years they’ve been here, they’ve never beaten us in a single boys sport. That played a big factor in it, not wanting to break that tradition.
The Tigers fell to 8-9 and to 1-5 in the conference.
Jordan Williams, although he didn’t start, led the Tigers with 11 points and was five for six from the free throw line.
Austin Bishop finished with seven points and Tyler Woods added six with two three-pointers.
It was a slow start for the Hawks as they came out shooting cold from the outside in the first quarter and whenever a guard would penetrate inside Bishop, Shade, and Woods was their to greet them by using their size advantage to force tough shots.
Coach Krumwiede suggests that part of the problem with the Hawks shooting problems is that they’ve been on the road for so much of the season and have now only played four games at home over a 23-game period.
“It’s probably not that big of a shock that we don’t shoot well, Krumwiede said. “We got to get back on familiar ground.”
Just over two minutes into the game the Tigers point guard, Reese Cole picked up two fouls and sat for the rest of the half.
Williams was inserted for Cole and he was an instant impact.
Greenfield led 6-2 in the early going converted on layup with 0.4 seconds to go before the end of the first quarter when Williams was fouled on a fast-break, but failed to make complete the three-point play.
On the Tigers first possession of the second quarter, Woods hit his last three-point shot of the game to give Greenfield their biggest lead of the game at 16-11.
That’s when the Hawks woke up.
Carrollton scored eight straight points including a trey from Brody Howard that gave the Hawks their first lead a 19-16.
Later, Brannan added another triple to extend the Hawks lead to six at 26-20 late in the first half.
The Hawks completed a 19-6 second run and led 30-23 at halftime.
As the second half began Carrollton hit their stride.
The Hawks outscored the Tigers 17-5 in the quarter.
Brannan and Smith combined for 13 out of the 17 points the Hawks scored.
Defensively, Carrollton did well to double and sometimes triple team Shade down low, who was causing problems at times.
“We had a good third quarter and did a nice job of running the offence,” Krumwiede said. “We got to the rim and didn’t take three’s. Until we get our shooting turned around it’s something the kids have to buy into.”
The Hawks now look ahead to Friday night as they take on the West Central Cougars (17-8) in Carrollton.
This could be or already is the biggest game of the Hawks season because of the conference and regional implications on the line.
“Definitely one of the biggest games we’ll play and we have to play like a team,” Smith said. “Everything has got to be clicking if we want to win.”
“It’s no doubt it’s our biggest game because of our failure to do much in tournaments this year,” Krumwiede said. “For the conference it’s one of the two things that this team still has left as far as their legacy is concerned.”
“Hopefully the kids are focused on Friday night,” Krumwiede said. “We’re both undefeated (in WIVC play) and the one that comes out of this game is going to be in the drivers seat.”
More like this:
- Most Popular
- Top Stories
- Most Recent
