As Trigg County basketball coach Michael Fraliex works to narrow a reliable rotation for the final weeks of the regular season, some of his reserves are making that decision tougher.
The Wildcats got 20 points from their bench, with several buckets coming in crunch time as Trigg County posted a 63-54 win over Crittenden County on Tuesday at Wildcat Gym.
The win means Trigg will be no worse than a three seed in the district tournament later this month, while Crittenden County is relegated to the fourth seed.
The back-and-forth affair saw five lead changes and four ties in the first half as the Wildcats worked to shake themselves from a Crittenden defense designed to limit leading scorers Davaree Gude and Landon Swann.
Sophomore Karmelo Dixon entered the game in the second quarter and responded with five points as the Wildcats built a 32-23 lead at halftime.
In two other Trigg wins over Crittenden this year, the Wildcats extended halftime leads on their way to double-digit wins. However, the Rockets had other plans on Tuesday, opening the third quarter with a 10-0 run to take a 33-32 lead.
Dixon added two buckets at the end of the quarter to lift the Wildcats to a 42-37 lead after three.
Gude was able to get into open space in the second half with 12 of his 17 points coming in the final two quarters.
With Trigg holding a tenuous four-point lead early in the fourth quarter, Caden Scott drilled a 3-pointer that sparked a 7-0 Wildcat run and gave them a 50-39 lead.
Crittenden County cut the deficit to seven points, but Scott and Gude, who worked together in the Trigg backfield in the fall, combined for 16 of Trigg’s 21 fourth-quarter points to keep the Rockets at arm’s length.
In addition to double-digit outputs from Gude (17) and Dixon (11), Landon Swann added 10 points and seven rebounds, and Clay Travis had seven points and eight rebounds.
Brady Dayberry hit three 3-pointers to finish with 16 points, and Brayden Poindexter added nine points and 13 rebounds.
Crittenden County hit 10 of 35 shots from behind the arc but turned the ball over 21 times. The Rockets will play at Heritage Christian Academy on Thursday. Crittenden’s lone win came against the Warriors on January 6.
The Wildcats shot 47 percent in the second half and attempted a season high 30 free throws, hitting 16.
Trigg County will host Lyon County for homecoming on Thursday and entertain Heritage Christian Academy Saturday afternoon at 2:00.
| Trigg County 63, Crittenden County 54 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Crittenden County (1-22, 0-6) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Brady Dayberry 6-10 1-4 16; Brayden Poindexter 2-5 5-6 9; Emmitt Ellington 3-14 0-0 9; Conner Poindexter 2-3 2-2 7; Caden Hutchison 2-5 0-0 6; Logan Martin 2-6 0-0 5; Jack Porter 0-4 2-2 2; Roane Topp 0-6 0-0 0; Kash Myers 0-0 0-0 0; Jayden Jones 0-2 0-0 0; Totals 17-55 10-14 54. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Trigg County (6-14, 2-2) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Davaree Gude 5-8 7-10 17; Karmelo Dixon 4-8 3-5 11; Landon Swann 4-12 2-4 10; Caden Scott 3-6 1-2 9; Zammarion Broussard 2-5 3-9 7; Clay Travis 3-12 0-0 7; Carter Shepherd 1-7 0-0 2; Cam McCormick 0-0 0-0 0; Totals 22-58 16-30 63. | ||||||||||||||||||
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| 3-point goals – Crittenden County 10-35 (Brady Dayberry 3-5; Emmitt Ellington 3-10; Caden Hutchison 2-5; Logan Martin 1-5; Conner Poindexter 1-2; Jack Porter 0-2; Roane Topp 0-4; Jayden Jones 0-2), Trigg County 3-21 (Caden Scott 2-4; Clay Travis 1-6; Karmelo Dixon 0-4; Carter Shepherd 0-4; Landon Swann 0-3).
Rebounds – Crittenden County 32 (Brayden Poindexter 13), Trigg County 36 (Clay Travis 8). Assists – Crittenden County 13 (Emmitt Ellington 5), Trigg County 10 (Karmelo Dixon 3; Davaree Gude 3). Total Fouls – Crittenden County 19, Trigg County 11. |
