The Craig County boys held off a late Mustang rally to beat Eastern Montgomery in a Pioneer District basketball game in Elliston last Friday night. The Rockets took a 49-42 win to give coach Ryan Frazier his first victory as head coach at Craig County.
“We had a really good practice the day before and we came out ready to play,” said Frazier. “Everyone stepped up and helped one another. I was real happy for them.”
The Rockets jumped to an early lead and had an 8-4 advantage after the first quarter. East Mont battled back to take a 14-10 lead, but Craig closed out the half strong and led 20-14 at intermission. Craig never trailed in the second half, holding off a fourth quarter run by East Mont with good ballhandling and strong rebounding from Wyatt McPherson.
Caleb Todd was high scorer for both teams with 13 points. Dalton McPherson had eight points, Devin Hutchison had seven, Wyatt McPherson had six, Jesse Brizendine had five, Jakob Jones and Noah Nichols had four each and Brandon Swingle had two in a balanced Craig County attack.
“That was a good win, and it was a district game,” said Frazier. “I’m proud of our guys. They didn’t lose their cool when it got a little chippy, and we never gave up the lead in the second half.”
The win followed a 64-25 loss to a strong Parry McCluer team in New Castle last Wednesday. Parry McCluer’s press gave the Rockets some trouble.
“We had too many turnovers,” said Frazier.
Dalton McPherson had nine points to lead Craig and Todd had eight. The jayvees also won, 40-34, to make it a Craig County sweep for the evening.
Now 1-8, the Rockets are scheduled to play at Narrows tonight, January 17. On Friday Craig will host a talented Covington team, followed by a trip to Bath County next Tuesday.