The Craig County girls survived a wild affair Saturday as they defeated Eastern Montgomery in basketball. The Rockets took a 56-49 win in overtime in New Castle.
“It was a matter of who survived,” said Craig coach Randy Hale. “It wasn’t pretty but it was a win, so we’ll take it.”
The Rockets had one girl missing due to disciplinary reasons, then Nicole Austin went down with a concussion in the first half. Craig fell behind by 15 points in the first half before the Rockets came storming back after intermission. The Rockets then outscored the Mustangs, 10-3, in overtime to pull out the win.
Kaylee Pauley fouled out in the overtime period and Autumn Hutchison finished with four fouls. East Mont had four girls foul out, including two in the overtime period, and they finished with just three girls on the floor.
Tierrney Zysk finished with 25 points to lead the Rockets and Pauley had 14 before fouling out. Craig won despite shooting just 24 percent from the floor, making 18 of 74 attempts. The Rockets shot just 49 percent from the line but had 38 tries, making 17. Pauley was seven for 12.
Zysk also had 20 rebounds for game high, and Hutchison had 10 boards. Oliver and Pauley had three assists each and Pauley also had four steals.
The win lifted Craig to 5-6 on the season and the Rockets are hoping to get to the .500 mark with a game at Narrows tonight. On Friday they’ll host Covington and on Saturday they’re scheduled to go to Covington, but that game may be moved. The game was originally scheduled for Tuesday.
“Some of our girls said they can’t make it Saturday, and we’re not going there with half a team,” said Hale.
