The Craig County boys’ basketball team had a three-game schedule last week and swept all three games, including two Pioneer District opponents.
The Rockets opened the week with a game in Roanoke against Faith Christian and took a 45-38 non-district win. Craig used a big second half as the Rockets led just 22-21 at intermission but won the second half by six points.
Matthew Burton, Faith’s best player, gave Craig trouble in the first half as he scored 18 of the Warriors’ 21 points, including his 1,000th career point. Craig coach Jimmy Fisher went to a box-and-one defense in the second half and Burton had just five points after intermission. The Rockets were led by Junior Marcus Donithan with 14 points while senior Luke Potter had 13 and junior Caleb Cregger added 10 points.
A night later the Rockets hosted Bath in a district doubleheader with the girls and took a 68-35 win in a very physical game.
“It was a rough game,” said Fisher. “Both coaches warned the officials to call the game tighter and not let things get out of control. It got very rough, several technicals and intentional fouls were called.”
Craig was able to jump on Bath early and didn’t let up. The Rockets had a healthy lead at the half, 36-14.
“Bath played much better in the third quarter and actually outscored us, 16-11,” said Fisher.
The Rockets got rolling again in the final period, scoring 21 and limiting Bath to five fourth quarter points. Craig’s Luke Potter had a game high 17 points while sophomore Brayden Dunbar had 12 points and Donithan added 11.
On Thursday the Rockets had another doubleheader with the girls, also in New Castle, and raced to a 42-29 Pioneer District win after a slow start.
“I think we were a little leg weary from the back-to-back games Monday and Tuesday,” said Fisher. “We didn’t look like ourselves, but some of that is due to the play of Highland. They are a scrappy bunch and moved the ball well to find some creases. We played better defensively after the first quarter.”
The Rockets trailed 10-9 after the first quarter but led 19-15 at the half. A big third period increased the lead to 31-21 and the Rockets were able to close it out for the win.
“We played really hard during the third quarter to get a big lead, but the Rams always play hard and kept it close down to the end,” said Fisher.
Craig was led by Cregger with 18 points and Potter had 14 points.
With the win the Rockets improved to 4-6 overall after an 0-5 start. The extended football season put the Rockets behind but they’ve been playing good basketball in the past two weeks.
This is another busy week for the boys with four games in six days. They were scheduled to host Eastern Montgomery in a district game Monday followed by home games with the Covington Boys Home on Tuesday and Narrows on Thursday. On Saturday they play at Bland County in a doubleheader with the girls. The boys’ game is scheduled to tip-off at 4 pm.
Next week they return the trip to East Mont on Monday and host a strong Parry McCluer team on January 29.
