The Craig County boys were disappointed after losing a basketball game to Covington in New Castle Friday night, but they perked up when they saw what the Cougars did to Cave Spring a day later. Covington beat the Knights by 21 points in the Roy Stanley Shootout at Roanoke College.
“Covington has a very good team,” said Craig coach Ryan Frazier. “The Cave Spring coach said that was the most athletic team they played all season, and they’re a 3A team. We only trailed Covington by eight points at the half.”
Craig gave the Cougars all they could handle before Covington regrouped and raced to an 87-49 win. The Rockets trailed 17-11 after the first quarter and only lost the second quarter by two points.
“We wanted to slow down the pace,” said Frazier. “They like to get out and run and they’re very good in transition, and we wanted to make them play our game.”
Wyatt McPherson was tough around the basket for Craig, finishing with 16 points and a bunch of rebounds. Dalton McPherson had 13 points and Caleb Todd had a dozen as the Rockets held their own into the second half, only to run out of gas. Covington put up 53 points in the second half.
“They’re a tough matchup for us,” said Frazier. “They’re deep and they just keep running guys at you. We couldn’t stay with them for a full game.”
The loss dropped Craig to 1-10 on the season and Tuesday the Rockets were scheduled to play at Bath County, where they had a good shot of picking up another win. On Friday the Rockets are at Parry McCluer.