Knights win GVVC boys JH basketball tournament

Tuesday, November 3, 2015
The Northeast Vernon County Knights celebrate their title game victory over the Bronaugh Wildcats at Hume High School, Friday night. (Noah Jones/Daily Mail)

Junior high basketball is more about development than glory, but in the Golden Valley Vernon County Conference tournament junior high boy's basketball championship game, the Northeast Vernon County Knights and Bronaugh Wildcats battled for the victory as coaches on both sides preached fundamentals.

NEVC defeated Bronaugh in an intensely fought battle, 34-27, Friday evening at Hume High School.

The game began slowly. Bronaugh's Kyle Harrell made two-straight baskets early, then the scoreboard remained unchanged as the two teams appeared to try and figure each other out most of the first quarter. Justin Culbertson scored his first field goal of the night to put the Knights on the board.

Justin Culbertson (35) of NEVC defends Bronaugh's Kyle Harrell (21) during the GVVC tournament champion game Friday night in Hume. (Noah Jones/Daily Mail)

The second and third quarters mimicked tennis balls at Wimbledon, with both teams racing from one end of the court to the other. NEVC coach Joel McDuffey said his team followed their game-plan.

"Our plan was just to get the ball rolling," he said. "We wanted to get fast breaks off of them because we knew their press, if they set it up, was pretty strong. They do a really nice job on the first front, so we wanted to turn it into a running game, trying to get them up-and- down the court, stretching them, trying to get easy layups."

Coming out of halftime, the Wildcats pressed the Knights, manufacturing a series of six quick points. Harrell scored a Bronaugh basket. He then picked off the inbounds pass from NEVC, passed the ball to teammate JR Stratford, who then scored.

NEVC's Jaxon Prough (30) draws contact from Bronaugh's Chris Rider (22) while shooting. (Noah Jones/Daily Mail)

The Bronaugh boys did not let up as they swarmed NEVC. Garrett Earnest stole the ball and made a jump shot changing the lead to the Wildcats' favor, 14-13. Bronaugh forced another turnover, but did not register another basket.

A series of fouls followed. Stratford was called for a foul on NEVC's Jaxon Prough, who went to the line and completed an and-one to give NEVC a 15-14 lead.

"Prough and Culbertson did an awesome job tonight going through the fouls and getting the ball up to the rim and giving it the chance to go in," McDuffey said. "Getting the and-one opportunities is big time especially when you're playing a team that is pressing hard."

The GVVC tournament runner-up Bronaugh Wildcats junior high basketball team.

After more fouls, both teams settled down a bit. Stratford scored a basket to tie the game 17-17, but Prough gathered a rebound and went up for the basket after his teammate, Derek Keith, missed his second free throw attempt.

The fourth quarter kept similar style to its predecessor; Harrell gathered a stolen pass then fed the ball to a wide-open Earnest for an easy two points.

As time went on, the Knights lead increased, and Bronaugh took to fouling despite pleas by Wildcats head coach Scarbaugh not to foul. Scarbaugh eventually burned two timeouts to reiterate his request.

More fouls ensued. As time drained from the clock, NEVC walked calmly across the court as their fans cheered loudly. The final seconds ran off the clock, and Prough held the ball under McDuffey's advisement until the game was over.

"I feel like we made too many mental mistakes. We played well; we played hard. Just played kind of scared -- that deer in the headlight look, 'Oh my gosh we're in a championship game,"" Scarbaugh said.

Scarbaugh said his team, which started three seventh-graders, were not quite ready to "win a game like this" against a good eighth grade dominated team.

Scarbaugh said his team made a lot of progress. Last year Bronaugh had two victories during the year, but in Scarbaugh's inaugural season he said he saw a lot of improvement.

"It was a lot of pressure for a seventh-grader on a junior high team [playing] a championship game. They won two games last year," Scarbaugh said. "All that said, I thought they played pretty well. [There has been] a lot of improvement. This is a team that has come a long way. To even be here is great for us."

For NEVC, Culbertson led the team with 15 points, making 6-of-7 shots from the field and three-of-six free throw attempts. Prough followed with 14 points, hitting five shots from the field including a three-pointer.

For Bornaugh, Harrell led the team with 10 points, shooting 24 percent from the field, Stratford registered seven points, going 3-for-8 from the field, while connecitng on 1-of-4 from the charity stripe. Earnest hit three-of-four shots from the field en route to six points.

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