Carver basketball makes a big statement in big win over Westover
The excuses were already lined up for Carver.
There was a last-minute venue change to Hardaway High School’s court that the team did not know about until the day prior. There was a slow start that resulted in a first-quarter deficit. There was also the pressure of needing a win against Westover, which it entered the night trailing in the region standings.
The Tigers, though, did not need them and rattled off a convincing 68-53 win over Westover, gaining ground on the Patriots in the region 1-4A standings. And the game was not nearly as close as the final score appeared.
“We knew the importance of this game,” Carver coach Warren Beaulah said. “We were basically playing for second place in our region. We came out and tried to get some easy baskets and attack. D.J. Riles and Jacory Harper got in there, made some easy layups and gave us a little space.”
Carver trailed 14-13 at the end of the first quarter. It retook the lead early in the second and never trailed again. It used big second and third quarters to put the game out of reach — the Tigers led by 21 at one point — and even after a brief Patriots run with around five minutes left, the game was never truly in doubt.
Riles led the Tigers with 19 points, while Harper finished with 18 points. The two were a vital part of the Tigers’ third-quarter run to ice the game.
It should be fairly easy sailing for the Carver boys for the rest of the regular season. They host last-place Cairo, followed by Northside, on Jan. 24 and Jan. 25, then travel to Westover to wrap up the regular season.
Should Carver take care of business against Cairo and Northside, it will likely set up a winner-take-all matchup with Cairo for the No. 2 seed.
“That’s why we were like, ‘we’ve got to win this game,’” Beaulah said. “This was the one. And we got through this one, so we’ve just got to prep, get ready, and hopefully Friday, have the same energy.”
Carver girls continue rolling
The Carver girls lead region 1-4A outright, after beating Americus-Sumter 54-46 this past Saturday. And the road ahead looks more than doable, especially after Tuesday night’s trouncing of the Westover girls.
Tigers senior and Louisville commit Olivia Cochran took a hard fall early in the game and exited briefly with a limp, but the Patriots couldn’t do much in her absence. She returned in the second half (though she didn’t have to play much) as Carver rolled to an easy 82-39 win.
Carver’s girls face fifth-place Cairo, followed by Northside, and wrap up the season with another matchup with Westover. The Carver girls should be a No. 1 seed in the 1-4A region tournament
This story was originally published January 22, 2020 at 6:00 AM.
