bball

On Monday night, the McCracken County Mustangs and Lady Mustangs opened their season at Strawberry Hills Pharmacy Arena, hosting a doubleheader against the Community Christian Academy Warriors. The hosts would own the night, putting on a pair of dominant displays as they each began their year with a win; first with the Lady Mustangs picking up a 91-14 win, before the Mustangs capped off the night with an 83-29 final.

Mustangs 83, Warriors 29

In the latter matchup of the doubleheader, the Mustangs started their year on the right foot, lighting up the Warriors in an impressive showing.

Freshman Aaron Adams set the tone for the Mustangs with a team-high 14-point performance, followed by Dylan Jackson’s 11-point performance. Scoring was spread around well for McCracken, with six other Mustangs putting up seven or more points; Jay Martin, Owen Grogan, Paxton Carver, Garrett Miller, Carter Hawes, and Elijah Pullen. As a team, the Mustangs shot exceptionally well from the outside, combining for 14 total made three-pointers. As noted by head coach Dustin Roberts, perimeter shooting will continue to be a focal point for the Mustangs going forward.

“We’re a team that knows we’re going to rely on the three-point shot a lot, this was the third time between scrimmages, and now that we’ve made over 10 threes, and we’re making the tough shots,” Roberts said. “We moved the ball well, I thought we defended well, so overall I’m pleased with the performance tonight.”

On the other end of things, Bradon DeJarnatt and Jonah Anderson led the way for the Warriors, registering seven points each on the evening. Ahmed Dee began his senior season with a six-point showing, while Cooper Reed and Miles Jendro picked up five and four points, respectively.

The Mustangs rattled off 12 consecutive points to build up an 18-2 lead midway through the first. The saving grace for the Warriors through the first would be looks from the outside, as threes from Reed and DeJarnatt kept the score from getting out of hand. The Mustangs responded to DeJarnatt’s long ball with one of their own from Martin to close out the quarter, as they took a 27-10 lead into the second.

Piecing together a 9-2 run to open the second quarter, the Mustangs closed off the perimeter to the Warriors, forcing CCA down low as they continued to pull away. In a similarly dominant fashion to the first, the Mustangs would dictate the pace of play all throughout the second, holding the Warriors to just six points on the quarter to hold a 49-16 head by halftime.

After Fulcher started the second half in style with an early three, the third quarter ended up being a comparatively low-scoring affair, with the Mustangs outscoring CCA just 7-1 across the first seven minutes. A three from Anderson bookended the quiet quarter, as McCracken led 56-20 headed into the final frame.

In stark contrast to the third, the fourth quickly turned into a shootout, sparked by a pair of quickfire threes from Elijah Pullen. In total, the Mustangs knocked down six from beyond the arch over the course of the fourth, with Carver, Hawes, and Kaden Boyd all striking from range, outscoring CCA 27-9 as they closed out a dominant 83-29 victory.

“It was good to get some of the guys who may not play as much in some close games in there, they’re some really great young players who are working hard in practice, and developing,” Roberts said on the Mustang’s impact players in the fourth. “It was a good opportunity for them to go out there and really show what they can do.”

“It’s always different seeing the guys when the lights are brighter in the games; are they going to take shots they don’t normally take in practice, or make mistakes they shouldn’t make,” Roberts continued. “But, I thought our guys showed up well, and showed that what we’ve seen in practice and scrimmages is what we’re going to continue to get.”

Looking ahead, the Mustangs return to action this weekend at the Marshall County Hoopfest, where they’re set to face a tough challenge in defending Third Region champions Butler County. As for CCA, they get right back to work Tuesday night to host Christian Fellowship.

Lady Mustangs 91, Lady Warriors 14

In their earlier of the two games, the Lady Mustangs opened their season in dominant fashion, taking it to the Lady Warriors buzzer-to-buzzer to earn a 91-14 victory.

“First game of the year, it’s a district game so everybody was excited, our goal was to just go out and play a strong game early,” Lady Mustangs head coach Scott Sivills said. “We wanted to play solid, fundamental basketball from start to finish, and we did just that. We had some really balanced scoring from top to bottom, and just overall, I’m really happy with how we played.”

In that balanced scoring effort, the Lady Mustangs saw four players break double-digit scoring. Skater Houser topped the scoresheet with 15 points, closely followed by Anna Hammonds with 12. Ava Hughes and Reagan Hill each played key roles with 10 points each, while Ashley Word provided solid outside shooting with eight points of her own.

As for the Lady Warriors, Emma Wring led the way with her six-point effort, followed up by Cecily Ford’s four-point night. Kaylissa Sullivan and Jaedin Casey combined for the remainder of CCA’s scoring, putting up two points each.

With Hammonds knocking down a three just seconds into the first, the Lady Mustangs were off to the races, quickly putting distance between themselves and CCA. Pressing hard, the hosts worked well in transition, swarming the Lady Warriors defensively as they forced the visitors to call a timeout, now down 14-0. By the time CCA found their way onto the board through an Emma Wring three, McCracken had extended their opening run to 20 points, as they held a healthy lead midway through the first. Those three points would be all the Lady Mustangs would allow through the first frame, as they led 31-3 after one.

McCracken kept their foot down well into the second, as a similar story played out. Continuing to play staunch defense, the Lady Warriors were only able to add a single point before halftime, as the Lady Mustangs pulled even further away over the course of the second. By halftime, the hosts held a staggering 56-4 advantage.

“It’s been our mantra for years, creating turnovers and moving in transition, and we’ve got some great kids that can do that for us this year,” Sivills said on the Lady Mustangs’ defensive efforts. “We like to push the ball up, take good quality shots, and I felt like tonight we did well in transition. We emphasized the extra pass, the kids did great to make that extra pass and open up good shots.”

The Lady Warriors would find their bearings early in the third, exceeding their first half output in just one minute, with five points between Ford and Jaedin Casey. Though not as lopsided as the first half, the Lady Mustangs would still hold firm control of the third, outscoring CCA 11-3 through the remainder of the quarter as they took a 69-12 lead into the fourth.

Through the fourth, the Lady Mustangs continued to pile on the pressure offensively, while smothering CCA in their own half. Outscoring the Lady Warriors 25-2 down the stretch, the final buzzer eventually sounded as McCracken collected their first win of the season by a final of 91-14.

Following their big win, the Lady Mustangs face a stiff test when they return to action, as they look to start the year 2-0 against Henderson County. CCA will host their first game of the season Tuesday night when they host Christian Fellowship.