Wayne County defeats Monticello 90-39

By SHANNON HUTCHINSON

Sports Writer

The Monticello Trojans hosted Wayne County last Tuesday night at Trojan Gym.

Wayne County’s Tyrone Green scored a game high 24 points, with 5 assists

Monticello forward Luke Bristow worked on offense against Wayne County during a game last week. Photo by Duchess Sloan

 and 5 steals, plus 4 rebounds, as the Cards rolled to a big early lead and cruised to a 90-39 road win. Green, a 6-2 junior forward, tallied 16 points in the first half as the visitors built a 54-20 halftime lead. The junior stalwart shot 12 of 16 from the field, as the winners made 54 percent of their field goal attempts, while improving to 12-2.

"We came out and shot the ball pretty well, plus some of our younger guys came in and gained some valuable experience. After having a couple of nailbiters it was good to have a game that we could try some different combination and work on our depth," said Cards head coach Rodney Woods.

Junior guard Jerrod Gibbons added 15 points, all in the second quarter, while Steven Sexton netted 11 points, as all 12 Cards etched the scoring column, while three different players reached double figures. Gibbons finished 6 of 11 from the field, while Sexton grabbed 9 rebounds with 5 assists. Sexton made 5 of 8 field goal attempts, while earning the coach’s praise.

"Steven had a very solid floor game and I really liked his effort on the backboards, plus both him and Jerrod shot the ball pretty well," said Woods.

Monticello was paced by the tandem of senior guard Brian Tucker and junior forward Luke Bristow. Tucker finished with 16 points, aided by 7 of 8 shooting from the free throw line, plus tallied 6 rebounds, while Bristow netted 16 points, on 6 of 21 shooting from the field and grabbed 3 rebounds. The Trojans shot just 26 percent from the field and were plagued by 27 turnovers, 17 of those in the first half.

"I think Luke Bristow had a good second half for us offensively, after scoring only 2 points in the first half," said MHS Coach Shane Blevins Blevins. "Luke was very tentative in the first half."

Phillip Inman grabbed a game high 11 rebounds with 1 point, while Billy Inman added 8 boards with 4 points, as five different hosts scored in the contest.

"A bright spot for us was the play of Phillip Inman. He didn’t score a lot of points, but he was rebounding and he was around the ball a lot and was really active," said Blevins.

Tyrone Green tallied 10 points in the opening quarter, as Wayne County connected on 10 of 15 field goal attempts, to roll to a 23-10 first period lead. The Trojans finished 4 of 11 from the field and were paced by the 6 points of Brian Tucker.

"I felt like we played the first few minutes relatively well," said MHS Coach Shane Blevins. "But it was pretty much the same story as the game we played down there. We had some turnovers that led to easy baskets...we were just overwhelmed."

Jerrod Gibbons scored all 15 of his points in the second frame, to pace six different Cardinal scorers in the period, as the Cards pushed to a 54-20 halftime advantage. Wayne County was 14 of 28 from the field in the quarter, while Monticello made only 1 of 9 field goal attempts and committed 10 miscues. Tucker owned 14 of his team’s 20 points at intermission.

Brad Bell and Seth Frost totaled 5 points each, all in the third quarter, as the Cards used a 20-10 period advantage, to own a 74-30 lead, after three stanzas. Luke Bristow accounted for all 10 Trojan points, in the quarter.

Freshman guard Tyler King scored 8 points, all in the final half, while sophomore center Drew Guffey contributed 9 rebounds, 6 blocks, and 2 points, as all 12 Cards scored in the 90-38 district win. Four different Trojans scored in the fourth quarter, as the squad was outscored 16-9, in the closing period.

Cardinal Chris Martin dribbles as Wayne County sets up offensively. Photo by Duchess Sloan

"I was pleased with the way several of our younger players stepped in and made some positive things happen. Drew finished with 9 rebounds and 6 blocks. We just needed him and some of our other guys to keep working to improve each time we’re in the gym," said Woods.

Wayne County finished 38 of 71 from the field for 54 percent and made 5 of 11 3-pointers for 46 percent. The winners connected on 9 of 14 free throws for 64 percent and claimed a 41-31 rebound advantage, while totaling 23 steals with 20 assists, compared to just 9 turnovers.

Monticello finished 13 of 50 from the field for 26 percent and converted on only 1 of 10 3-pointers for 10 percent. The hosts drained 12 of 16 free throws for 75 percent and totaled 7 assists with 5 steals, while finishing with 27 turnovers.

"We couldn’t handle the pressure. This just wasn’t a real good matchup for us," said Blevins.

The win marked the Cardinal program’s 1,100th all time win, in the school’s history.

Jerrod Gibbons also reached an individual milestone in the win, as his 15 points moved him over the 1,500 point mark for his career.

"To pick up the school’s 1,100th win says a lot about the history of our program and for Jerrod to reach that mark in the middle of his junior season certainly says a bunch about the type of player her is," added Woods.

Both teams were out of action the remainder of the week, due to the snowstorm on Thursday and Friday.

The Cards return to Cardinal Gym on Tuesday night for a district contest with McCreary Central and wrap-up their week with a Thursday night road trip to Pickett County.

Monticello’s game with Russell County, which was cancelled on Friday night, has been rescheduled for February 11. The Trojans will get a little rest this week before a Friday night appointment at Lynn Camp.

That’s good news for Blevins’ who has several players battling a flu-like virus early this week.

"Hopefully this time off will help some of these guys heal up," he noted.

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