Raiders pull away from Rockcastle County, 68-55

By Steve LeMaster
stevelemastersports@yahoo.com

MOUNT VERNON – The McCreary County Raiders prevailed in a boys’ high school basketball season opener on Tuesday night, upending host Rockcastle County 68-55.
McCreary Central Coach Jimmy Voight was glad to notch the win but thought his team could have played much better.
“It’s always good to start your season off with a victory on the road,” said Voight. “Especially when you don’t feel like your team played anywhere to their capabilities or potential. I thought we showed first game jitters as we did not shoot the basketball well either from the floor or free throw line – especially in the first half. We also got into some key foul trouble during the game and Rockcastle County was able to hang in the game from the free throw line. We played our best basketball down the stretch of the fourth quarter and was able to pull away from the Rockcastle County Rockets.”
McCreary Central featured a balanced scoring attack.
Derrick Paige paced McCreary Central with 18 points. Paige was one of four Raiders to reach double figures in the scoring column. Nick Longmire netted 17 points, John Cash contributed 16 points and Hunter Jones posted 12 points for the Raiders.
McCreary Central is scheduled to visit Barbourville on Tuesday, Dec. 5.