Raiders roll past Barbourville, 81-66
By Steve LeMaster
stevelemastersports@yahoo.com
BARBOURVILLE – The McCreary Central Raiders remained undefeated on the road on Tuesday, Dec. 5, topping the Barbourville Tigers 81-66 in an early-season boys’ high school basketball game.
With the win, McCreary Central moved to 2-0.
Barbourville dropped to 1-2 with the loss.
McCreary Central shot 50 percent from the field (28-of-56), finishing 13-for-26 beyond the arc.
The Raiders shot 55.6 percent (10-of-18) from the free throw line.
Five different Raiders reached double figures in the scoring column as the visiting team pulled away to win convincingly. The five Raiders accounted for all of the winning squad’s scoring.
Derrick Paige led McCreary Central with a double-double, scoring 21 points and grabbing 17 rebounds, both of which were game-highs.
Following Paige in the McCreary Central scoring column, Hunter Jones netted 18 points.
Accompanying Paige and Jones in double figures for the Raiders, John Cash and Nick Longmire added 14 points apiece.
Rounding out the McCreary Central individual scoring and joining his four teammates in double figures, Devin Strunk finished with 12 points.
Barbourville shot 44 percent (22-of-50) from the field in the loss. The Tigers were 6-for-17 (35.3 percent) from 3-point range.
Barbourville shot 72.7 percent (16-of-22) from the free throw line.
Homestanding Barbourville edged the Raiders 31-30 in the rebounding column.
A pair of Tigers managed to reach double figures in the scoring column.
Christian Bunch paced Barbourville with 12 points. Bunch connected on a pair of 3-point field goals for the Tigers.
Accompanying Bunch in double figures for Barbourville, John McVey netted 11 points.
Tanner Mills and Shawn Vaughn added eight points apiece for the Tigers in the setback.
Trenton Schall posted seven points for Barbourville while Connor Blair chipped in six points and pulled down a team-high 11 rebounds.
McCreary Central is slated to host Barbourville for a late-season boys’ high school basketball game on February 8, 2018.
