By Gaylen Duskey
realfang@citlink.net
Calhoun went into Thursday night's game against Buckhannon-Upshur in the
first round of the Ritchie Invitational with high hopes.
But early in the game B-U forward Bub Short stole a pass and went down the
floor and dunked the ball.
The Red Devils looked like a deer in the headlights.
Mere moments later Short stole another Calhoun pass and once again went in
for an easy dunk as the Red Devils stood and watched.
A third dunk a little later elicited no response from Calhoun. The Red
Devils were like the proverbial deer in the headlights with an 18-wheeler
approaching at breakneck speeds.
And when the crash was over the Buccaneers had rolled to a 66-28 victory. It
was B-U's first win of the season. For Calhoun, now 0-7, the losing streak
has now reached 29 straight games.
Buckhannon-Upshur despite rolling to an easy early lead did not put Calhoun
away, instead giving the Red Devils a few opportunities to rally back into
the contest. But that rally never happened. Instead B-U was on top 18-4 at
the end of the first quarter and 38-8 at halftime.
But everything seemed to work for B-U. For instance the team had made only
three three-point goals in its first four games of the season.
Against
Calhoun it hit seven with Daniel Powell getting three en route to his game
high 14 points.
Dalton Westfall was B-U's leading scorer heading into Thursday's game. He
got in foul trouble early and went to the bench with a mere four points. But
his front court running mate - Short - did quite well in his stead as he
torched the Red Devils for six baskets, including four on dunks. He had 13
points and a team high seven rebounds. Westfall, despite only seeing limited
action, had 11 points while Alex Louk added 10 off the bench.
Calhoun did not have a player in double figures and was led by Ricky Hall
with nine. He was backed by Caleb Schoolcraft and Ryan Slider with seven
each while William Baker added three and Lucas Wilson two.
Luke Moore, Ray Davis, Tyler Gerwig, Derek Dawson, Zach Thomas, Isaac Coon
and Trent Phillips all played but did not score.
Hall led Calhoun's rebounders with six while Gerwig and Slider had five
each.
The Red Devils will get a chance to rebound from being the "deer" tonight
when it plays Doddridge County in the consolation game of the Ritchie
Invitational Tournament. Game time is 6 p.m. Ritchie will play B-U in the
championship game.
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