BOYS' BASKETBALL: Golden Falcons fall to Chargers

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on December 7, 2016 10:01 AM

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PIKEVILLE -- Trailing by three with 13.7 seconds remaining, Charles B. Aycock wasted nearly 10 seconds before Mike Evans found teammate Eli Batts uncovered at the top of the key.

Batts got a perfect look at the basket.

As an Ayden-Grifton defender lunged toward him, Batts lofted a 3-pointer that hit the front end of the iron and bounced off the back end. It rolled harmlessly off the rim and the Chargers escaped with a 53-50, non-conference victory Tuesday evening.

"It's exactly (the shot) I wanted," CBA head coach David Elmore said.

Aycock trailed 51-42 with 4:19 remaining in regulation.

Semaj Yelverton's open-court layup off Justin Lofton-Russell's assist ignited a 6-2 run. Lofton-Russell converted a layup off Batts' assist that started with Lofton-Russell's steal at midcourt. A rare A-G turnover led to Yelverton's basket off TayQuan Hampton's pass.

The Golden Falcons trailed 53-50.

Forced to foul in the final 30.7 seconds, Aycock coaxed A-G into another turnover with 13.7 seconds to go. That set up Batts' potential game-tying attempt from behind the 3-point line.

"Everything they executed is exactly like we game-planned for and what we practiced for late last week and yesterday heading into today," said Elmore, whose team didn't succumb to the Chargers' 1-2-1-1 halfcourt zone trap throughout the game.

"We got a little careless with the ball there in the third and fourth quarter, and that's where the game turned. We didn't continue to do what we had done to be successful in the first half and that's what killed us."

Aycock seized a 27-24 lead at the break on Batts' old-fashioned three-point play and two free throws from Evans.

Ayden-Grifton broke a 31-31 tie with a quarter-ending 10-2 run.

Batts hardly touched the ball during that stretch and the Golden Falcons' guards failed to get the ball into their post players on occasion. Elmore said his team didn't "reward our big guys and our post players when they get to the spot and they're open. If we do that consistently for the entire game, then we're probably winning and not having to sweat it out right there at the end."

Batts collected a team-high 18 points -- but just three in the second half. Yelverton contributed 13 points, four rebounds and two blocked shots. Hampton finished with seven points. Lofton-Russell provided four points, four rebounds, four assists and two steals.

AJ Suggs led AG with 21 points.

"It was a heckuva an effort clawing back in it after we got down nine, but again, those turnovers, you look back at getting careless with the ball (and that) is why the game turned," said Elmore, whose team committed 14 turnovers on the night.

"Other than that, I was extremely proud of the effort."