Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Knights sweep away four years of losing to rival Titans
Josh Henderson and Clay Lacy score 15 points apiece as Cave Spring tops Hidden Valley.
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How long has it been since the Cave Spring boys basketball team knocked off archrival Hidden Valley?
It came shortly after a presidential inauguration -- as in George W. Bush's second term.
"It's been 1,432 days," said Cave Spring coach Billy Hicks, definitively. "It was Feb. 16, 2005."
The Knights ended the drought 65-42 in dramatic fashion.
Cave Spring broke open a 27-23 game at intermission by exactly doubling Hidden Valley's second-half offensive output, 38-19.
The victory raised Cave Spring's record to 12-3 and 4-0 in the River Ridge District. The Titans, who entered the game winning five of their last six, are now 6-9, 2-2.
Several Cave Spring players made significant contributions Tuesday. Towering post player Josh Henderson and wing Clay Lacy led the Knights with 15 points each, while Mark Overstreet scored 11, all in the second half. All three players are juniors.
"I don't have anything to say," said first-year Titans coach Troy Wells, who has weathered considerable adversity with injuries decimating his lineup all season long. "Tell Billy I wish him well."
Predictably, Hicks had plenty to say, especially since his team has played exceptionally well the past month.
After a 74-54 pasting by Northside on Dec. 17, the Knights have won eight of nine, including a 31-point victory over Northside when the schools met again two weeks later.
"That Northside loss was a thunderbolt," Hicks said. "The kids came back. After that loss, we had two or three of the most physical practices since I've been here and they've played beautifully since. We've had a bad quarter now and then, a couple of bad minutes here and there, but overall, we're playing very well."
The Titans opened the game with a 5-0 spurt, with senior wing Zach Barrett providing all of Hidden Valley's points.
It took Cave Spring almost five minutes to break the ice when Quentin Dill connected on a 3-pointer. The first half featured six ties. The second half was another story.
"Coach told us at halftime that all five [players on the floor] had been playing 1-on-1 and he wanted us to play 5-on-5," Overstreet said. "In the second half, we got the jitters out."
The Knights made 12 of 27 shots from the floor in the second half and 11 of 13 free throws. The Knights' 43-31 lead after three quarters mushroomed to 55-34 early in the fourth period.
Lacy was 7-of-10 from the floor, hitting his last six shots.
"Clay was tremendous," Hicks said. "He wanted to play well tonight; he went to Hidden Valley Middle School in the seventh and eighth grades."
Lacy is the grand-nephew of Rudy Lacy, the former longtime Cave Spring basketball coach who was at the helm during Hicks' playing days in the early 1980s.
"Rudy was here tonight," Hicks said.
It seemed as if the stars were finally aligned as Cave Spring reversed a four-season losing streak in a big way.
Barrett led the Titans with 11 points, while Chad Earhart added 10.
HIDDEN VALLEY (6-9)
Barrett 4 3-6 11, Coots 1 4-6 6, Earhart 2 6-8 10, Aiken 0 0-0 0, Morris 4 0-1 8, Worrell 2 0-0 5, Trampe 0 0-0 0, Yim 0 0-0 0, Hans 0 0-0 0, Rowe 0 0-0 0, Lucas 0 0-0 0, Reynolds 0 0-0 0, Martin 0 0-0 0, Redman 1 0-0 2. Totals 14 13-21 42.
CAVE SPRING (12-3)
Dill 3 0-0 8, Overstreet 3 4-4 11, Mackey 0 0-0 0, Lacy 7 1-2 15, Henderson 5 4-6 15, Jacobsen 2 0-0 4, Hager 1 2-2 4, Moore 1 0-0 3, White 0 0-0 0, Neighbors 0 0-0 0, Avila 0 0-0 0, Knuppel 1 3-3 5. Totals 23 14-17 65.
Hidden Valley 9 14 8 11 -- 42
Cave Spring 9 18 16 22 65
3-point goals Hidden Valley 1 (Worrell), Cave Spring 5 (Dill 2, Moore, Henderson Overstreet). Total fouls Hidden Valley 15, Cave Spring 15. Fouled out none. Technical foul none.
