By Michael Lindsay
A hot shooting night in Clarkrange led the Buffaloes to a 72-58 victory over Cumberland County Tuesday evening.
Clarkrange nailed 12 3-pointers, including six in the first quarter, to pick up their third win of the season.
“We’ve been in the gym working and shooting a lot,” said Clarkrange boys coach Jermaine McElvain. “Sometimes I feel like we maybe shouldn’t have taken a few of those, but I’m glad we’ve got the confidence to shoot them. We crashed the boards hard, and that gave us more opportunities.”
A 27-point outburst from Jack Cordell led the Buffaloes. Cordell nailed 4 3-pointers in the win.
“Jack really stands out; he drove the ball and rebounded well,” McElvain said. “Every single guy that touched the floor played well. We’re continuing to tighten our roles and learn the game of basketball.”
Also hitting double-figures for Clarkrange was Case Cordell with 14 and Lane Byrd with 11.
Cumberland County was without senior leading scorer Jaxon Reed due to injury Tuesday. The Jets were led by forward Nolen Carter who posted 14 points. Also scoring in double-figures were Braeden Woodard with 12 points, Braden Leviner with 11 and Ethan Dixon with 10.
Both offenses were dialed in for the opening period as Clarkrange led 22-21 after eight minutes of play. The Buffaloes hit 6 first-quarter three-pointers while Carter had 10 points for the Jets.
Clarkrange found their groove on the defensive end in the second period, outscoring Cumberland County 22-9 to take a 44-30 lead into halftime. Cordell scored 13 of his 27 in the second period.
The hot offense continued in the second half as Clarkrange led 63-47 after three periods.
Cumberland County made a brief push in the fourth period, but it wasn’t enough as the Buffaloes closed strong to win 72-58.
“We got caught in the midst of the game, and we need to understand the clock and the situation we’re in,” said McElvain. “We’re trying to get better at that. But we played our game, ran our offense and scored some buckets.”
Clarkrange improves to 3-5 overall with the win. The Buffaloes defeated Wartburg 83-63 on Monday, securing Clarkrange’s first back-to-back wins since December 2019. CHS has already eclipsed last season’s win total (2) before turning the calendar to December.
Up next, the Buffaloes hit the road for their toughest test to date.
“We’re at Monterey, and we understand they have a lot of momentum going their way right now,” McElvain said. “We’re going to go back to the drawing board with these two games behind us and get ready for Monterey.”
The Wildcats are currently 8-0 following Tuesday’s 53-46 win over Van Buren County.
Up next for the 1-4 Cumberland County Jets is another Fentress County trip as they travel to York Institute on Friday. The Dragons are 1-4 but have yet to play a game with their full roster due to football.
Clarkrange (72): Jack Cordell 27, Case Cordell 14, Lane Byrd 11, Kris Beaty 7, Bryton Swallows 7, Collier Bush 6
Cumberland County (58): Nolen Carter 14, Braeden Woodard 12, Braden Leviner 11, Ethan Dixon 10, Noah Ledbetter 6, Sol Sitton 4, Dillon Smith 1
