Carrollton Defends Black Hole Vs. Louisville 44-40

By Leopard Nation · Published January 31, 2012 · Updated July 1, 2018

Carrollton 44, Louisville 40

An 8-0 fourth quarter run by Carrollton pushed the Warriors ahead before they survived a late Louisville run to take the game 44-40. Stephen Erickson led Carrollton with 21 points and was also instrumental in helping the Warriors out-rebound the Leopards 34-22. Mike Kelly led Louisville with 10 points, while Bill Lairson & Jake O’brien each added 8 for the Leopards in a hard-fought losing effort.

The situation looked hopeful in the first quarter for the boys in blue and white. Their stellar defense shutout the Warriors for the first 3:25 of the game before Andrew Collins hit a three-ball for Carrollton to cut the Leopard lead to 4-3. However, Lairson countered immediately on the opposite end with a triple of his own and led Louisville with 7 of his 8 total points in the first quarter.

The Leopard lead would be short-lived as Carrollton answered an 11-5 deficit with a 10-0 run. Ericksen would score a third of his points in the second period to lead the Warriors who jumped ahead of the Leopards 21-17 at halftime.

Louisville managed just 5 total field goals in the second and third quarter and did not attempt a single free throw in the game until the fourth quarter where they made 3-of-4. They were also being out-rebounded 25-17 and trailed 27-21 after three quarters. Yet despite all the weights stacked against them they kept fighting.

O’brien started off the final period making the first of his 2 three-pointers in the quarter to cut the deficit in half. After a few possessions, Kelly then went hard to the rack to knot the game at 27-27.

Yet for all Leps effort, they couldn’t catch a break. Carrollton had an answer for everything. Immediately following the tying basket Zade Deitz hit a three-pointer to give Carrollton the lead again. Kelly again fired back by hitting a jumper from the elbow to cut the lead to one. But Erickson continued to answer the bell on the other end scoring twice on layups in which he was fouled on. Erickson would shoot just 2-of-6 from the line in the period, but he would still score 8 points in the quarter.

The Warriors then ripped off an 8-0 run taking a 38-29 lead with 2:35 left to play. A three by O’brien and buckets by Trevor Hostetler, Kelly, and Jon Crank got the Leps within 43-40 with 26.9 left to play. But, Collins would hit 1-of-2 free throws from the line to ice the game for the Warriors seconds later. Collins finished with 7 points for Carrollton.

The bitter defeat is the Leopards fifth straight against the Warriors of Carroll County and third straight loss on the road this season. However, the Leopards can make it three straight wins at home with a win Friday that would give them a clean sweep of Minerva.

STATISTICS

LEOPARDS: Kelly 4 2-2 10, Lairson 3 1-2 8, O’brien 3 0-0 8, Cheezan 3 0-0 6, Crank 1 0-0 2, Hostetler 1 0-0 2, Meredith 1 0-0 2, Schooley 1 0-0 2. TOTALS 17 3-4 40.

TEAM FG: 17-49 35%

TEAM 3PT: 3-14 21% | O’brien (2), Lairson (1)

TEAM FT: 3-4 75%

WARRIORS: Erickson 9 3-5 21, Collins 2 1-2 7, Peterson 2 1-2 6, Hartong 2 1-3 5, Deitz 1 0-0 3, Warner 1 0-0 2. TOTALS 17 6-12 44.

TEAM FG: 17-45 38%

TEAM 3PT: 4-17 24% | Collins (2), Deitz (1), Peterson (1)

TEAM FT: 6-12 50%

Team 1-2-3-4-Total

Louisville 11-6-4-19–40

Carrollton 7-14-6-17–44

Rebounds: Carrollton 34-22

Fouls: Louisville 17-13

Records: Carrollton 6-8, 6-4; Louisville 4-10, 3-7

NEXT UP: The Leopards will next host the Minerva Lions on Friday, February 3. JV will tip-off at 6:00 and Varsity will follow at a approximately 7:30.

PICTURES

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JV REPORT

Carrollton 41, Louisville 38

The Warriors edged out Louisville in the preliminary contest. Carrollton had the lead in the ball with seconds remaining and Joey Duckworth intercepted the inbound pass to give the Leps another opportunity to tie the game. However, they failed to convert and Carrollton took the game that featured 42 fouls by the count of 41-38. Alex Hollifield led the Leopards with 11 points, while Duckworth also reached double figures with 10. Carrollton was led by Caleb Pusiuk who scored a team-high 9. The JV Leps who are now 8-6 on the year also got 6 points a piece from Riley Greybeal and Pavin Parks.