By CHARLIE HUST
After dropping the season-opener, the WCHS Trojans posted two straight wins last week including a convincing 18-point victory over Crittenden County in the annual Messenger Tip-Off Classic.
The Trojans will open holiday action this weekend participating in the annual Berea Invitational, taking on Montgomery in the tourney opener Friday night.
Webster County 79
Fort Campbell 51
A 21-9 first quarter scoring advantage ignited the Trojans to their first win of the season last Thursday at Fort Campbell High School.
Junior guard Zac Shoulders led the charge with a career-high 22 points, hitting 7-of-11 attempts from the field and 7-of-8 from the free throw line. He also had a team-leading nine rebounds along with six assists.
“I love how my guys responded tonight. Everything we didn’t do well in the season-opener I could see a major improvement in tonight,” noted WC head coach Jon Newton. “We fed off of Zac Shoulders’ career night. He played extremely well and had ‘his foot on the pedal’ all night.”
Guard running mate Max McMain added 13 points and five boards while senior center J. D. Newton was also in double figures with 11 points plus seven rebounds.
“Max responded well from game one. Overall, I think our guys really accepted the challenge and put up four strong quarters of aggressive, hard-nosed basketball,” added Newton.
After building the 21-9 advantage, the Trojans stretched the lead to 39-19 at intermission and cruised the rest of the way. WCHS enjoyed some sizzling shooting, hitting 25-of-44 (56%) attempts from the field and 26-for-37 (70%) from the free throw line. Webster also held a strong 36-24 rebounding edge.
Jake Fritz and Cole Hazelwood added seven points each in the balanced scoring attack with Fritz also pulling down six rebounds. Mason Roland added five points, six assists, two rebounds and two steals.
Jon Stubblefield added four points while fellow seniors Madison Melton and Jeremy Garrett finished with three points apiece. Colten Durrance and Ben Brumfiel completed the scoring with two points each.
Webster County 70
Crittenden County 52
The Trojans closed out the annual Messenger Tip-Off Classic Saturday night with a solid victory over Crittenden County at Trojan gym.
Junior guard Mason Roland scored eight points of his game-high 22 points in the first quarter to lead WC to a 22-14 lead. The Trojans didn’t let up in the second period, building a commanding 44-28 bulge at halftime.
Webster’s swarming defense created 21 Rocket turnovers and they quickly converted those miscues into easy buckets with a season-high 16 assists. Roland led the charge with eight assists plus five rebounds. WCHS held a strong 26-14 rebounding edge.
Zac Shoulders was also in double figures with 12 points along with three assists and three rebounds. Max McMain was also in double figures with 10 points.
J. D. Newton added eight points and three boards while Jon Stubblefield and Zac Pugh finished with four points each. Maddie Melton added one 3-pointer while Jake Fritz, Cole Hazelwood and Ben Brumfiel added two points each. Colten Durrance completed the scoring with one free throw.
WC was 28-of-48 (50%) shooting from the field but struggled at the free throw line hitting just 11-of-19 (57%) attempts. Crittenden was 11-for-17 from the free throw line and hit 7-of-15 3-point shots.