For the second time in three weeks, Trimble County rallied from a 10-point deficit to beat Carroll County, this time 64-56 in the Fifth Place game of the Jefferson County Invitational Tournament at Southwestern on Thursday.
Trimble County spotted Carroll a 20-10 lead after the first quarter during their meeting in early December and again allowed the Panthers to go up by 10, 30-20 at halftime. The Raiders actually trailed by 12 early in the third before rallying.
Led by senior James Thomas Wilcoxson, who scored 16 points in the third quarter, Trimble County cut the Carroll lead to 46-39 by the end of the period, then outscored the Panthers 24-7 in the fourth to win the game going away.
“I think the press bothered (Carroll) in the second half. It’s a shame that I had to wait till we get down to think of doing that,” Trimble coach Brent Welty said. “The kids are a lot like the coach and we’re all learning, we’re all trying to be patient with each other and you know, right now we’re just plugging along.”
Trimble County (5-6) came into the tournament with expectations of competing for the JCIT title, but with Wilcoxson missing both pool play games on Wednesday due to a suspension after getting ejected last week and the death of a family member, the Raiders went 0-2, losing one game on a last-second shot and the other in blowout fashion to Madison.
Wilcoxson was back on Thursday and although he wasn’t effective in the first half, he took over the game in the second. Nineteen of his game-high 26 points came in the second half as Trimble rallied for the win.
Welty was glad to see his star back on the floor, but he was also happy to see the way his team played without him. For the Trimble coach, that level of development could be huge down the road.
“It’s really unfortunate under the circumstances, but it was a good experience for my kids to not have JT out there and not depend on his athleticism all the time,” Welty said. “I thought we learned a lot about our roster. We look forward to next week. Hopefully we’ll learn more.”
Ethan Horn scored 19 points for Trimble and earned all-tournament honors. Jerry Nevils had eight points and Coltin Humphreys scored six.
Seth Franklin had 16 points to lead Carroll County and earn all-tournament honors. Landon Groves added 12 points and Braden Stephenson scored 10.
Trimble County returned to action on Tuesday at the Ray Zellar Christmas Classic at Whitefield Academy. The Raiders were to take on Francis Parker in the opening game.
Carroll County, now 1-10 on the season, travels to Augusta on Thursday, Dec. 29.
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