01-04-11
BY JACK BULLOCK
NORRIS CITY – Carrier Mills head coach Mark Motsinger called it the “Perfect Storm.”

What started out as a regular season winnable game on the road at NCOE turned into a total nightmare for the Wildcats.

There is cold shooting and then there was the performance by CM on Tuesday night.

The Wildcats connected on just 7-of-50 shots from the field – a frostbite like 14 percent - in falling to the Fighting Cardinals 42-28.

Carrier Mills saw its 34-game Greater Egyptian Conference regular season winning streak come to an end.

NCOE mentor Doug Miller had the right game plan in place.

This strategy paid off for a team that was clearly the one ready to play in this first game after the Christmas break.

Carrier Mills (9-5 overall, 4-1 in the GEC) saw Norris City-Omaha-Enfield work the clock for extended possessions to frustrate the Wildcats who offensively challenged on this night.

Kody Sutton topped the Cards (4-8 overall, 3-2 in the GEC) with 16-points while teammates Kalin Brinkley and Justin Knight chipped in nine points apiece in the triumph.

Carrier Mills was led in scoring by Dillan Harrison with eight points.

“We had to (control the tempo) and we worked on that the last three or four practices and we knew that we couldn't run up and down the floor with Carrier Mills. If we had they would have probably beat us 30,” said Coach Miller. “We knew what we had to do to give ourselves a chance to win. Control the tempo and set good hard screens. No offense will work without good hard screens.”

The offense for NCOE wasn't very pretty either but is was much better than their opposition.

It took 3:30 of the first quarter before Colby Payne for NCOE to hit the games' first shot on a drive to the basket.

Brinkley scored from the right wing and the Cards had an early 4-0 lead.

The only two brief scoring runs from Carrier Mills came at the end of the first quarter and the beginning of the second as the Wildcats outscored NCOE 10-2 to take a 10-6 lead at the 6:45 mark of the second quarter.

Six-foot-three senior Josh Smith scored on a 15-footer from an assist from Gabe Morgan to close the first stanza and Harrison connected from 3-point arc in the left corner to open the second.

After an rebound bucket by Sutton – Carrier Mills got a pair of free throws from Harrison and a fast break score from 6-foot-2 sophomore Cameron Taborn to give the 'Cats a 14-8 lead with 2:51 in the half.

Then someone put a lid on the CM basket – figuratively.

Carrier Mills struggled mightily from that point on as NCOE played strong defense – especially keeping the Wildcats from any transition baskets.

“We just couldn't get shots to fall tonight,” said Coach Motsinger. “I really don't know what to say about it other than the Carmi game (a 41-27 loss at the EHT) gave us an inkling that we were capable of doing this.”

NCOE took advantage of the CM problem with a 10-0 run to close the second quarter.

Free throws from Knight, Randy Stecyk and Brinkley along with six points from Sutton gave the Fighting Cards a fighting chance to pull the upset.

Sutton scored on a pair of fast break scores and an in close basket after a Brinkley rebound.

When Sutton found the mark on his second transition score – NCOE took an 18-14 halftime lead.

Carrier Mills hit just one field goal in the third quarter (1-of-15) while missing all six of its 3-point shots.

Although NCOE didn't pull away from Carrier Mills – the Cardinals did just enough to keep the lead heading into the fourth quarter.

A drive to the basket by Colin Crim and a pair of Morgan free throws cut the NCOE lead down to just 26-21.

NCOE gradually pulled away with most of the damage coming from the foul line.

The Cards hit just 10-of-18 free throws in the fourth quarter but Carrier Mills could do nothing offensively to make a run.

“The shots were just not falling and we were just standing around on offense. We almost have too many kids that are role players and we just don't have a true scorer,” added Motsinger.

Baskets by Sutton and Knight and a free throw from Payne made it 34-24 with 2:41 to go.

“We told our kids that they (Carrier Mills) don't want to play 30 seconds of defense each trip and if they do we will break them down and get a lay up,” added Coach Miller. “We got several wide open lay ups tonight. Our kids passed the ball extremely well tonight.”

Carrier Mills would get no closer than eight points the rest of the way.

“I think our kids got a wake up call playing just one day at Eldorado,” added Miller – talking about losing two games at the EHT and were eliminated on the first day. “They had to go home and watch the other teams play for three days. I hate to lose and my players hate to lose. I told them this (losing two straight at the tournament) can't ever happen again.”

NCOE didn't exactly light up the scoreboard on this night – hitting just 11-of-35 from the floor (31 percent) but they out-rebounded the Wildcats 38-36.

“The kids played really hard and were focused on each possession,” finalized Coach Miller. “I won't yell at my kids for missing shots but I will get on them if they don't get back on defense.”

Carrier Mills (28) – Harrison 1 1 3-4 8, Brown 1 0 0-0 2, Smith 1 0 1-2 3, Crim 1 0 0-2 2, Morgan 0 0 5-10 5, Walker 0 0 1-2 1, Stucker 0 0 0-0 0, Barmers 0 0 3-4 3, Jefferson 1 0 0-0 2, C. Taborn 1 0 0-0 2, Bailey 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-6, 3FG-1, FT-13-24, PF-20.
Norris City-Omaha-Enfield (42) – Sutton 7 0 2-6 16, Payne 1 0 2-2 4, R. Stecyk 0 0 1-2 1, Brinkley 1 0 7-8 9, Knight 2 0 5-7 9, Tucker 0 0 3-5 3, Marsh 0 0 0-0 0, Gladd 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-11, 3FG-0, FT-20-30, PF-17.
Fouled Out – Harrison - Carrier Mills; Gladd - NCOE.
Technical Fouls – None.