Cavs season grinds to halt

ROANOKE –– With Christiansburg (23-2) and Magna Vista (17-4) squaring off in the opposite bracket, No. 1 seed Carroll County appeared to have the easiest draw in the Region IV Division 4 boys’ basketball semifinals with Hidden Valley.

Craig Worrell

Cody Keith (13) and Connor Lundy trap Hidden Valley’s Malik Williams in the second half of Carroll County’s Region IV Division 4 loss Wednesday.

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The only problem was that there was nothing easy about the Titans.

Defending its home hardwood, fourth-seeded Hidden Valley held the Cavaliers to their lowest point total of the year, owned the backboards and ended Carroll’s season with a 57-41 win Wednesday.

A flurry of 3-pointers by Malik Williams gave Hidden Valley (14-12) the lead for good midway through the first half and the Titans pulled away after intermission, earning a spot in tonight’s region championship game plus a berth in next weeks Group AA Division 4 state tournament.

“They really got after us,” Carroll County coach Brad Hawks said. “First half I thought we came out and played really scared. We couldn’t get into our sets, and defensively we just gave up too much.”

Hidden Valley had reached the semifinals with an overtime win over Bassett in which the Titans used just seven players. Hawks and the Cavaliers hoped to wear down a potentially tired Hidden Valley lineup.

“But a different team showed up tonight I thought,” Hawks said.

A different Carroll County showed up as well, shooting below 30 percent and finishing with a season-low 41 points, 27 below its season average.

“They determined what we did offensively,” said Hawks. “They pushed us around, I think. Physically they were just stronger than us tonight, and they did the little things. They finished layups, they hit free throws and they boxed out extremely well.”

Hidden Valley had 11 offensive rebounds in the first half alone, leading to 11 second-chance points, but the turning point of the game was Williams repeatedly finding himself open behind the 3-point arc. Carroll County led 13-8 on an Austin Horton bucket when Williams hit treys on consecutive possessions for a 14-13 lead entering the second period. He opened the second with another 3-pointer, then hit his fourth of the first half four minutes later for a 22-17 Titan advantage.

Williams led all scorers with 19 points.

“We knew he could shoot the ball, we just didn’t do a good job finding him in transition,” Hawks said. “We respected him but we didn’t do a good job finding him, and he made us pay.”

Ryan Gravley kept Carroll close with a series of runners and pull-up jumpers, scoring all 10 of his points in the first half as the Cavaliers trailed 28-21 at the break.

Hidden Valley adjusted and kept Gravley scoreless the second half. The switch left Connor Lundy open to score 14 of his 17 points after the break, but the rest of the roster managed six total points after intermission.

Carroll County also lost its edge on the foul line. Averaging about 14 made free throws a game, the Cavaliers made just three trips to the foul line, hitting one.

Hidden Valley.......14  14  12  17––57

Carroll County......13    8  10  10––41

Hidden Valley (14-12)

Linquist 0 0-0 0, Williams 7 1-2 19, Rowe 1 0-0 2, Settles 0 0-2 0, Hawkins 0 0-0 0, Hodsen 3 7-7 14, Munsey 0 0-0 0, Pilat 2 1-2 5, Novo 0 0-0 0, Beecher  7 3-3 17. Totals 20 12-16 57.

Carroll County (19-5)

Gravley 5 0-0 10, C.Smoot 1 0-0 2, Beamer 0 0-0 0, Case 0 0-0 0, Lundy 6 1-3 17, Keith 1 0-0 2, Pack 0 0-0 0, Lineberry 0 0-0 0, W.Smoot 2 0-0 4, Reece 0 0-0 0, Horton 3 0-0 6, Snow 0 0-0 0, Holder 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 1-3 41.

Three-point field goals – Hidden Valley 5-15 (Williams 4, Hodsen), Carroll County 4-18 (Lundy 4). Rebounds – Hidden Valley 38 (Pilat 9), Carroll County 31 (Lundy 6). Turnovers – Hidden Valley 15, Carroll County 10. Team fouls – Hidden Valley 9, Carroll County 13. Fouled out – none. Technical fouls – none.