Redbirds dominate Carmi-White County

By BRUCE A. FASOL

A smothering defense allowed the West Frankfort Redbirds to break a close game open Tuesday night. The Redbirds scored a 58-42victory over visiting Carmi-White County.

The game opened slowly as neither team scored until the halfway point of the first quarter. At the end of the first eight minutes, the score was tied 8-8.

At the halfway point, the Redbirds and Bulldogs had battled closely with the Redbirds taking an intermission lead of 19-16.

The Redbirds forced turnovers in the third quarter and kept Carmi-White County out of their comfortable shooting zones. Eric Dixon’s team became their own worst enemy as the game dragged on. They shot three-point shots freely, rarely connecting. and, in doing so went away from offensive rebounding which had produced results in the first half.

In quarter three, the Redbirds got balanced, scoring Braxton Koehl with 7 points and Trenton Easley had 6 in the frame. By quarter’s end, the ‘Birds had opened a 38-26 lead and had captured the momentum.

The fourth quarter saw the Redbirds open the lead even further, enroute to the 16 point win.

And, with that win, Dan Dewerff’s team ran their record to 2-5 for the season. Scoring for the Redbirds included:  Trenton Easley and Christian Dunning with 15 points each, Nick Korolenko had 10,,Braxton Koehl had 9, Keller, and Maller had 4 points apiece, and Fort had a single free throw.
The Redbirds and Carmi-White County each had 20 rebounds.
Carmi-White County came from behind to win the JV game 51-45 after the Redbirds had opened up a fourth quarter lead.
The Redbirds now prepare for visiting Benton on Friday night. This was a game scheduled to begin the 2012-13 basketball season until Benton requested a reschedule. The junior varsity game begins at 6 p.m. Friday, and the varsity game approximately 7:45 p.m.

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