The Carroll Academy Rebels had probably their best week of the season as they took the Class 3A North State Tournament.
The Rebels defending their North 3A title as they opened with a 65-23 win over Kirk Academy. After a 74-51 win over North Delta, the Rebels beat Marshall 55-51 to win the tournament.
“Everything is coming together,” Carroll coach Tommy Acy said. “We have our moments where our youth shows with three sophomores starting. But we played really well this week and played good team basketball. I think that’s the biggest things, we are playing good team basketball.”
Acy said after a loss to Indianola, he took his team to Old Mountain Outdoors for a team-building exercise. That two-hour lesson brought the Rebels together.
“When we first started the season, we had a whole lot of guys who were playing selfish basketball,” Acy said. “We went to a team-building deal on a Sunday afternoon and stayed about two hours. They did things that took everybody to do and I think it really brought them together and they started playing good basketball. It has been fun to watch it all come together.”
Carroll will open up the Class 3A state tournament at Oak Hill against Riverfield on Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. The winner will face the winner of Bowling Green and Oak Hill on Friday at 6:30 p.m. The boys championship is set for Saturday at 6:30 p.m.
Carroll boys 65, Kirk 23
The Rebels had little trouble in the opening round as they hammered the Raiders by 42 points.
Carroll jumped out to a 21-5 lead and then outscored Kirk 16-2 in the second to lead 37-7 at the half. The Rebels continued to build on their lead as they outscored the Raiders 17-9 in the third to lead 54-16 going to the fourth. Carroll finished off the game by outscoring Kirk 11-7.
Hunter Grantham led Carroll with 18 points and 14 rebounds while Noah Beck had 18 points and seven steals. Bryce Collier also chipped in 10 points.
Carroll boys 74, North Delta 51
The Rebels had one of their best offensive games of the season as they took a 23-point win over the Green Wave.
Carroll started fast as they led 22-12 at the end of the first period and outscored the Green Wave 16-13 in the second to lead 38-25 at the half. The Rebels continued to pull away in the second half as they outscored North Delta 17-12 in the third and 19-14 in the fourth.
Hunter Grantham led Carroll with another double-double with 26 points and 13 rebounds while Mathis Beck had 23 points. Noah Beck also chipped in 11 points.
Carroll boys 55, Marshall Academy 51
The Rebels built an early lead and maintained it to take a four-point win over the Patriot on Saturday to claim the North 3A tournament title.
Carroll outscored Marshall 13-8 in the first and led 26-21 at the half. Each team scored 14 points in the third as Carroll led 40-35 going to the fourth. Marshall took the fourth period 16-15 for the final.
Noah Beck led Carroll with 20 points and six rebound while Mathis Beck had 11 points and six rebounds. Hunter Grantham had nine points and 10 rebounds while Bryce Collier and Brennan Blaylock each had six points apiece.
