Nettleton vs. Valley View | Boys & Girls Basketball
Lady Raiders win 53-40 | Raiders win 53-44.
Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2024
Brayden Morse | Sports Editor
JONESBORO- The Nettleton Raiders girls’ and boys’ basketball teams defeated the Valley View Blazers, with both teams scoring 53 points at Raider Gym on Tuesday night.
In the first game, the Lady Raiders (17-4) won 53-40 with the help of great shooting and defensive stops.
The offense scored five three-pointers in key situations throughout the game, with three of them coming from guard Carmen McShan in the second half.
McShan scored a team-leading 20 points, while center Donna Douglas scored 12 with a couple steals.
Nettleton girls head coach Kevin Frisbee expressed his thoughts on the team’s aggressive defense that helped lead them to victory, along with his feelings of beating a local school.
“Defense is where it starts with us. On-ball pressure is our top priority on the defensive side. I thought all of our guards did a good job pressuring the ball. Anytime you play a local team, it feels different. Anytime we play them we know it’s going to be a rock fight. Anytime you beat someone in town, it’s a little extra special,” Frisbee said.
On the other side, Valley View (10-8) was missing a few starters that got the team out of sync. Blazer girl head coach Angie Ellis shared what went wrong for the team.
“We’re still trying to find our identity. We have some injuries on the team and we’re short on some guards. I’m having to rotate off-guards into the guard position because we are injured. We’re trying to find five kids to gel together. I thought we struggled to score and we needed other kids to step up and score for us,” Ellis said.
Coach Ellis also shared what the game plan was moving forward to get back on track.
“We play in probably the best conference in the state of Class-5A with five teams ranked. We’ve got some key injuries. I thought that game got too physical and it’s hard to prepare them for that physicality of a game,” said Ellis. “We need to get our bodies back healthy and reset for Marion on Friday night.”
Despite the lack of guards for the Blazers, two players scored double-digit points. Bonnie Fagen scored 14 points and Annika Wilbanks scored 12 points.
In the second game, the Raiders (12-8) defeated the Blazers (12-8) 53-44.
The defense and shooting were big factors for Nettleton, while shooting 8-12 from the free-throw line, three, three-pointers from guard Kam Bobo and only allowing five different players to score throughout the game.
Nettleton head coach Luke Tate shared his thoughts on the team’s success on defense that allowed the offense to open.
“If we shoot the ball the way we guard, we are going to be really hard to stop. Because we kept working against the zone and getting in the middle and attacking, it freed up some shooters. If we guard, we can rebound and get out and run,” Tate said.
“If we shoot the ball the way we guard, we are going to be really hard to stop. Because we kept working against the zone and getting in the middle and attacking, it freed up some shooters. If we guard, we can rebound and get out and run,”
Nettleton head coach Luke Tate
Guard Taylor Smith led the Raiders with 20 points, while guard Bobo and forward Ja’Kobe Jamison combined for 30 points in the win.
Coach Tate expressed his thoughts on those three players and the impact they made for the team.
“Kam Bobo came off the bench and had 14 points, with some big three’s and guarded really well. Taylor Smith is always going to be the one everyone knows about and he attacked well. Ja’Kobe Jamison is a tough left-handed kid and he just finds ways to get in there and hit really tough shots,” Tate said.
Valley View was only down by three at halftime, but Nettleton ran away with the score in the second half.
Blazer head coach Lane Campbell explained his team’s struggles and what the team needs to get better at.
“We went into halftime down by three, I was very pleased with how we played. We couldn’t get shots to fall in the second half like we did in the first half and gave up too many second chance rebounds. You can’t do that against a team that is athletic like that,” Campbell said.
The Raiders and Blazers will both play at home on Friday, as Nettleton plays Searcy and Valley View plays Marion.
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Brayden Morse is a multimedia journalism major in the School of Media and Journalism at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro. He can be reached at brayden.morse@smail.astate.edu.
NOTE: Feature Photo shows Nettleton’s Carmen McShan (1) shooting against Nettleton’s Brianna Huff (22) during the game on Tuesday, January 23, 2024. Photo by Ibuki Hinohara
Delta Digital News Service 