Jahvin Carter of the Alcoa Tornadoes. (Photo by Danny Parker)
BY DAVE LINK
ALCOA – Alcoa’s Jahvin Carter missed his first six shots Thursday night and didn’t score in the first quarter against visiting Fulton.
Then the 6-foot-2 junior guard went off.
Carter scored a career-high 40 points and the Tornadoes rolled to an 81-69 victory, avenging a 12-point loss at Fulton on Dec. 13.
What clicked after the first quarter for Carter?
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“I don’t know,” he said. “Really, just from working out a lot, staying in the gym. I know my shot’s going to go in, just keep shooting. Brady Haun kept me going. He held the scoring for me when I couldn’t get anything going, and my teammates told me to keep shooting, and I kept shooting.”
Carter made 13 of 21 two-point shots, 2 of 4 shots from 3-point range, and 8 of 9 free throws.
He’s averaging about 25.5 points.
“I thought (Carter) kind of struggled in the first quarter,” Alcoa coach Ryan Collins said. “I didn’t think his handle looked tight. He kind of looked out of sync, but I liked what I saw out of him because his demeanor never changed. … He looked like a kid that trusted others and just stayed the course.
“You know once he makes the decision to stay the course, that the player he is will come out at some point, and I thought it absolutely shined in the second through the fourth quarter. Fulton’s a great defensive team. They’ve got good length. They’ve got kids that can keep him in front, and for him to still go for 40 is a testament as to how good of a player he is.”
Alcoa (11-7) won its third consecutive game.
Fulton (14-5), which had a three-game winning streak snapped, played without 6-4 junior wing Taj Kimber, who’s averaging about 13 points per game.
Kimber fractured his wrist in practice last Friday. He sees a doctor again Monday.
“It’s different when you lose a guy like (Taj Kimber),” Fulton coach Jody Wright said, “but our inability to play hard at all times and compete defensively is our Achilles, and it’s been a weakness from the get-go. Our toughness is embarrassing for a Fulton team. We’re soft mentally. We’re soft physically, and we showed that tonight.”
Haun, Alcoa’s 5-10 junior guard, scored 26 points, making 6 of 6 shots from 3-point range. He made 4 of 5 two-point shots and missed his only free throw.
“I think he’s like 25 percent on the year (from 3-point range),” Collins said of Haun, “but he’s a kid who can shoot, and we believe in his ability to shoot, but his confidence has kind of been shaken because he hasn’t seen the results up to this point. He’s the type of kid if he can see one or two go in, watch out.
“I hope that this can kind of completely change things for him and he gets that confidence and that swagger back. I’m proud of him because he hasn’t been shooting it well all season, but he’s found so many other ways to contribute to us winning.”
Sophomore forward Eli Owens added eight points for Alcoa.
Fulton was led in scoring by Marcellus Jackson with 14 points, Dexter Lewis with 13, Tyler Lee and Jordan Wrancher with 11 each, and Denaj Kimber with 10.
The Falcons had a 16-9 lead after one quarter and a 21-11 lead after Tavon Baptiste’s basket with 6 minutes, 3 seconds left in the half.
Alcoa finished the half with a 26-11 run for a 37-32 halftime lead.
Carter scored 17 in the second quarter, making 5 of 6 two-point shots, 1 of 2 shots from 3-point range, and all four of his free throws.
“What I’m proud of,” Collins said, “is at that point when we were down 10, we just stuck with committing to this game plan: protect the paint, rebound the basketball, and not turn it over. Everything kind of turned for us in the second quarter following that formula.”
Haun made two 3-pointers in each of the first three quarters.
His sixth 3-pointer gave Alcoa a 49-40 lead with 3:53 left in the third quarter.
Carter, who had 14 points in the third quarter, hit a 3-pointer with 10 seconds left for a 62-44 lead after three quarters.
“The team didn’t resemble anything that looks like a Fulton basketball team tonight,” Wright said. “Hats off to Alcoa. They outplayed us, just whipped us the last three quarters. Carter, it was like he was out there playing against a bunch of kindergarten guys. Just got to the rim anytime he wanted to. I’m just disappointed with our effort tonight.”
Alcoa wasn’t threatened in the fourth quarter.
Carter’s three-point play gave the Tornadoes a 77-56 lead with 4:22 left.
Alcoa had a 20-point lead late in the game, and Fulton scored the final eight points.
“We’ve just been preparing and playing hard,” Carter said. “We’ve been rolling. We beat (Gatlinburg-Pittman) this past week. We’ve been feeling good, like a whole different team. Everybody’s coming together and it’s looking good.
Alcoa, 2-0 in District 2-AA, plays host to Pigeon Forge (5-7, 0-2) on Friday night in a district game.
“The hard part is now it’s a quick turnaround,” Collins said. “As good as tonight was and as proud as I am of the guys tonight, to an extent it doesn’t mean as much if we drop tomorrow. Now I’m looking for us to be consistent and bring it 24 hours later. It’s not easy to do. We played some guys heavy, heavy minutes, but I think we’ve been pretty good three games in a row. Hopefully we can make it four.”
Fulton, 3-0 in District 5-AAA, plays host to rival Austin-East (12-5, 0-3) on Saturday in a district game.
“We’ll get run out of the gym,” Wright said, “if we can’t defend the ball better and play with better energy. That will be an ugly game just like this one was.”