This observer had never been to Truro before last night. Siri told me the shortest route was to go through Peru. As long as the trip took, and as hilly as portions of it were, it seemed like it was the land of the Incas rather than a route through Madison county. Fortunately, tip off of the girls' game was delayed and so my arrival was on time to see all of the ACGC double win over the I-35 basketball teams. Both Charger teams won in convincing fashion over the Roadrunners, with the girls winning by a 50-33 score and the boys claiming a 63-47 victory.

The Charger girls opened strong with a seventeen point first quarter and claimed a 17-7 lead after the first eight minutes. A pesky Charger press caused numerous Roadrunner turnovers, resulting in several easy baskets and an impressive seven field goals out of eleven tries to open the game. The entire Charger starting five--Kendra Campbell, Kylie Young, EmmaKay McClain, Alaina Bunde, and Kennedy Young-- scored in the initial quarter and the Chargers were off to a great start. The ACGC shooting cooled off in the second quarter, as the team connected on just three of twelve shots, but nevertheless increased its lead to 26-13 by halftime.

The Roadrunners hung around during the first half of the third quarter and trailed by ten, 35-25, at the four minute mark when the Chargers went on a scoring binge. The team netted eleven consecutive points over the next two and a half minutes, including seven straight by Kylie Young, to take a commanding 46-25 lead. The quarter ended with a twenty point Charger lead at 47-27.

It was a good thing that ACGC held that twenty point lead, as the Charger shooting tanked in the final stanza with the team failing to score from the field and scoring just three free throws for the quarter. After failing to score in the first six minutes of the quarter, ACGC went into a delay with a 47-33 lead and came away with the 50-33 win.

The younger Young led the Charger attack with fifteen points, including thirteen in the second half, while Alaina Bunde also hit double figures with ten points. Kennedy Young just missed hitting doubles with nine points, and led the rebounding with six boards. EmmaKay McClain dished out seven assists and had a whopping eight steals!

The Charger team shooting from two point range was an excellent 52%, with sixteen makes in thirty one attempts. Overall the team shot 40%, as it connected on just three of seventeen three point tries. Free throw shooting was just under 50% on nine makes in nineteen attempts. The team turned the ball over sixteen times, with twelve of those in the second half. At the same time, the Chargers forced the hosts into thirty two turnovers leading to twenty eight Charger points.

Coach Brad Baudler saw some positives from his team including the defensive effort. "I thought we played great defense, forcing thirty two turnovers, including twenty four steals. We ran our presses well and the help defense was awesome.

"Or posts played well," he continued, "and managed to control the inside. That created shots for the others and the result was very well balanced scoring. A big game Friday night. Should be an exciting one." He was referencing the Woodward-Granger game. More mentioned about that later.

It took a little longer for the Charger boys to claim dominance over the hosts, but by halftime the Chargers had began to assert themselves. Trailing 16-15 after the first quarter, seven of fifteen shooting in the second quarter gave the Charges a 34-28 halftime lead. Bryce Littler led the way with seven points in what proved to be the decisive quarter.

Both defense and offense excelled in the third quarter, as the Chargers held I-35 to eight points and came up with twenty one of their own and gradually pulled away to take a commanding 55-36 lead. With Quynton Younger leading the offense with a ten point quarter, and the Charger defense limiting the Roadrunners to three field goals, it was just a matter of what the final score would be. Although the Chargers netted just eight points in the last eight minutes, the game had already been decided and ACGC returned home with the 63-47 win.

Three Chargers scored in double figures, with Younker going for seventeen, Eli Kading for fourteen, and Lucas Marsh for ten. Twelve of Kading's points were from beyond the arc, as the Charger junior connected on one three pointer in each one of the four quarters of the game. Younker and Marsh each had eight rebounds and also led the team, along with Miles Kading, with three assists each. Ben Marsh led in steals with four. The team committed a season low nine turnovers.

As a team the Chargers shot a respectable 48% from two point range, hitting on fourteen of twenty nine attempts. They were nine of thirty three on three pointers for 27%. They hit half of their free throws, converting on eight of sixteen.

The wins improve the season records to 6-3 for the girls (5-2, WCAC) and 3-6 for the boys (2-5, WCAC). The Chargers continue to play on the road as they travel to Woodward to take on the Woodward-Granger Hawks on Friday. Both W-G teams are at or near the top of the conference, with the Hawk girls WCAC record at 7-0 and the boys at 6-1. The girls' game is scheduled for 6 PM, with the boys' game to follow. Go Chargers!

I took the interstate home.

Girls' sore by quarter: Boys' score by quarter:

ACGC 17 9 21 3--50 ACGC 15 19 21 8--63

I-35 7 6 14 6--33 I-35 16 12 8 11--47

Box score: Box score:

REB REB

FG 3pt FT O-D A S TP FG 3Pt FT O-D A S TP

Campbell 2-7 1-4 1-2 0-1 0 4 6 EKading 5-9 4-8 0-0 2-4 0 0 14

Dorsey 0-1 0-0 1-2 1-1 0 2 1 BMarsh 1-2 0-0 3-6 1-5 1 4 5

Hoover 0-2 0-2 1-2 0-1 0 0 1 Crawford 1-4 0-2 1-4 1-0 1 1 3

KyYoung 6-10 2-5 1-2 2-2 3 2 15 LMarsh 4-15 1-8 1-1 3-5 3 3 10

McClain 3-5 0-1 2-5 1-3 7 8 8 Mkading 1-5 1-5 0-0 0-0 3 1 3

Bunde 4-8 0-0 2-4 1-1 1 4 10 Wardyn 0-1 0-1 0-0 0-1 0 0 0

O'Brien 0-4 0-4 0-0 0-2 0 0 0 Rogers 1-1 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 3

KeYoung 4-11 0-1 1-2 3-3 2 4 9 Dickson 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Littler 3-9 1-5 1-2 1-5 2 2 8

Younker 6-17 1-3 2-3 3-5 3 1 17