Carrollton hoopsters play spoiler, hand West Branch first loss in EBC

Sure, the Warriors, if the choice were left up to them, would rather be playing for an Eastern Buckeye Conference title. But that was not destined to be as defending co-champion Alliance beat Carrollton twice and then upstart West Branch, in pursuit of a perfect conference record, saddled the Warriors with a third loss.

As the season waned, Carrollton instead recalibrated, and focused on other goals, not to mention another role, said Warriors head coach Mike Aukerman.

“We wanted to play spoiler and also set ourselves up for a high district seed and top-25 state ranking,” he said.

With West Branch visiting Jan. 30, it was the perfect time for Carrollton to engage in some spoiling. And that is precisely what the Warriors did as they ran away with the victory in the second half of a 61-49 defeat that marked up West Branch’s previously blemish-free EBC record and potentially turned the conference title into a Valentine’s Day showdown between the host Aviators and West Branch.

Speaking of West Branch, Carrollton used a 14-8 run in the second quarter to overcome an early deficit. The Warriors then held a narrow 22-19 lead through halftime. The third period was critical as Carrollton outscored West Branch 18-7 to widen its advantage to 14 points entering the final, tumultuous quarter.

It was a far cry from West Branch’s 54-40 defeat of Carrollton just three weeks earlier, and Aukerman said a lot had to do with his team’s commitment to neutralizing West Branch’s 6-foot-7 Gavin Gregory – and much of that fell on the shoulders of Jayven Johnson and Marcus Brooks.

“We fought force with force this time,” Aukerman said. “We were intentional about attacking Gregory on the perimeter and also at the rim. We owned the boards this time and Marcus and Jay were a huge reason why.”

Johnson led Carrollton, which tied West Branch in total rebounds, with 10 boards, while Brooks added six as the smaller Carrollton lineup negated Gregory’s size advantage. Also stepping up was sophomore center Pryce Rodgers, who scored six points for the Warriors and facilitated in slowing down West Branch’s inside game.

“We decided to switch up defenses and make them beat us from the outside,” said Aukerman. “Tayvian [Johnson] and Marc were outstanding but Pryce Rodgers has really been coming on at practice and he had a breakout game.”

Marcus Brooks had 20 points for Carrollton (11-4, 4-3) while Tayvian Johnson finished with 18 points and eight assists. Gregory's 24 led the way for West Branch (8-6, 7-1).

As for Carrollton’s goals? Per usual, the Warriors are pointed toward the postseason and jockeying for postseason positioning, said Aukerman.

“We have played a challenging schedule and welcome 14-4 Claymont Tuesday and the No. 9 team in the state, 16-2 Cambridge, on Saturday. We had a great crowd Friday and hope that same energy follows us this week.”