In too many past seasons, the Radford Bobcats have delivered devastating defeats to the basketball Buffaloes of Floyd County High School but that came to an end Friday night on the Alan Cantrell Court.
The Buffs were down 9-0 halfway through the first quarter before scoring and fighting back, scoring a three-pointer at the quarter’s end to lead 14-12.
Radford tied the game 17-all within three minutes into the second quarter but the Buffs took the lead with shots by Kaiden Swortzel and led 21-20 with four minutes remaining before the halftime break.
The Bobcats recaptured the lead with 2:47 to go in the second quarter but Matt Slusher of the Buffaloes recaptured with a three-pointer with 43.2 seconds remaining and the teams went into the locker room at halftime with Floyd leading 25-24.
The lead jockeyed back and forth for the third quarter the Buffaloes and Bobcats entered the fourth and final period tied at 39 all. The Buffs retook the lead with a foul shot and then added five more points to lead 45-39 with 4:40 left in the game.
With 2:15 left on the clock, the Buffs led by six points. 48-42. and a foul shot extended the lead to 49-42 with 1:56 remaining. Another foul shot added a point for Floyd but the Bobcats added four to make the score 50-46 with less than a minute remaining on the time clock.
Two successful foul shots by Micah Underwood added two more points to the Buffaloes’ lead and the score stood at 52-46 with 32.4 seconds left.
Then the first of multiple fouls by the Bobcats sent Kaiden Swortzel to the foul line for several shots and the score stood at 53-46. Next, Micah Underwood went to the foul line and added another point, putting the Buffalo lead 54-46 with 19.7 seconds remaining.
Another two-point goal put the game at 58-46 and, effectively, out of reach for Radford to close the ga with 11.9 seconds remaining. The final score: was 58-46 and a major win over a tough opponent.
Kaiden Swortzel led the scoring with 40 points, followed by AJ Cantrell with 12 and Micah Undewood’s 11. Cangrell, Underwood, Matt Slushder, and Rylan Swortzel each contributed three-point scores.
The win puts the Buffaloes’ record at 13-4 overall and 5-2 in district play. Friday’s victory avenges a 54-38 loss to the Bobcats in Radford on Jan. 10. The JV Buffs also won, 58-45, in the first game Friday.
The Lady Buffaloes stampeded all over the female Bobcats 60-14 Wednesday night in Radford, a win even more dominating than the 61-20 they delivered at home in Floyd on Jan. 9.
More game details and photos in next week’s Floyd Press.
