Flint Township View

Watts’ three-point play seals victory for Cavs





FLINT — The Carman-Ainsworth boys’ basketball team welcomed Flint Northwestern on Tuesday and pulled out a 49-48 victory thanks to junior point guard Denzel Watts.

Watts, with the Cavs trailing 48-46, hit the game-tying layup with 13 seconds left and was fouled in the process. He then calmly stepped to the charity stripe and hit the go-ahead free throw to put the Cavs up, 49-48. Northwestern missed a shot with three seconds remaining to give Camran-Ainsworth the victory.

The game was back-and-forth as Northwestern led, 13-10, after the first quarter and the Cavs led, 27-23, at the break. The Wildcats surged ahead at the end of the third quarter, 40-35.

Watts led the way with 21 points, while Justin Person added 12. Carl Jackson led with Northwestern with a game-high 22 points.

The big difference in the game was at the free-throw line where the Cavs were 7-of-7 and the Wildcats were 0-of-3.

Last Friday, the Cavaliers traveled to Big Nine rival Davison and pulled out a 66-62 overtime victory.

The Cardinals came out of the gates on fire and led, 18-8, after the first quarter. Carman-Ainsworth responded in the second quarter with an 18-12 edge and trailed, 30-26, at halftime.

The Cavs took the lead in the third quarter thanks to a 15-10 advantage, but the Cardinals outscored the Cavs, 17-16, in the fourth to send the game into overtime.

Carman-Ainsworth outscored Davison, 9-5, in the extra session to seal the victory. Watts came through in a big way with a game-high 32 points while Cameron Morse had 14. Davison was led by J.C. Carrizales’ 19, Lance Arnold had 14 and Joe Thwing added 10.

The free-throw line was once again the difference where the Cavs were 24-of-35 and the Cardinals were 10-of-19.

“The team chemistry has been much better and we have basically been through three lineups this year,” Carman-Ainsworth coach Bob Root said on why his team is playing better of late. “The kids enjoy playing with each other now and they are working harder.”

The Cavaliers, 7-5 overall, 3-0 Big Nine, host Flushing on Friday and Buena Vista on Feb. 7.


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