The Caldwell County Tigers dropped several games early in the season because of missed free throws and turnovers late in games.
On Friday, Caldwell won because it took care of the ball and made its charity tosses.
Jamarius Blaine scored 16 points and was 10-for-10 at the stripe as the Tigers turned back Carlisle County 63-57 in a tightly-contested game at the CAB gym in Princeton.
As a team, Caldwell shot 84 percent at the free-throw line, making 21 of 25 attempts. That helped the Tigers outscore Carlisle by seven points at the line. The Comets were 14 of 18.
Caldwell (5-7) was able to withstand a big night from Carlisle’s 6-foot-6 junior Blake Elder, who finished with 28 points.
Elder helped Carlisle (7-6) overcome a 10-point deficit in the second quarter to take the lead in the second half.
The Comets went up three times — the last at 46-44 following a bucket from inside by Elder with 5:46 to play.
Two Elder free throws tied the game at 48-48 with 4:24 left.
But Adarius Riley hit two charity tosses at the other end to push Caldwell back in front, and the Tigers held off every Carlisle push down the stretch.
Blaine hit six free throws in the final 30 seconds to keep Caldwell in front.
Still, Carlisle was within 59-57 following another Elder bucket with 6.1 seconds to play.
However, on the ensuing inbounds play, Caldwell’s Tripp Branch was fouled. An extra shove on the play resulted in a technical foul on a Carlisle player. Then, while Branch was at the line, another technical was whistled against the Comet bench.
The Tigers made four of those six free throws with 1.7 seconds to play to finally put away Carlisle and extend the final margin to six points.
Riley and Cayden Fraliex each added 12 points for the Tigers.
Reese Anderson had 15 for Carlisle.
The Tigers have had the Comets’ number the last four seasons, picking up wins each season while leading the all-time series 4-0.
Carlisle County 14 16 11 16 — 57
Caldwell County 16 15 12 20 — 63
Carlisle County (7-6) — Elder 28, Anderson 15, Hook 5, McGee 4, Hayden 3, Teasley 2.
Caldwell County (5-7) — Blaine 16, A. Riley 12, Fraliex 12, Branch 9, Smiley 7, Ray 5, Spikes 2.
