HARRISON, Arkansas — Tristian Smith only exaggerated by a bit while describing his confidence in his Chadwick teammate, blossoming star Clayton Garrison.
“It's amazing playing with him,” Smith said. “It takes off so much stress playing with someone like him because you know whenever he touches the ball that 90 percent of the time it's going in and he can score every which way.”
Garrison didn’t quite enjoy 90-percent success Saturday. He gave it a great shot, shooting at an 84-percent clip while scoring 34 points in the Cardinals’ 61-20 rout of Alpena, Arkansas, at the 8th Annual NorthArk Border War Shootout.
Garrison was 16-of-19 from the field. He made all 10 of his field-goal attempts in the second half. He had a pair of 3-pointers and recorded four dunks. He got to 34 points without shooting a free throw.
Garrison was far from assertive on the offensive end, repeatedly passing up scoring opportunities by instead passing the ball.
“I was trying to share the ball and be a good teammate while getting my buckets,” Garrison said. “Some (shots) that are wide open, you've got to shoot.”
Coming off a 43-37 home loss to Niangua this past Tuesday, Chadwick (6-2) has made a concentrated effort to put Garrison’s supporting cast in position to shoot.
Creek Guerin delivered a late 3-pointer that proved decisive in Chadwick’s 44-42 triumph over Lutheran North at the Queen City Shootout.
"I relied on the guys more to shoot the ball and they stepped up and made big shots,” Garrison said of the win against Lutheran North, last season’s Class 3 state runner-up.
Mason Rogers scored seven points and Smith and Guerin both added six against Alpena.
“We've been talking a lot the past week or two that we are really good when everyone is involved,” Cardinals coach Shaun Guerin said. “Everyone knows about Clayton, they don't know we have other shooters on the floor and guys who can handle the ball.”
Chadwick exposed Alpena’s troubles handling the ball. The Cardinals upped their defensive pressure at the start of the second half, leading to dramatic results.
Chadwick held a 16-13 lead midway through the second quarter. The Cardinals proceeded to outscore Alpena 45-4 to go up 61-17.
“With the pressure in the third quarter, we obviously put it away,” Guerin said. “Our defense at times is really good. I like what we're doing defensively.”
Chadwick gained the only win for Missouri teams at the Shootout, as Arkansas teams won four of the five games. Earlier, Mountain Home edged Fair Grove 52-51, Valley Springs routed New Covenant 87-37 and Harrison whipped West Plains 73-46 and The New School downed Reeds Spring 48-31.
