Sports Editor

hazardherald0@alltel.net

Last week, the Robinson Bluejays took their first step toward capturing the 2006 county championship. The Bluejays started the season with a bang as they grabbed the preseason tournament trophy with a 49-36 win over a very good Chavies Cardinal team.

The Bluejays all but breezed through the competition winning four games by an average of 21.25 points per game. Along the way, Robinson disposed of Buckhorn, R. W. Combs, A. B. Combs and Chavies.

In their first game, Robinson took on last year's runners up, the Buckhorn Wildcats. The Bluejays struggled in the early going as they found it difficult to get their offense in gear. At the end of the first quarter, they had to settle for a six-all tie with the Wildcats, and then went into the locker room down by two at 16-14.

Robinson began to find their range in the second half. The Bluejays were able to erase their deficit and take the lead in the third period, and went into the final quarter with a 26-22 advantage.

Buckhorn made a valiant effort to keep the game close in the fourth quarter, but as the contest entered the final minutes the Bluejays began to pull away. Robinson escaped the opening round of the tournament with a hard fought 41-30 win.

D. J. Wilson led the Bluejays to victory with a game high 16 points, while Byron Easterling led the Wildcats with 10 points.

Robinson (41) Channing Fugate 9, D. J. Wilson 16, Cody Campbell 7, Jon Stacy 3 and Tyler Mullins 6.

Buckhorn (30) Jordan Amis 9, Byron Easterling 10, Adam Gay 4, Tyler Mullins 2, Brent Turner 3 and Jon Deaton 2.

The second round of the tournament put the Bluejays on the court with the R. W. Combs Mustangs. Robinson took control of the game in the early moments only to see the Mustangs come charging back to trail by eight at the half (24-16).

Robinson put the game away early in the third quarter, and took a 37-21 lead into the final frame. R. W. Combs was unable to make a late rally as in the first half, and eventually succumbed by the final tally of 54-28.

Again, Robinson's D. J. Wilson was the game's high scorer with 26 points, while Jimmy Vanover led R. W. Combs in scoring with 7 points.

Robinson (54) C. Fugate 3, D. Wilson 26, C. Campbell 5, J. Stacy 3, T. Mullins 4, J. James 7, S. Smith 2, A. Messer 2 and D. Cornett 2.

R. W. Combs (28) J. Spencer 2, C. Ashworth 1, R. Chitwood 6, P. Hughes 2, D. Feltner 5, J. Vanover 7, B. Sumner 2 and B. Porter 3.

In the semifinals Robinson met up with last year's county champions, the A. B. Combs Bearcats. Neither team got off to a particularly good start, but by the time the game entered the second quarter, the Bluejays had caught fire. Robinson went on a 28-7 run in the quarter to take a 37-10 lead into the intermission.

Robinson was unable to return to their second quarter success in the second half, but they were able to keep a death grip on the lead. Going into the final period they were still in control of the game with a 48-16 lead. The clock hit continuous mode in the fourth quarter, bringing the game to an end with Robinson collecting the 53-18 win.

For the third night in a row, Robinson was led in scoring by a game high performance by D. J. Wilson who had 16 points on the night. A. B. Combs was led in scoring by Jamie Noble and Chris Noble who each had 6 points.

Robinson (53) Channing Fugate 14, D. J. Wilson 16, Cody Campbell 13, Tyler Mullins 7, Josh Jones 1 and Jeffery Smith 2.

A. B. Combs (18) Jamie Noble 6, Chris Noble 6, Eric Back 4 and Jon Barker 2.

In the championship game, the Bluejays faced their stiffest competition to date as they hooked up with the Chavies Cardinals. The Cardinals worked their way through the tournament winning their preliminary games by an average of 33 points.

Robinson took control of the game early, jumping out to an 11-3 lead in the first quarter, but the Bluejays would not be able to enjoy the rewards of their efforts for long as the Cardinals got on track and came storming back.

Chavies was able to cut the lead to a couple of buckets in the opening moments of the second period. The Cardinals were able to achieve this by keeping the Bluejays off the board. However, they could not keep Robinson down long as they began to put points up as the half drew near. The Bluejays were able to maintain their lead going into the break 17-11.

The back-and-forth struggle continued throughout the second half, with Chavies making several runs that brought them to within a couple of buckets only to be countered by a Robinson run. The Cardinals were able to make it to within a couple of buckets in each the third and fourth quarter, but the Bluejays had the final word in each case to push the margin back to a comfortable level.

Going into the final period Chavies trailed by seven (31-24), and made a very good showing in the final quarter. But, the final moment of the game belonged to the eventual champions as they were able to push the final margin to 13 points (49-36).

Robinson's D. J. Wilson continued his dominate offensive performance as he once again led all scorers with 18 points. Wilson finished the tournament with 76 points. Chavies was led in scoring by Dustin Colwell and Curtis Colwell who each had 12 points.

Robinson (49) Channing Fugate 10, D. J. Wilson 18, Cody Campbell 4, Jon Stacy 3, Dustin Ballard 5 and Tyler Mullins 9 (three 𔄛”s in the fourth quarter).

Chavies (36) Eric Stidham 2, Dustin Colwell 12, Curtis Colwell 12, Mitch Smith 6 and Gage Delph 4.