‘Showtime’ Cats dazzle in home opener with dunks and threes [VIDEO]

#3-ranked Rabun County (2-0) looked like the Showtime Lakers, dunking, draining threes, and slashing to the hoop in an 83-66 win Tuesday at home over White County (0-3).

All told, the Wildcats had 15 3-pointers and three dunks (all by Hayes Free). Free had 35 points and connected on three deep shots. Huey Blalock was unbelievable, dishing out over a dozen assists while scoring all of his 19 points in the first half, including four 3-pointers.

Rabun started with an alley oop from Blalock to Free, and the former launched three 3-pointers in a short span in the opening quarter to go up 18-9. Rabun County had six 3-pointers in the quarter, as Blalock had 11 points and Free 10.

White County remained in striking distance, as both Blayne Gunter and Cohen Michaud connected on several big shots. Gunter had 10 points in the first, and 14 in the first half. Blalock (19) and Free (16) had the Wildcats up 50-28 going into the locker room.

Another 3-point parade came in the third, as Free got hot from deep. He had 12 points in the quarter, as did White County’s Gunter – who hit a triple at the buzzer to make it a 70-48 game going into the final period.

Blalock dished a couple more beautiful passes in the final quarter to Free for thunderous dunks before the starters began to file out. Trace Adcock made his much-anticipated home debut with 20 points (12 in the first half), burying six trifectas. Cord Burrell added six points and Landan Bedingfield had three.

Gunter closed with 28 points for White County as Michaud followed with 24.