Indians win 2, but drop first game of the year

 

Montgomery County entered this past week one of two high school teams in the Commonwealth without a loss. Not since last year's Sweet 16 semi-finals loss at the hands of Ballard had the Indians tasted defeat. That streak came to an end, but before the first L there came a pair of wins. First off was a Tuesday night trip to Scott where MoCo jumped out to a 16-4 lead & after the Eagles quickly pulled to within 3, extended the lead back to 16 at intermission. Pesky Scott wouldn't go away easily, but the Indians came away with a 73-60 win behind 25 points from Bryan Wallace. On Friday Jason Holland took his team to Winchester for a rivalry/district showdown with George Rogers Clark. The host Cards punched the Indians in the mouth for three quarters & held a 13-point lead in the waning seconds of the third quarter, but the Indians scored the quarter's final 4 points to bring the lead under double digits. Montgomery wore down GRC in the final frame, outscoring the hosts 22-8 to bring home a 62-57 win. Wallace again led the charge with 23 points, while senior forward DeAnte Cisero added 15. Saturday's opponent was Elizabethtown in the Nathan McCurry Classic, held at John Hardin. The Panthers were dominant from start to finish, scorching the nets for 81 points against a Montgomery County defense that had been giving up only 53.6 ppg. The 81-55 loss was not only the team's first blemish of the season, but the lopsided margin might give other squads in the 10th some hope that the Indians may not be as invincible as they once appeared.

 

'Stangs fall in Class "A" State Tournament

 

Bishop Brossart hoped to have a week's worth of games during last week's Class "A" State Tournament, but 1st Region representative St. Mary had other plans. In a sloppy affair the Vikings edged Brossart 38-36 off a deflected pass that turned into a game-winning floater at the buzzer. Prior to the thrilling finish, St. Mary led most of the first half & a good portion of the second until the Mustangs started to heat up. Slowly but surely, Mike Code's team was able to whittle away at a small St. Mary lead & eventually tied the game at 28 on a Drew Burns and-1 basket with just over 5 minutes left in the game. A trey from Spencer Hackworth at the 3:00 mark gave Brossart a 31-28 lead & another Burns bucket gave the Stangs their largest lead at 33-28. Brossart still led 35-31 with 1:33 left when the wheels fell off. Costly turnovers, missed free throws, & solid play by St. Mary led to the Vikings tying the score & eventually winning the game. Alex Trentman led the Mustangs with 12 points & Burns added 10.

 

Shawn Johnson dominates as Royals roll to 3-0 week

One of the 10th's hottest teams is the Mason County Royals & one of its hottest players is 6'7" center Shawn Johnson. On Monday the Royals earned perhaps the best regular season victory of any Region team this year, coming away with a 61-56 victory at state-ranked Lexington Catholic. Johnson shined with 16 points & 16 rebounds. His junior front court mate Dorian Henry contributed 12 points & 9 rebounds. Twenty-four hours later the Royals traveled down US 68 to tangle with Terrence Brooks' Paris Greyhounds. Johnson again led the way for Mason County, scoring 10 points & pulling down 14 rebounds in a 63-52 win. Then on Friday night Chris O'Hearn took his team to Morehead for a battle with Rowan County. For a third consecutive game, Johnson controlled the paint, scoring 19 points & grabbing 13 rebounds en route to a 63-53 victory. For Johnson, that's a weekly average of 15 ppg & 14.3 rpg.

 

Campbell County continues winning ways

The other squad contending for the Region's hottest team is Campbell County. The Camels were in action twice last week, defeating Augusta 83-67 in Alexandria on Wednesday night. The fantastic trio of Corey Holbrook, Dre Jackson, & Matt Wilson was....well...fantastic. Holbrook scored 26 to lead the Camels, while Jackson & Wilson contributed 23 apiece. Friday night the Camels stayed at home again, this time taking on 37th District foe Scott. Four Camels notched double figures, led by Jackson's 27, on their way to a comfortable 79-61 win. Aric Russell's bunch has won 5 straight & hold a 13-4 record overall.

 

Augusta returns to action & Bach makes history

Jason Hinson's Panthers played their first game in 16 days on Monday night, hosting Newport in what ended up being a shootout. Augusta prevailed 90-76 behind 41 points from senior guard Brent Bach, who connected on 17-22 FG's, 3-6 3pt. FG's, & 4-6 FT's. Sophomore forward Camryn Snapp added 11 points & 11 rebounds in the win. In the Wednesday night loss at Campbell County, Bach scored a team-high 26 points, while Snapp added 15 points & 10 rebounds. Sophomore guard Connor Maddox chipped in 19 points, including 5-8 3pt. FG shooting. On Friday Augusta took part in the King of the Bluegrass Showcase & upended Moore by a score of 72-63, with Bach's 29 points leading the way. Augusta then played its fourth game of the week--this one also on a neutral floor--defeating Model 64-56 at Nicholas County. The Panthers trailed entering the 4th quarter, but outscored the Patriots 23-8 in the final 8 minutes. Bach pumped in 33 points in the victory, but in doing so became the school's all-time leading scorer. Bach entered the Model game needing 17 points to break current Burgin coach Brian Kirk's record of 2,222 points. The 6'1" senior now sits alone atop Augusta's scoring list at 2,239 points.

 

Crawford stands out, but Polar Bears slump

Staying in the 39th District we come to Chad Persinger's Bracken County Polar Bears, who have been struggling mightily of late. The Bears played three home games on consecutive nights last week, starting with a heartbreaking 71-70 loss to Lewis County on Wednesday. Leading 70-68, Bracken surrendered a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to Lions guard Brett Ruckel, who finished with a game-high 33 points. Polar Bears freshman guard Austin Crawford was outstanding, scoring 32 points & grabbing 7 rebounds. Crawford scored 23 points a night later, but the Bears were upset by District foe St. Patrick--a team they had beaten by 19 points on the road earlier in the year. Friday night was a high-scoring affair that saw visiting Grant County pull away in the 2nd half to a 96-81 win. Crawford dropped 30 on the Braves in the loss. After starting the season 7-3, the Polar Bears have gone 2-8 since & have lost 6 straight.

 

Cardinals win 1, lose a heartbreaker

George Rogers Clark snapped a 3-game losing streak on Tuesday night with a 72-57 home win over North Laurel. Balanced scoring was key for the Cards, with junior guard Damion King leading the way with 17 points. Freshman Jerryd Jones was terrific, finishing with 16 points & 12 rebounds. Big man Khmarkis Blanton also scored 16 points & junior Braxton Greene added 10. The aforementioned Friday night contest with Montgomery County was brutal for Scott Humphrey's team, who controlled the game for three quarters, but then ran out of gas in a 62-57 loss. King again led GRC, scoring a team-high 18 points & Blanton chipped in with 11.

 

Paris finishes the week 1-2

Terrence Brooks & his young Greyhounds squad hosted Mason County on Tuesday & put up a good fight in a 63-52 loss. Two nights later the 'Hounds traveled to Burgin & coasted to a 69-25 win, but then ended the week with a hard-fought overtime loss to Sayre (at Nicholas County) by a score of 58-53. In the loss, Paris battled back from a double-digit 4th quarter deficit to force the extra session, but the Spartans held on. The Greyhounds were led by senior guard Cameron Downey's 11 points & freshman forward Jekobi Wells' 10 points. It was the second time Brooks' bunch lost a close one to Sayre (47-43 home loss on December 13th).

Breds fall twice, win once

 

Harrison County began its 3-game week in difficult fashion, suffering a 70-42 home loss to Henry Clay on Tuesday. Wednesday's loss was a tougher pill to swallow, as the Breds traveled to Woodford County & saw a 30-19 halftime lead evaporate in a 3rd quarter where they were outscored 24-14. The final frame also belonged to host Woodford, who escaped with a 54-52 win. Junior forward Trenton Thompson scored a team-high 22 points for Harrison County while D.J. Jenkins contributed 15. Larry Kendall's team ended the week on a high note, though, in a 70-53 home win over Pendleton County. After the two teams battled to a 16-16 first quarter tie, the Breds pounded the Wildcats in the 2nd & 3rd quarters, outscoring the visitors 44-17 during those 16 minutes of game action. Senior swingman Dillon Pulliam paced Harrison County with 22 points. Thompson & Jenkins added 14 & 13 points respectively.

 

10th Region Top 10 Rankings

1. Montgomery County (19-1)

2. Bishop Brossart (19-2)

3. Mason County (16-4)

4. Campbell County (13-4)

5. Harrison County (10-12)

6. George Rogers Clark (8-12)

7. Augusta (13-8)

8. Scott (5-16)

9. Paris (9-12)

10. Robertson County (8-9)

Great work as always. Camels are away at Harrison and Mason this week. Should be interesting.

Several key games during the first week of February in the 10th.

This past week was not a good one for the top of the 10th, as the top two teams both had extremely disappointing out of region performances/losses.

 

Mason Co offset that somewhat with a pair of very nice wins. I would flip Mason and Brossart. I also might flip Paris and Scott.

The next few weeks will show what Montgomery County is made of. This week we play Mason County (home) on Tuesday, Augusta (home) on Friday, North Hardin(away) on Saturday, and Wayne County(home) on Sunday.

39th District Tournament draw was scheduled for today at Bracken County, but has been postponed until Friday morning.

38th draw is also Friday morning. 9am.