The Grayson County Middle School Cougar basketball teams took no prisoners Thursday evening in Cloverport as both the seventh and eighth-grade teams brought home lopsided victories.
In the opener, the seventh-grade Cougars never trailed after scoring the game’s first 17 points and went on to record a 54-15 win to move to 2-0 on the season.
The eighth-graders also never trailed and held the Aces scoreless in both the second and third quarters on their way to a 64-7 blowout to also move to 2-0.
SEVENTH-GRADE GAME
Grayson County’s aggressive, pressing defense forced seven Aces turnovers in the first quarter, including five steals, as they raced out to a 17-0 lead with 1:16 left to play in the period. Cloverport’s Conner Lagodins hit a three-pointer with 55 seconds left to halt the Cougar run, but Tayden Logsdon scored on a put-back with 19 seconds left and the Cougars led 19-3 heading into the second quarter.
The pace of the game slowed in the second period, but the Cougars still outscored the Aces 8-2 in the period and led by 22 points, 27-5 as the teams headed to their locker rooms at the half.
Grayson County continued to add to their lead and they held the Aces scoreless in the fourth quarter. When Jerron Salazar scored with 2:28 remaining in the game, the lead had ballooned to 35 points and the clock began running continuously by the KHSAA “mercy” rule.
The Cougars dressed 12 players for this game and 11 of them reached the scoring column, led by Brayden Childress, who finished with nine points. Salazar scored eight points, as did River Blanton. Lucas Pierce and Camden Brothers both scored five points, and Pierce led the team on the glass with eight rebounds.
Three players, Logsdon, Nolan Hornbeck and Dillon Horn all scored four points, Eli Watson added three, and Brayden Renfrow and Logan Dennison both scored two to complete the Cougar scoring.
EIGHTH-GRADE GAME
The Aces tied the score twice in the early going of the first period, at 2-2 and 5-5. They would not score again until the 4:42 mark of the fourth quarter.
In that time, the Cougars ran off 53 unanswered points to lead 58-7. They led by 39 points at the half, which meant the entire second half would be played with a running clock.
Grayson County put three players into double-figure scoring, led by Chandler McCrady’s 14 points. Hunter Tomes scored 12 points and made it a double-double evening by leading the team with 13 rebounds. Owen Bratcher was the third Cougar in double figures, finishing with 10 points.
Timmy Hanover scored eight points while Keegan Sharp scored seven and led the Cougars with four steals. Hunter Meredith came off the bench in the second half to score six points, while Zeb Bratcher had five and Grayson Payton added two to complete the scoring.
By Don Brown, Local Sports
reach Don at donbrown@k105.com
Brayden Childress went to the line in the
first period. Childress led the seventh-grader
with nine points.
Camden Brothers had five points
for the seventh-graders.
Timmy Hanover flew to the hoop
for the eighth-graders.
Zeb Bratcher drove to the basket during eighth-grade action.
Keegan Sharp led the eighth-grade Cougars with four steals.
