The Butler County Bears came calling at the GCMS Cougar Gym on Thursday, and they managed to split the two games against the Cougars. The seventh-grade Cougars put two players into double figures as they beat the Bears 42-21 to move to 10-2 on the season.
The eighth-graders trailed by as many as 11 points in the first half, but came back to tie things in the fourth quarter before eventually falling 45-37. The loss evened the Cougars’ season record to 6-6.
SEVENTH-GRADE GAME
Grayson County never trailed after scoring the game’s first seven points. The Cougars led 9-4 at the end of the first quarter.
The Bears scored first in the second period to cut their deficit to just three points, but the Cougars answered with 10 straight points to grab a 13-point advantage, 19-6 with 2:03 left in the half. Grayson County led by 12 points, 21-9 at the break.
The Cougars then put the game on ice by outscoring the Bears 12-4 in the third quarter and taking a 20-point lead, 33-13 at the start of the final period of play.
Nolan Hornbeck led all scorers in the game with 13 points, and he added five rebounds. Dillon Horn also scored in double figures for the Cougars with 10 points, and added four boards.
Three players, River Blanton, Brayden Childress, and Brayden Renfrow all scored six points. Blanton shared the team lead in rebounds with five, while Renfrow led the team with three steals. Eli Watson had one point to complete the Cougar scoring.
EIGHTH GRADE GAME
When these two teams played the first time in Morgantown, the Cougars held their own for the first three quarters, but faded in the fourth. This time around, the Cougars found themselves playing from behind right at the start.
When Trey Stovall buried a three-pointer at the 2:47 mark of the second period, the Bears held their largest lead of the night, 11 points at 21-10. But the Cougars began getting their act together after that and outscored the visitors 8-3 the rest of the period and trailed by just six points, 24-18 at the half.
Brody Hunt scored for the Bears opening the third quarter, but the Cougars answered with an 8-2 run that cut the lead to just two points, 28-26 with 3:45 left in the period. Grayson County trailed by four, 35-31 at the end of the period.
Timmy Hanover popped a three-pointer to start the fourth quarter, pulling the Cougars to within a point of the lead, and Chandler McCrady hit 1-of-2 at the line with 5:05 remaining to pull the Cougars into a tie with the Bears at 35-35.
Butler County then put the game aw2ay, outscoring the Cougars 10-2 the rest of the game to win by eight.
Hunt led all scorers in the game with 18 points. McCrady led the Cougars with 13 points and he also led the team on the boards with six rebounds.
Hanover finished with nine points and he added four rebounds. Hunter Tomes and Zeb Bratcher both scored five points and Tomes added four rebounds. Keegan Sharp scored three points and grabbed five rebounds.
Owen Bratcher and Keegan Garrison both scored a point to round out the Cougar scoring.
By Don Brown, Local Sports
Reach Don at donbrown@k105.com
Chandler McCrady challenged two Bears
on this shot for two of his 13 points.
Nolan Hornbeck led the 7th-graders
with 13 points.
Eli Watson drove to the hoop for the 7th graders.
Owen Bratcher shot free throws
for the 8th-graders in the first half.
