Lady Cougars split final two summer games in Cougar Den

Marking the end of the summer basketball season, the Lady Cougars hosted games at the Cougar Den on Tuesday, and split a pair of contests.

In the opener, the Lady Cougars led most of the way as they defeated the North Hardin Lady Trojans 31-23.

The second game was against old rival Breckinridge County, and after trailing by just a point at the half, the Lady Cougars gave up the first 10 points of the second half and suffered a 44-36 defeat.

The format for these games was four, 10-minute quarters with a continuously-running clock, except in the last minute of each quarter.

NORTH HARDIN

Grayson County led by as many as six points in the first quarter, but a modest 5-0 North Hardin run gave them their first lead of the game, 12-10 with 2:20 left in the first half. That would be the only lead the Lady Trojans would hold, though, as Grayson County went back on top 13-12 on a short running jumper from Laura Vincent with 37 seconds left and the Lady Cougars never trailed again.

Grayson County was clinging to a four-point lead, 25-21 with 3:02 remaining before back-to-back baskets by Rachael Snyder were followed by a Kaylee Masden lay-in with 38 seconds left to give the Lady Cougars their largest lead of the day, 10 points at 31-21,

Kenzie Renfrow led all scorers with 14 points and she added six rebounds. Snyder finished with eight points and also pulled down six boards.

Vincent finished with four points, Bailey Snyder had three, and Masden had two to complete the Lady Cougar scoring.

BRECKINRIDGE COUNTY

The Lady Tigers figure to be one of the teams that will battle for the title in the 3rd Region next season, and could even be the favorites. They are led by senior Kayla Young who is nearly unstoppable in the post and figures to be a leading candidate for the 3rd Region Player of the Year.

Freshman point guard Isabel Grimes is the other standout player for Breck and figures to give the Lady Cougars fits over the next four seasons. There could also be a Player of the Year award in her future as well.

Taking all that into account, it should have come as no surprise that the Lady Tigers led by eight points, 14-6 after the first quarter. When they scored opening the second period, the lead went to double digits at 16-6.

But the surprise came when the Lady Cougars began fighting back and getting back into the fray. An 18-8 run tied the game 24-24 with 30 seconds left in the first half. One-of-two free throws by Breck’s Aleigha Mucker with :00.6 left gave the Tigers the halftime lead, 25-24.

All that hard work went out the window, though, in the second half as Breck opened with a 10-0 run to take control of the game. They maintained a 10-point lead, 38-28 heading into the fourth quarter.

A Grimes three-pointer with 4:25 left to play gave the Lady Tigers their largest lead of the day, 14 points at 44-30, but the Lady Cougars scored the last six points of the game to cut the final margin to eight points.

Renfrow led all scorers in the game with 15 points and she added four rebounds and three assists. Bailey Snyder joined her in double figures with 11 points, including two shots from behind the arc, and she added three rebounds and a pair of steals.

Vincent scored four points and led the team on the glass with five rebounds. Three players, Masden, Brianna Dennis and Rachael Snyder all had two points to complete the scoring.

By Don Brown, Local Sports
Reach Don at donbrown@k105.com