The Grayson County Cougar basketball team split their two games on their second day of summer league action Friday afternoon.
Bowling Green
A quick start by the Cougars forced the Purples into an early hole that they weren’t able to climb out of in a 51-36 victory Friday afternoon.
Grayson County was led in scoring by rising senior Nolan Shartzer who led the way with 18 points. The Purple defense had no answer for the Cougar forward as he dominated the paint on the offensive and defensive end.
The start was the story for the Cougars as they scored the first 7 points of the game to take the air out of Bowling Green almost immediately.
One of the top plays of the game came off a beautiful pass from Shartzer who used a ball fake to get into the lane before finding a wide-open Miles Hornbeck for a three-pointer from the left corner.
In addition to the scoring by Shartzer, Evan Clark joined him in double figures with 10 points. Rising freshman River Blanton added 7 of his own while Keegan Sharp had 6.
Other scoring totals included Chandler McCrady with 4, Hornbeck with 3, and Brett Payton and Wyatt Schultz each with 2.
Station Camp
The second game of the day pitted the Cougars against a very unfamiliar opponent in Station Camp High School out of Gallatin, TN. Last season, the Bison finished with a 17-11 record with their season ending in a loss to Brentwood High School.
A Keegan Sharp three-pointer got the Cougar offense going in the opening minutes of the 20-minute running clock half. It would take nearly four more minutes for either team to score as both teams began to trade baskets.
Like most summer league games, both teams sent in subs at almost every stoppage of play with the physicality of the battle between the two teams beginning to show.
In the closing minutes of the first half, Cougar turnovers and missed layups allowed for the Bison to go a 12-0 run giving themselves the 22-14 lead at the half.
The offensive woes for Grayson County continued into the second half of play as they did not make a shot from the field until the 11:45 mark and by that point found themselves with a 28 to 17 deficit.
After the Shartzer basket broke the drought and Hunter Tomes banked one in off the right side of the glass, Station Camp called a quick timeout.
Out of the timeout, the Cougars were able to bring the game to within 8, but the Bison again had an answer with a quick 7-0 run that proved to be the difference in a 40-31 Station Camp victory.
In the loss, the Cougars were led in scoring by Keegan Sharp, who hit four three-pointers to lead the way. Nolan Shartzer finished with 9, while Wyatt Schultz, Evan Clark, Dylan Horn, and Hunter Tomes also added points.
The Cougars will be back in action on Thursday when they will travel to Hart County to face the Raiders and Adair County.
By Sam Gormley, Play-By-Play Announcer/Local Sports
Reach Sam at sam@k105.com
