The middle school Lady Cougar basketball teams split a doubleheader on Monday at Edmonson County Middle School.
In the opener, the seventh-grade girls laid an egg, losing 25-22 to a team they had beaten by 20 points two weeks earlier. The eighth-graders salvaged the evening by thrashing the Lady Cats by 30 points, 42-12.
SEVENTH-GRADE GAME
Leighton Kinser’s rebound basket with 1:48 left in the first period gave the LadyCats a 6-2 lead, but Grayson County closed out the period on a 6-0 run to lead 8-6 heading into the second period. Breigh Jones scored opening the second period to make it eight unanswered points and a 10-6 lead.
A 15-footer by Ellie Bratcher with 2:28 left in the first half gave the Lady Cougars a six-point lead, 14-8, but they went scoreless the rest of the half, allowing the LadyCats to score six straight to tie things 14-14 at the half.
Payton Bowman scored with 1:25 left in the third quarter to tie the game 18-18. That would be the last time the Lady Cougars would have a taste of the lead.
Kinser scored on an old-fashioned three-point play to give the LadyCats the lead for good, 21-18 at the end of the third quarter.
Rayleigh Moon scored to open the fourth quarter and give the LadyCats a five-point advantage, 23-18. Emma Jennings pulled the Lady Cougars to within a point of the lead, 23-22 with 55 seconds left in the game. Peyton Manor then closed out the scoring by hitting a lay-in with 23 seconds left.
Grayson County then missed three shots in the closing seconds.
Kinser finished with seven points to lead all scorers in the game.
Bratcher and Jones led the Lady Cougars with six points each, and Bratcher led the team on the glass with nine rebounds. Jennings finished with five points and three rebounds.
Bowman finished with three points and seven rebounds, while Addi Spainhoward had two points to close out the Grayson County scoring.
EIGHTH-GRADE GAME
Grayson County never trailed in the game after scoring the first six points and holding a six-point lead, 12-6 after the first period of play.
Edmonson County’s Hannah Cassady hit one-of-two at the line with 1:45 left in the second period to pull her team to within seven points of the lead, 14-7, but the Lady Cougars closed out the half with eight unanswered points to lead by 15 points, 22-7 at the half.
Haley Miller opened the second half with a three-pointer that gave Grayson County an 18-point lead 25-7. The Lady Cougars led by 20 points, 28-8 heading into the fourth quarter.
A short jumper by Tessa Cummings gave the Lady Cougars a 26-point lead, 36-10 with 2:42 remaining, and the clock began running continuously.
Grayson County put 10 players into the scoring column, led by Miller with six points. Miller also added five rebounds for a share of the team lead.
Four players, Lucy Tarrance, Lexi Logsdon, Addie Hodges, and Breigh Jones, each scored five points, and Hodges added five rebounds for a share of the team lead.
Three players, Ellie Bratcher, Addi Spainhoward, and Tessa Cummings, all finished with four points, while Payton Bowman and Jordyn Perkins had two apiece to close out the scoring.
By Don Brown, Local Sports
Reach Don at donbrown@k105.com
