The Grayson County Cougar basketball team closed the summer portion of the schedule with a perfect 4-0 record this past weekend in Lexington.
The event, which was attended by 144 schools from multiple states, was held at multiple locations across Lexington, Versailles, and Georgetown.
Grayson County, which is coming off of one of the best seasons in school history, battled injuries throughout the month. Rising senior Brody Armstrong missed all of the games with an injury with multiple other players, including Jack Logsdon, Kamden Sanders, Jackson Davis, and Trigg Payne, also missing action.
That forced head coach Travis Johnston to go deep to his bench and play more inexperienced players.
“I think it’ll help quite a bit,” Johnston said. “Obviously, not having Brody, and Kadin (Hanshaw) not playing any of this summer because he is focusing on football, and of course, Trigg went down with an ankle. You got some other guys that got some minutes. I think the biggest thing is that Kyle (Higdon) was pushed into the starting lineup, and he really showcased what he could bring to our team. We knew what he could do, but we didn’t know how he’d fit exactly because he’s a little bit small, but he plays bigger.”
Marion County
The Cougars got the weekend started on Friday afternoon at Lexington Christian Academy’s auxiliary gym against Marion County.
In attendance for the game were WKU head coach Hank Plona, NKU head coach Darrin Horn, and assistants from Bellarmine, Chattanooga, and others.
The matchup turned into an absolute rock fight that saw the Cougars in a war.
They trailed by three points for the majority of the second half, and seemingly every time they would tie the game up, the Knights would have an answer.
Marion County’s lead would expand to four points at 36-32 before Jack Logsdon would drop in a shot with 2:07 to go.
Grayson County would get the ball back before Jonah Massey, who transferred from Edmonson County earlier in the week, nailed a corner three to give them the lead with a little over a minute to play.
Logsdon would make a basket on the next trip down the floor to put the Cougars up three with 14.8 seconds left.
Out of a timeout, the Knights’ play fell apart, but a desperation, contested three found the bottom of the net to tie the game at 39 with 2.2 seconds left.
Logsdon’s three would just miss at the buzzer, and overtime was forced.
In the tournament, overtime was sudden death, meaning the first team to score would come away the victor. Grayson County won the tip, but Jagger Mardis missed a shot, giving the Knights a chance to close the game out.
They would miss on the other end, with Mardis pulling down the loose board. Logsdon would then be fouled, where he dropped in the free throw to clinch a 41-39 win for Grayson County.
Rockcastle County
Immediately following the game, the Cougars hopped in their vehicles and traveled to St. Peter and Paul Church, which is located just a few blocks from Rupp Arena, a place they hope to be playing at come March 2026.
This first half could not have gone much worse for the squad as they found themselves down 33-11 late in the half.
However, Kyle Higdon would make a free throw, and Parker Willis would beat the buzzer to bring the deficit to only 18 and give some life to the Cougars at the break.
BOYS: Rockcastle County 33 Grayson County 15 | HALFTIME
A rough first half ends with positivity as Parker Willis beats the buzzer for the Cougars. pic.twitter.com/fVKSz4AYrT
— Cougar Sports on K105 (@K105sports) June 21, 2025
The second half was a completely different team for Grayson County.
After Rockcastle County scored to make it 37-21 early in the half, the game completely flipped the favor of the team wearing orange.
The Cougars would outscore the Rockets 27-4 over the closing minutes to pull away for a 49-41 win.
Spencer Langdon was one of the key cogs in the comeback as he totaled 14 points and 11 rebounds while going perfect from the free throw line.
Jeffersontown
Grayson County returned to Lexington Christian Academy on Saturday morning for a pair of games, thankfully at the same location.
The first opponent was the Jeffersontown Chargers, who upset St. Xavier in the Sweet 16 a year ago.
While the offense struggled on Friday, it didn’t at all on Saturday as they cruised to a 40-21 lead at the half behind the three-headed monster of Jagger Mardis, Jack Logsdon, and Spencer Langdon.
The second half adjustments of the Chargers included bringing a lot more pressure in the full court, and it was something that the squad struggled with.
Jeffersontown brought the game down to nine points at 42-33 and had a chance to bring it closer following a turnover.
Kamden Sanders pulled down a loose board before firing an outlet pass down to Kyle Higdon, who had a transition layup to bring the game back to double-digits, a mark that it would remain at for the remainder. The Cougars would go on to win 58-48.
Mardis led in scoring with 17 points and five rebounds, with Logsdon, Langdon, and Sanders also joining him in double figures.
Indian Hill (OH)
The final game of the weekend matched the Cougars against Indian Hill (OH), a squad that they opened last year’s event against with a tight win.
This game would be referred to as the Jack Logsdon show.
The rising junior had a monster game with 33 points, 18 of which came in the first half, to put the Cougars up 31-18 at the half.
He wouldn’t stop there.
After Indian Hill hit a three to bring it back to 10 points, Logsdon drove down the lane into traffic and made a tough shot. It was such a good shot that a player from the other team looked at him and said “Dang, 24, that’s tough.” A true sign of respect amongst competitors.
It didn’t help things for Indian Hill that Jagger Mardis also caught fire in the half, nailing four three pointers, to help Grayson County finish off the perfect weekend with a 77-58 victory.
Logsdon’s 33 points went along with six rebounds, three assists, three blocks, and a pair of steals. He was joined by Mardis with 20 points and three rebounds, and Spencer Langdon, who nearly had his second double-double of the weekend with 14 points and eight rebounds.
The weekend finished off a busy summer schedule for the Cougars that saw them travel all across the state.
“I thought that we, especially in the last game, I thought we moved the ball really well,” head coach Travis Johnston told K105. “We competed. Every game this weekend, and even when we got down, we showed a little bit of fight and grit, and I was really pleased, even being a few guys down.”
The KHSAA mandatory dead period begins on Wednesday and runs through July 9. During this period, coaches are not allowed to communicate with their team, and facilities are not allowed to be used. This is something most teams welcome after a long year.
“The biggest thing right now in the short term is getting rest and then going to be a kid,” Johnston added. “Not being stupid, but going to be a kid, and having a little bit of fun these next couple of weeks and up until August, then get back in the gym to get some skill work down.”
It is no secret that expectations for the 2025/26 Cougars will be sky high, with region title talks definitely on the table. They won’t shy away from that, especially with a schedule that will be daunting; some of which will be announced any day now.
The time before the new season starts in December will be used to continue molding together the new pieces before the grind begins.
“We got a lot of new pieces this summer, so having to work on that, but I really liked our defense this weekend in particular,” the head coach said. “If we can play that tough and physical, then I think that our defense should be able to hold up pretty decent.”
The Cougars are still looking for a game to open the new season, but that will officially begin in early December.
By Sam Gormley, Play-By-Play Announcer/Local Sports
Reach Sam at sam@k105.com
