Grayson County’s Cougars got 33 points from senior Nolan Shartzer and a career-high 18 points and 10 rebounds from freshman River Blanton as they defeated the Edmonson County Wildcats 73-62 Tuesday evening in the opening round of the 12th District Tournament, being played in the Cougar Den.
The win put them into Friday’s 12th District championship game, where they will face the Butler County Bears, 64-57 winners over Whitesville Trinity in the other semi-final game.
The game was tied once, 5-5 at the 4:24 mark of the first period. The Cougars scored the next five points and were never headed the rest of the game. Grayson County led by three points, 13-10 at the end of the first quarter.
Leading by three, 15-12, the Cougars put together an 8-0 run, capped off by a Miles Hornbeck three-pointer, to take an 11-point lead, 23-12, with 4:20 left in the first half.
The Cougars increased their lead to 16 points, 30-14, on a Keegan Sharp three with 2:33 left, but the Wildcats closed out the half with nine unanswered points to trail by just seven, 30-23 at the break.
Sharp opened the third quarter scoring with his third three of the game to push the lead to 10 points, 33-23. The two teams then traded baskets over the next four minutes until the Cougars scored four in a row to lead by 12, 45-33 with 2:20 left.
A Shartzer lay-up with 55 seconds left pushed the lead to 14 points, 51-37, but Edmonson’s Dalton Decker scored the final five points of the period and the lead was cut to nine, 51-42 at the start of the fourth quarter.
A three-pointer by Decker with 1:13 left to play cut the lead to seven points, 67-60, but the Cougars closed out the period with a 6-2 run to put the game in the win column.
Decker led the Wildcats with 28 points. Mason Pierce added 14, while Chaz Wilson had 12.
In addition to his 33 points, Shartzer added three rebounds, an assist and three steals. Blanton scored 14 of his points in the fourth quarter.
Sharp hit three threes to finish with nine points, while Brayden Childress scored four. Three players, Hornbeck, Chandler McCrady, and Hunter Tomes all finished with three points to complete the Cougar scoring.
By Don Brown, Local Sports
Reach Don at donbrown@k105.com
