Beech Tree News Network

FRANKFORT -- Butler County's All "A" run came to close on Thursday morning in Frankfort as the Bears fell 69-68 to the Russell Red Devils, winner of the 16th Region.  

Butler County placed two players in double figures with sophomore guard Zach Burden leading the way with 23 points off the bench; Zeke Woodcock added 14 points.  Alex Hall cleaned the glass with 15 total rebounds - 8 offensive and 7 defensive.  

The Bears fell behind early in the game but rallied repeatedly to within striking distance.  Baskets by Elijah Flener, Alex Hall, Trevor Jenkins and Zach Burden paced the Bears' first-quarter offensive efforts.  

Trailing 22-16 after the first, Butler saw the Russell lead stretch to 10 during the second quarter at 30-20 before the Bears rattled off a string of field goals by Woodcock and Burden and a pair of back-to-back three-point goals by Brandon Thomas and Alex Hudnall.  Thomas and Burden both hit two free throws apiece late in the quarter  to narrow the Butler County deficit to four at 38-34 at halftime. 

The second half mirrored the first as the Bears fell behind by as much as 13 points in the third quarter, 55-42 at 1:04.  However, the fourth quarter belonged to Butler County as the Bears outscored the Red Devils 24-14 before falling short at the end. 

Jenkins sank a three from the top of the key to start the fourth, followed by field goals by Woodcock and Burden. A rebound put-back by Burden, along with a free throw, narrowed the Bear deficit to 58-54 at 6:06.  Russell pushed their lead back up to seven at 3:28 before the Bears made their final run.  Woodcock hit a three at 3:04 and added a layup at 2:35 to cut the Red Devil lead to two at 63-61.  The Russell lead meandered back and forth for the next two minutes between two, three and four points.  The Bears trailed by two with 49 seconds left before Russell's Googie Hayes hit two clutch free throws.  Facing a four-point deficit and a fast-moving clock, a three-point attempt by Jenkins came up short with about 15 seconds left.  A missed free throw by Russell gave the Bears one final chance.  Woodcock hit a long three-pointer just over the half-court line to make the final score 69-68 but the clock expired as the Bears were frantically trying to call a timeout.

Butler County was 15 for 25 from the foul line for 60 percent; 24 for 58 in field goals for 41.4 percent; and 5 for 19 from the three-point line for 26.3 percent.  

Russell was 21 for 34 from the foul line for 61.8 percent; 21 for 43 in field goals for 48.8 percent; and 6 for 14 from the three-point line for 42.9 percent.      

RHS        22      16      17      14            69

BC          16      20      8        24            68

Butler County (68):  Z. Burden 23, Z. Woodcock 14, E. Flener 11, T. Jenkins 6, A. Hall 6, B. Thomas 5, A. Hudnall 3.  

Russell (69):  K. Skaggs 33, J. Porter 19, L. Evans 10, G. Hayes 7.  

In a WLBQ interview after the game, Coach Calvin Dockery expressed his appreciation for all the fan support from students, family members and the broader community.  Dockery also praised his team's effort in this game and throughout the season.

"They played hard and battled back throughout the game," said Dockery.  "I'm really proud of these guys."

The coach indicated that his team wants to finish out the regular season on a good note and that they're looking forward to the post-season.    

Butler County (14-9) will be back in action on Saturday night at home against McLean County.  The JV will start at 6 p.m. with the varsity game slated for approximately 7:30 p.m.  The game will be aired live on WLBQ 1570 AM with pre-game at around 7:15.  Fans can stream the game live from www.beechtreenews.com. 

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Story by John Embry; photos by Jeremy Hack.

Beech Tree News/WLBQ 1570 AM