Beech Tree News Network

The Butler County Bears returned to McLean County on Tuesday night to take on the McLean County High School Cougars. The game was the sixth contest played by the Bears on the McLean County floor this season. The Bears played three games in a holiday tournament in McLean County, played the Cougars at home on January 3rd, and played the first round of the All "A" Classic on the floor. The Bears were back in action in Calhoun on Tuesday in round 2 of the All "A" Classic.

McLean County dominated the opening moments of the contest on Tuesday. The Cougars, behind the play of Jacob Revlett, opened a 13-4 lead after the first period. With only 50 seconds gone in the second period the Bears lost a key part of their offense. BCHS was on defense and Trevor Jenkins battled for a rebound against Lucas Murray of the Cougars. Jenkins had his legs inadvertently swept from underneath him while in the air, causing him to fall hard and land on his lower back. Jenkins’ head also hit the floor hard from the fall. The sophomore was down on the floor for around three minutes, but left the game under his own power after being checked by McLean County EMS. Jenkins went to the locker room, but returned to the game at the 4:40 mark for the Bears. Jenkins played two possessions for the Bears, but then asked to be removed from the game. At halftime the 6’7” forward left the arena with his parents and girlfriend and did not return.

Without Jenkins in the middle the Cougars started pounding the ball into the teeth of the Bears defense. Revlett and Zach Shocklee repeatedly penetrated to the heart of the Bears zone for easy baskets. When the Bears responded and tightened the defense in the paint McLean County opened up their outside attack. Eli Ellis, who had 36 against the Bears in January, hit three three-pointers in the first half against BCHS with Shocklee adding two more for the Cougars. However, BCHS was able to match the offensive output in the second period. Zeke Woodcock continued his emergence as an offensive force for the Bears. Woodcock had 11 in the second quarter for the Bears, along with 7 from junior Brandon Thomas as the Bears fought to stay in the game. Despite the loss of Jenkins and their low-scoring first period the Bears went to halftime down only a dozen at 38-26.

The Bears opened the second half with a mini-run on the Cougars. Coach Greg Woodcock brought his Bears out in a man-to-man defense to open the second half and the Cougars were caught off guard. Elijah Flener and Dylan Goodall had steals at mid-court to keep the ball on the Bears half of the floor and Flener was able to convert McLean turnovers into points. Flener had 7 in the period to lead the Bears, and after three periods BCHS was still very much in the game with the score 52-42.

Both teams had the hot hand on offense in the final period. For BCHS Woodcock and Flener combined for 13 in the period. McLean was led by Shocklee and Colin Rose. Shocklee had ten in the period as McLean answered every Bear run with a scoring spurt of their own. In the end the Cougars had just too much firepower and they eliminated the Bears from the All "A" by a final score of 78-66.

The Bears put three players in double figures. Woodcock led all scorers with 19, with Elijah Flener and Brandon Thomas having 14 each.

The Bears will be back at home for a pair of games this weekend. The Bears will face the South Warren Spartans on Friday night in a boy/girl double header for Homecoming at BCHS. On Saturday night the Bears will play Cumberland County in a JV/Varsity double header. All the weekend varsity games will be broadcast live on AM 1570 WLBQ and on Beechtreenews.com. Streaming coverage can be accessed by clicking on the radio icon at the top of any Beechtreenews.com page.

BUTLER COUNTY SCORING (Unofficial)
Woodcock-19, Flener-14, Thomas-14, Washer-8, Burden-4, Bratcher-3, Goodall-2, Jenkins-2

Score by quarter
BCHS          4    22    16    24    66
MCHS        13    25    12    28    78

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Story by Joe K. Morris, Beech Tree News