Beech Tree News Network

In what was a light one-game schedule, the Butler County Bears dropped a 79-73 home decision last week to the Warren East Raiders.

A slow first quarter put the Bears in a nine-point hole, trailing 19-10 at the end of the first quarter.  Zeke Woodcock nailed a half-court three pointer at the buzzer to get the deficit to single digits.  

A variety of Butler County players got in the scoring column in the second quarter - Elijah Flener, Drew Henderson, Zach Burden, Brandon Thomas - but the Bears trailed 41-28 at the half.  

Butler's Alex Hall turned in a strong third quarter performance, accompanied by a Trevor Jenkins three-pointer, to help keep the Bears in the game at 54-46 going in to the final quarter.  

Butler County outscored the Raiders in the third quarter 18-13 and did the same in the final quarter 27-25 but couldn't pull ahead.   The Bears cut the lead to six on an Elijah Flener three; cut it further to four at 74-70 on basket and free throw by Hall; and finally got to within three at 76-73 on a Hall three-pointer late in the game.  Warren East hit enough free throws down the stretch to hold on to the 79-73 win.

Alex Hall was named the BtN/WLBQ Player of the Game for his performance, which included nine points and six rebounds.

Butler County (73):  T. Jenkins 16, E. Flener 14, A. Hall 9, Z. Woodcock 9, B. Thomas 7, A. Hudnall 6, D. Henderson 6, Z. Burden 6.  

WE19    22    13    25          79

BC10    18    18    27          73

Butler County (1-3) will be back in action on Tuesday night, December 11, in a 12th District game against Whitesville Trinity. JV will tip at 6 p.m. with the varsity to follow at approximately 7:30 p.m.