Bears Head to 12th District Championship

Thu, 02/27/2014 - 12:32am — Diane Dyer

Boys 12th District Tournament action got underway on Tuesday night in Morgantown. In the first game of the evening the Grayson County Cougars defeated the Whitesville Trinity Raiders by a final score of 84-49. That set up a berth in Friday night’s championship game, facing the winner of the second game of the night between Butler County and Edmonson County.

Not is our house.

Edmonson County had swept the Bears in the regular season, but Coach Calvin Dockery said before the game that his team was loose and ready for the Wildcats.

“We’ve had three good days of practice,” said Dockery, “they seem loose. We’ll see.”

When the teams hit the floor Edmonson County’s Austin Sowders picked up right where he left off in the teams’ last meeting. Sowders scored the game’s first points to give Edmonson County what would prove to be their only lead of the game at 2-0. BCHS got an answering basket for Butler County that started a 7-0 Bears run.

The BCHS run was ended when Zeke Woodcock picked up his second personal foul on a touch foul against Edmonson’s Chase Turley. The foul sent the Butler senior to the bench, but didn’t lead to a run from Edmonson County. A balanced BCHS attack helped stake the Bears to a 9-3 lead after one period.

Caleb Deweese hit a three-point shot to open the second period, but was answered on Edmonson’s next possession by Dakota Woodcock. The teams traded baskets for the rest of the half, but it was a different group of Bears handling the load than what fan are used to seeing. With seniors Zeke Woodcock and Trevor Jenkins both in foul trouble the coaching staff turned to the BCHS bench to take the team to halftime. Kendell Cardwell, Drew Henderson, John Payton, and Black Graham all played significant minutes for the Bears in the second, and helped the team go to halftime leading by a score of 21-15.

Coming out of the locker room Edmonson County struck first, and started a run which cut the lead to 21-19 after a Dakota Woodcock layup. Making things worse for the Bears Zeke Woodcock and Trevor Jenkins each picked up their third personal foul within 18 seconds of one another and were forced to the bench. Zac Burden finally warmed up and was able to carry the load for BCHS in the third with the seniors on the bench. After Edmonson matched baskets for several minutes to start the period the Bears were able to push the lead back to 7 at the end of the third with the score 35-28.

In the fourth period Edmonson County tried to mount one more charge on the Bears. Dakota Woodcock and Austin Sowders went to work for the Wildcats, but every Edmonson basket was matched by the Bears. More importantly the Bears hit 9-11 free throws down the stretch, with junior Zac Burden hitting 7 out of 8 from the line in the fourth. In the end the Bears solid free-throw shooting and timely scoring were too much for the Wildcats. The Bears outscored the Wildcats 16-14 in the fourth behind the strong play of Burden and Henderson, and went on the win by a final score of 51-42.

The win sets up a third meeting between the Bears and the Cougars of Grayson County on Friday night in 12th District Tournament Finals. Game time is 7 p.m., with coverage on AM 1570 WLBQ beginning at 6:45, immediately following Kentucky Sports Radio.