Beech Tree News Network

The Bears and Lady Bears loaded on the buses and headed down Highway 79 on Tuesday night. The destination was Logan County High School for a doubleheader with the Cougars and Lady Cougars.

The Lady Bears were first in a game that saw both teams start slowly. The Logan ladies took the lead behind the play of Shannon MacAllister and Jaylin Jones. The pair combined for 8 points. The Lady Bears could muster just a single basket in the quarter, from Madeline Drake on put-back layup, and the Lady Cougars took a 9-3 lead after one. 

The second quarter was only slightly better for BCHS. Drake, Shawna West, and Katie Graham all had a basket for the Lady Bears, but they were outscored 15-8 in the period. In the low-scoring affair BCHS was unable to hit close lay ins and put backs, and Logan County was only able to score in their transition game. After the game Assistant Coach Jack Clark summed it up saying, “Our defense stopped their half court game, but they killed us in transition.”

At the half LCHS led 24-11 and the rout seemed to be on.

As the second half opened Logan was again able to grab turnovers and bother the Lady Bear offense. However LCHS found the same trouble that had plagued the Bears in the first half, they couldn’t finish. On offense being deliberate and moving without the basketball began to pay off for the Lady Bears. Logan County opened the second half running a diamond and 2 defense, with chasers face guarding Madeline Drake and Katie Graham. LCHS had run the defense with some success in the second quarter, but mixed it with a 1-3-1 zone.

The Lady Bears’ Shawna West used her speed to penetrate the paint and take the ball to the rim. The Lady Cougars were forced to foul or drop players back to stop the penetration. West was able to go to the line, and get the ball to Graham and Drake when their defenders committed to stopping the ball. West had five points and an assist in the period, and Katie Graham added four for BCHS. The Lady Cougars outscored Butler 13-9 in the period, but the momentum had clearly shifted to the Lady Bears as the quarter closed.

The fourth quarter saw the young ladies from BCHS take the game straight at the Lady Cougars. Strong, aggressive play down low from Chloe Flener forced the defense to adjust to the new BCHS attack. With Drake and West attacking the defense the floor opened for Katie Graham to work inside. Drake was also able to capitalize on her chances in the fourth, leading all scorers in the period with 7 points. Cheyenne White shot over the zone repeatedly in the fourth period. While only connecting on one three-pointer White gave the Lady Cougars yet another scoring threat to worry about, rendering their ‘junk’ defense ineffective.

The Lady Bears cut the lead to eight on two different occasions in the fourth period, but Logan County was able to muster just enough from their offense to counter the Lady Bears. BCHS won the quarter going away at 16-9, but LCHS had built too much of an advantage to overcome and won the game 46-36. After the game the Lady Bears were upbeat about the game, and seemed to come out with some momentum heading into a district game on Friday night at home hosting Whitesville Trinity.

Jaylin Jones led all scorers in the game with 16 points. Madeline Drake was again the leading scorer for BCHS with 12 points.

BUTLER COUNTY SCORING (Unofficial)

Drake-12, Graham-9, West-9, Flener-3, White-3

Score by quarter

BCHS3891636

LCHS91513946

The nightcap featured the fast, high flying LCHS Cougars against the Bears. From the opening minutes of warmups it was clear the Bears were going to have to keep the Cougars out of the paint and off the glass if they were to have a chance in the game.

Twin Lancaster of the Cougars started off the scoring in a hurry. Lancaster scored only 11 seconds after tipoff to put the Cougars up 2-0. The Cougars sprinted to an 8-2 lead before Coach Greg Woodcock called timeout to settle his team. After the timeout BCHS used some LCHS turnovers and empty trips to get back into the game. The Bears got as close as 14-8 before the Cougars exploited the open middle of the BCHS zone for easy baskets from Lancaster and SaJuan Watkins. The Bears got three-pointers late in the period from Trevor Jenkins and Brandon Thomas to keep it close, and the Cougars owned a 24-18 lead after the first period.

Possibly the pivotal moment in the first half happened with just over two minutes played in the second period. LCHS had the ball but lost it on a Bear deflection. SaJuan Watkins and Avatan Martin for Logan and Jackson Washer and Trevor Jenkins of BCHS all chased the ball in front of the BCHS bench. Jenkins and Martin tangled and fell with Jenkins coming up limping. Jenkins motioned to the BCHS bench that he head injured his ankle, and left the game with just under 6 minutes to play in the half. He would not return.

The loss of Jenkins further exposed the soft center of the BCHS zone with Lancaster and Watkins taking full advantage. The duo combined for 27 points in the first half, and when the teams went to the break the Cougars were up 41-31. Lancaster led first half scoring with 19 points, Jenkins and Elijah Flener had 7 each to lead the Bears.

The second half unfolded much the same as the first. Lancaster and Watkins repeatedly attacked the middle of the Bear zone. For BCHS Zeke Woodcock found his outside stroke. Woodcock hit three three-pointers in the fourth quarter, and Dylan Goodall hit two threes and added three layups for 12 points in the second half for BCHS. However the work of Woodcock and Goodall wasn’t enough to counter twelve points from Watkins and 17 from Lancaster in the second half. For the game the Logan County twosome had a combined 62 points to lead the Cougars to an 85-70 win.

Butler County was led in scoring by Elijah Flener with 17 points, with 14 points for Woodcock, a dozen for Goodall, and ten each from Thomas and Jackson Washer to put five Bears in double figures.

The Bears will face Whitesville Trinity on Friday night in a boy/girl doubleheader at the BCHS gym. On Saturday the Bears and Lady Bears will tip off against Edmonson County in the opening round of the 3rd Region All ‘A’ Classic at McLean County High School. The Lady Bears play at 10 o’clock with the Bears following at Noon. Both the Trinity and All ‘A’ Doubleheaders will be broadcast live on Beechtree Radio WLBQ 1570 AM. Games can also be heard live online by clicking on the radio icon at the top of any Beechtreenews.com page.

BUTLER COUNTY SCORING (Unofficial)

Flener-17, Woodcock-14, Goodall-12, Thomas-10, Washer-10, Jenkins-7

Score by quarter

BCHS1813172270

LCHS2417212385

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Story by Joe K. Morris, Beech Tree News.