Beech Tree News Network

The Butler County Bears and Lady Bears split a pair of 12th District basketball games on Friday night. The BCHS teams hosted the Raiders and Lady Raiders of Whitesville Trinity High School on Bearfest night in Morgantown.

In the opening game the Bears faced the Raiders. The Bears were back to full strength with the return of junior shooting guard Baylee Anderson, and would need all the shooting power they could get against a Trinity squad full of long-range specialists.

Dakota Wathen started the long range attack with a pair of early three pointers to grab the lead for the Raiders. Rex Henderson and Baylee Anderson—returning from an ankle injury—kept the Bears close, but by the end of the first period the Raiders had opened up a 16-11 lead.

The Bears picked up the pace of their scoring in the second period, but Wathen and Eric Howard kept up their long-range attack and helped the Raiders go into the locker room with a 32-25 halftime lead. The Raiders hit 5 3-point shots during the first half, with Wathen leading the raiders with 13 points. Trinity hit on 5 of 17 3-point shots in the half.

Rex Henderson led the Bears in first half scoring with 9 points. The Bears managed only 1 three-point basket in the half.

The second half saw the Bears make a charge to cut the lead down to just two-points midway through the third period. However the Raiders switched their attack to their inside game, and were able to outscore the Bears by a point in the period to extend their lead to 51-43.

The Bears dug in on defense to start the final period, and again trimmed into the Trinity lead. Trinity went back to their long-range attack to stop the Bear run, and were able to hit their free-throws down the stretch. Despite 17 points from Rex Henderson the Raiders held on to win by a final score of 67-62.

UNOFFICIAL BUTLER COUNTY SCORING
Henderson-17, Anderson-13, Moore-9, Graham-8, Beasley-5, Grubb-5, Flener-2, Nave-2, McCoy-1

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The nightcap saw the Lady Bears taking on the Lady Raiders. The Lady Raiders came into the game winless in the region, and district. It was clear early on that the Lady Bears would have no trouble dispatching the girls from Trinity.

Erin Kinsey actually hit her first shot, and gave Trinity the lead at 3-0. After that it was all Lady Bears in the first half. Behind 5 points from Maddie Murphy, and four points from Cheyenne White the Lady Bears ended the first period on a 18-0 run to lead 18-3.

The second period saw the Lady Bears continue to roll. Kasidy Graham led the Lady Bears in the second period with 6 points as the girls outscored Trinity 16-6 in the period to take a 34-9 lead into halftime. Graham led the Lady Bears with 8 points in the half, Cheyenne White was close behind with 6 points.

Coach Brian Bivens used his starters sparingly in the second half, but Trinity was never able to mount a serious challenge to the Lady Bears. Maddie Murphy scored ten points in the second half to lead the Lady Bears in scoring with 15 points, as the Lady Bears coasted to an easy win by a final score of 53-34. Cassidy Graham joined Murphy in double figures with 11 points. Erin Kinsey led the Lady Raiders with 17 points.