Beech Tree News Network

It has been a busy week full of basketball for the Butler County Middle School basketball team.  It started on Monday night with a road trip to Muhlenberg South and won’t end until Saturday with a Christmas Tournament at Adairville.  The Bears faced off against a talented Muhlenberg South team Monday night.  The Bears were a little nervous about the trip due to the fact when these two teams met earlier in the season the Suns defeated the Bears by double digits.  The Bears came out with force on the Suns court and stayed within 4 points of them the entire night.  The Bears were able to get it within 1 at the end of the third quarter, but lost in the end by 4 with a score of 52-48.  Patton Allen charged out of the game strong and got 7 points for the Bears in the first quarter.  Leading scorer for the Bears was Will Moore with 12.  Brennan Grubb had 11, Patton Allen 9, Brendan Shanklin 7, Caleb Beasley 4, Skyler Moore 3, and Easton Phelps 2.
The seventh grade team had another slow night on the offensive end of the floor only scoring 10 points.  Matthew Gill was the Bears leading scorer with 4.  Also scoring with 2 points each were Colton Bratcher, Wyatt Dean, and Trevor Dockery.  The seventh grade lost to Muhlenberg South 44 – 10.
    On Tuesday night the Bears were on the road once more, this time to Ohio County.  The Bears had a tough time getting it together the first half of the game and found themselves behind at halftime 18-23.  The third quarter belonged to the Bears as they clawed back and outscored the Eagles by 5 to tie the score at 32.  As time was running out on the clock and the Bears were trailing, they were forced to try to stop the clock with fouls.  The Eagles responded well and went 11-12 from the free throw line in to clinch the win 49-37.  Bears leading scorer was Will Moore with 16.  Next was Brennan Grubb with 9, Caleb Beasley 5, SKyler Moore 3, Brendan Shanklin 2, and Easton Phelps 2.
    The seventh grade team could be summed up with “ditto” from Monday night.  Once again, they were struggling offensively and only scored 10 points, while their opponent the Ohio County Eagles managed to put 44 on the scoreboard.  Leading scorer of this game was Justin Elms with 4.  Jaden Hurt, Hagan Moore, and Keaton Diaz each got 2.
    A struggling, but not defeated, Bears team took their home floor to square off against arch rival Grayson County on Thursday night.  Earlier in the season, the Bears lost a heartbreaker to the Cougars at Grayson County by 2.  The Bears came out with taking care of business on their minds.  Will Moore stroked three quick 3’s to give the Bears an early lead of which they continued to build upon.  The Bears, with determination in their eyes, didn’t look back.  With some impressive rebounding by Brendan Shanklin as well as others on the team, the Bears dominated throughout this contest.  Will Moore went on to be the Bears leading scorer with five total 3’s on the night to score 22 points.  Brennan Grubb and Brendan Shanklin each had 8.  Patton Allen contributed 4, and Houston Hampton and Skyler Moore each had 2.  The Bears took this one easily with a score of 46 – 25.
    The seventh grade team was able to capitalize more offensively against Grayson than they were earlier in the week, but the Cougars were just too much for the Bears.  The Cougars won this one 41 – 16.  Parker Rice had an impressive game for the Bears and was their leading scorer with 5.  Also scoring for the Bears was Matthew Gill with 3, Justin Elms, Jaden Hurt, Walter Givens, and Duane Daniel all with 2.
    The eighth grade team will be in action this weekend at Adairville for a Christmas Tournament.
   
   
Story by Kim Grubb, Beech Tree News