Beech Tree News Network

After a two-day delay due to snow, the Butler County High School Bears travelled to Owensboro on Friday night for the opening round of the 3rd Region Tournament. The trip made it three years in a row that the Bears had made it to the regional tourney. The Bears lost in the first round to the Green Wave of Meade County after the 2011-12 season, and fell last season to Owensboro Catholic in opening round play.

This year the Bears faced a familiar foe in the first round, the Eagles of Ohio County High School. The two teams met on December 19th at Ohio County when the Bears beat the Eagles by a final score of 76-71. The game was marred by a second-half fight involving Butler County's Zac Burden and Ohio County's Trace Young. The fight led to suspensions for both players and forced the cancellation of a season-closing rematch between the two teams in Butler County.

The game opened with both teams loping up and down the floor in the first quarter. BJ Morse and Trace Young led the attack for Ohio County, with Rex Henderson and Caleb Deweese keeping the score close for the Bears. At the end of the first quarter both trams were winded from playing on a college length floor, and the Eagles  owned a slim 19-17 lead.

Rex Henderson opened the second period with a three point basket to give the Bears the lead, and Kendall Cardwell pushed the advantage to 3 moments later when he made a layup after a rebound. However the BCHS lead was short-lived. Ohio County's Trace Young reeled off two quick baskets to give the lead back to the Eagles for what would ultimately prove to be for good.

Despite 7 points from Zeke Woodcock in the period, the Bears were unable to match the Ohio County storing. Trace Young and Mathew Sloyan paced the Eagles and sent them to halftime with a 35-30 lead.

All hopes of a Butler County comeback wee dashed quickly in the third quarter by Ohio County's Mathew Sloyan. Sloyan came out of the halftime break with a hot hand and ripped off 14 points, including two three-point baskets. His hot shooting proved contagious as the Eagles repeatedly found their mark from three-point range. Zac Burden had eight points in the period for the Bears, but with no answer for Sloyan the BCHS fans watched as Ohio County out scored the Bears 31-13 in the period to take a 66-43 lead into the final quarter.

The Bears were never able to slow down the Ohio County attack in the fourth period. With four minutes left in the ball game, and the clock running because if the 35-point rule, coach Calvin Dockery took his three seniors out of the game for the final time in their BCHS careers. Drew Henderson, Trevor Jenkins, and Zeke Woodcock were greeted at the bench with hugs from every coach and teammate, and more than a few tears, as their careers came to a close.

With both teams playing their reserves the fourth quarter went quickly due to the running clock, and the Eagles won the game 87-52 to advance to the semi-finals. Mathew Sloyan had a career night for the Eagles, scoring 25 points to lead all scorers.

Butler County finished the season with a record of 14-11. Besides the third straight trip to the Regional Tournament the Bears also won their second straight 12th District Tournament.

BUTLER COUNTY SCORING (Unofficial)
R. Henderson-13, Burden-11, Woodcock-11, Deweese-6, Cardwell-4, D. Henderson-2, Jenkins-2, Anderson-1, Graham-1, Payton-1.

Story by Joe K. Morris, photos by Jeremy Hack, Beech Tree News