Bears Fight Off Wildcat Comeback, Defeat Edmonson

Brayden Carey goes for two against Butler County.

Darren Doyle, story: Madison Doyle, photos:
Butler County stayed ahead of the Wildcats for most of the game and fought off Edmonson's solid comeback effort in the fourth quarter. A technical foul and confusion over how many timeouts were left for the Wildcats also made for a bizarre ending.

The first quarter was more like a tennis match as each team began by trading buckets, matched by tough defense and intensity. Butler County took a 21-18 lead going into the second. 

The Wildcats defense looked sharp against the Bears but Butler County found a way to knock down contested shots while Edmonson struggled with some open looks. The Bears took a 36-33 lead at the half.

J.T. Vincent puts up a shot against two Butler County defenders.

Butler County went on a 10-3 run in the third and led by as much as 11 during the quarter. They outscored Edmonson County 18-11 in the third. 

After Butler County's Wil Moore, who scored 35 points, hit one of two free throws early in the fourth, the Wildcats went on a blistering 13-0 run that gave them a 57-55 lead, their first since early in the game. Senior Brayden Carey scored 6 of his 7 points during the run and his layup off a Logan Lindsey steal capped off the big run. 

Tucker Cole puts up a layup at Butler County.

Butler County nailed a three and after a Wildcat miss and a turnover, and the Bears were back on top 61-57 with less than two minutes to go. J.T. Vincent was able to make a basket while drawing the foul and he converted the free throw for a three-point play with 22 seconds remaining to cut Butler's lead to 61-60.

Butler County drew a foul call with 12.6 seconds remaining and as they were going to the line a technical foul was assessed to senior Brayden Carey. No explanation was given as to the reason for the call, nor was there any physical movement from Carey that seemed to warrant the call. Butler County hit one out of two for the regular foul call then hit two more for the technical to go up 66-60. 

Dalton Decker hit a three-pointer with three seconds to go and Coach Mike McClintic attempted to call timeout; however, the clock ran out and the game ended with the official explaining to McClintic that Edmonson County had no timeouts remaining. Edmonson's bookkeeper and the entire bench thought there was one more remaining, but the official book said otherwise. 

Leading the Wildcats was J.T. Vincent with 15 points and 7 rebounds, Tucker Cole finished with 13 points and 8 assists, Ryan Lindsey put up 10, Logan Lindsey added 8, Brayden Carey had 7, Nick Clemmons and Dalton Decker each had 3, and Chaz Wilson added 2.

The Wildcats fell to Butler County 66-63 and are now 8-18 on the season. They are set to take on Ohio County this Friday at home in a G/B doubleheader with girls action set for a 5:30pm tip off.