Cats Go Down To the Wire But Bears Come Out On Top

Cats Fall 66-63

Tyler Anderson puts up a shot against three Butler County Bears. Anderson made the shot and the free throw on the and-one.

Darren Doyle, story: Madison Doyle, photos:
The comeback effort was something to see in Butler County in a near-packed gym as Edmonson County clawed their way back from a 17-point deficit to take the lead late in the third quarter, but the effort fell just short as Butler County held on to win 66-63.

The Wildcats went on a 28-10 run from the end of the third throughout the the fourth to take a 51-50 lead with just over 4 minutes to go, but Ty Price, leading scorer for the Bears figured out a way to get to the free throw line. Price, who led all scorers with 40, made 12 of 13 free throws in the final minutes to keep the momentum away from the Wildcats.

Will Alexander shoots a three pointer against Butler County.

Edmonson County's Wil Alexander, who paced the Cats with 19 on 5 of 10 shooting (4/7 from three) gave Edmonson a boost down the stretch but Price's free throws continued to dash out the hopes of Edmonson County's full comeback effort.

Braden Wall goes for 2 of his 12 points against Butler County.

"Price is a great player," said Coach Brad Johnson. "Our goal when we play him is to make him make contested shots and I feel like we made him make those contested shots. He made shots with people draped all over him all night, so I feel like we did a good job at that."

When down 17, Coach Johnson said the key to coming back was simply making shots when they hadn't been.

"We made shots. We played terrible the other night (against Allen County Scottsville) and couldn't knock down shots and we played very nervous tonight and couldn't knock down a shot. Everything was long and a nervous shot, but we settled in..."

"And credit to our kids. I didn't think we had any bad body language, I thought we kept fighting, stayed positive with each other, and I think this team has it's best game still ahead of it."

Also scoring for the Cats was Braden Wall with 12 and 11 rebounds, Caden Mills with 10, Braxton Highbaugh with 8 and 9 rebounds, Tyler Anderson with 5, Boden Bates with 4, and Zander Bass added 2.

Edmonson County shot 47% from the field on 23 of 49 and was 7 of 21 from behind the three point line for 33%. They were also 10 of 13 from the free throw line. Butler County shot 43% on 20 for 47 from the field and shot 17 of 19 from the free throw line for 89% as a team.

Edmonson is now 15-11 on the season and 4-2 in district play. They are scheduled to take on Russellville on the road on Tuesday.