Grayson Stops Wildcats In District Finals

Logan Lindsey puts up a shot against a Grayson Co. defender.

Edmonson County Falls 49-30 To Cougars In Championship Game

Darren Doyle, story: Madison Doyle, photos:
The Wildcats were unable to repeat as district champions as they fell to the Grayson County Cougars tonight in a 49-30 loss.

Edmonson County's defense looked good for most of the game and the rebounding difference wasn't much (EC 26, GC 29); however, the Wildcats had as much trouble making shots as any Edmonson County team in recent history.

The Cats shot a miserable 27% from the field for the game (14% in the first half), only 20% from the three-point line (2-10), and shot 31% from the free throw line (4-14).

Tucker Cole is double-teamed by the Cougars.

Ryan Lindsey goes for two points.

Most coaches will tell you that if jump shots aren't falling, you need to try to drive to the rim. That was also difficult for the Wildcats tonight as they struggled under the basket as well. The team made only 9 of 27 shots in the paint (33%).

"This is just one of those nights that we just couldn't put it in that basket," said Assistant Coach Bart Weaver. 

Weaver said the defensive effort was good, which held Grayson County under 50 points, but too many missed opportunities--in the form of baskets--made too much of a difference.

Logan Minton shoots a three-pointer against Grayson County's Logan Majors.

Dalton Decker puts up a jumper against the Cougars.

After senior Logan Minton nailed a three for the firstpoints of the game early in the first quarter, both teams struggled to put points on the board and the Wildcats led only 6-3 going into the second.

Grayson County went on a 15-2 run and held the Wildcats to a season low, 8-first half points and led 18-8 at the break. The Wildcats had cut the Cougar lead to 8 going into the final quarter, but the shooting struggles continued and the team made only one free throw in the second half. 

"This is just one of those nights, even though we get to move on," said Weaver. "It just wasn't one of our best efforts offensively and those things happen. Our team this year has struggled offensively a lot of nights but we've been able to make up for it with our defense. Tonight we did  (force) some of those turnovers but we just couldn't put it in the hole. But we're going to the Sportscenter tomorrow for practice and our kids gotta keep their heads up, have a good practice tomorrow, then we have a couple more days to get back to work. When you get to a regional tournament, you just don't want to have one and go home. You want to make a run at it and I think this team might have a run in them. That's what we got to shoot for and we got a bunch of good young men, good seniors and I know we don't want to see their last game. We just gotta keep fighting and keep working." 

Logan Lindsey was the leading scorer for Edmonson County with 6 points. Tucker Cole and Dalton Decker each had 5, Logan Minton, Chaz Wilson, and Mason Pierce had 4 each. Ryan Lindsey added two points.

The pairings for the Region 3 tournament will be held Saturday and the boys will play on either Wednesday or Thursday. The Edmonson Voice will carry audio broadcasts of both girls and boys games; however, video streaming was not approved by the region.