Wildcat Seniors Lead The Way In Homecoming Win

Darren Doyle, story
Laney Meredith, photos
A win is always good. Homecoming wins are even better. Thanks to solid performances by seniors Cuban Sowders and Hunter Buttram, the Wildcats were able knock off Larue County 75-68 in front of a nice homecoming crowd last night at ECHS.

Buttram had a hot hand early and set the pace for the Cats hitting three out of three from behind the arc, and putting up 13 points in the first half. 

The Wildcats had size advantage over the Hawks and were successful in the paint. Cuban Sowders had a big night with 22 points and 8 rebounds, while hitting 6/7 from the free throw line.

"Me and stick (Iszic Blankenship) work hard to get open, and when our guards are getting to the break, those are high percentage shots that we'll take all day," Sowders said.

The Wildcats led 20-13 after the first quarter and 39-33 at halftime. The Hawks wouldn't go away as good three point shooting kept it close at times. Edmonson County allowed Larue several open looks from three point land, and the Hawks made them pay, shooting 44% from beyond the arc.

Assistant coach Bart Weaver said going inside was key for the Wildcats. "We called timeout in the third and said we wanted to get back inside, which we didn't do well during the second quarter. We got three straight buckets and got the lead back up to 5 or 6, and then it opened up some three point shots," he said.

It was another team effort all around for EC with Buttram finishing with 18 points and 8 rebounds, Caleb Skaggs had 10, and both Iszic Blankenship and Bailey Board scored 9 each. "Everybody played their roles very well tonight and we all hit big shots when we needed them," said Buttram. "It was definitely a team win, that's how we play our game and I love it."

Sophomore Tucker Cole helped the effort with 4 points and senior Jacob Peger added 2. The Wildcats out-rebounded the Hawks by a whopping 37-17 and shot an impressive 51% from the field overall.

"It was a great win tonight, especially being homecoming," said Buttram. "I'm glad we gave our crowd a good performance."

The Wildcats will face their toughest challenge so far this year on Thursday night as they take on Barren County, a top ranked team in the 4th region at home in a boy/girl doubleheader. The Wildcats move to 4-2 on the season.