(by Don Meador, Allen County Schools)
With stats that show you outrebound your opponent, you shoot over 50%
from the floor, have three players score 17 or more points and put 76 points on
the board, a win looks very probable. Such would not be the case. Despite a career-high
22-point performance by Jax Cooper, a 21-point night from Owen Stamper, and a
17-point effort from Mason Shirley the Allen County-Scottsville Patriots
dropped a 78-76 decision to the Larue County Hawks Saturday night at the Corky
Cox Classic in Hodgenville.
“LaRue County is a very well-coached and solid team,” AC-S coach Brad Bonds said. “They have the pieces to be very successful. They have guards that handle and shoot well and the post play. I don’t know of another program in the state that has a post presence that’s as skilled as their big man was.”
The big man was 6’7” Mark Goode who led all scorers with 37 points and grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds. Goode was 15-18 from the floor---all on shots within six feet of the basket. Goode displayed the skill to get to the rim despite the Patriots’ multiple tactics to slow his play. Defensively, LaRue County played solid as well.
“LaRue County put a lot of pressure on us and forced us to do some things outside our comfort zone,” Bonds added. “But, our kids played extremely well. They played hard the entire game. They did everything we asked them to do and gave themselves a chance to win. At the end of the day that was what we wanted, a chance to win.”
The Patriots trailed for most of the game but refuse to allow Goode’s play as well as the hard-shooting of his teammates to take them out of the game. Down seven after the first quarter, 23-16, AC-S matched LaRue County virtually point-for-point in the second period, thanks to the play of Cooper. By the break, Cooper had 17 points but the Patriots trailed 46-38.
The Hawks looked to open their lead up in the third period and almost
broke the game open. Midway through the third frame, three unanswered baskets
by Goode gave the hosts their biggest lead of the night---a 57-42 lead.
However, buckets from Michael Smith, Stamper, Shirley, and Jake Bow enabled
AC-S to keep the margin within 15 the rest of the period.
Down 14 to start the final period, the Patriots began to chip away at the Hawks’ lead. A Stamper 3-pointer at the 6:28 mark cut the hosts’ lead to eight. Later, the Patriots pulled to within five, 69-64, with 3:23 remaining. Five unanswered points from Goode staked his team to a 10-point lead near the two-minute mark before AC-S mounted a final charge. Taking advantage of missed free throws, Shirley canned a 3-point shot and scored on a lay-in. LaRue County sealed the win with free throws before a pair of late Patriot baskets the Patriots to within two.
The Patriots shot 51.6% from the floor (32-62) and seven-of-12 at the
foul line (58.3%). AC-S nailed five three-pointers. The Hawks were 27-46 from
the floor (58.7%) and 18-28 (64.3%) at the line. On the glass, AC-S out
rebounded LaRue County 31-27. Stamper led the way with seven rebounds.
“There are a lot of positives that we can move forward with and build upon,” Bonds noted.
AC-S (0-2) will host Adair County (2-2) in the opening game of the 2A
Championships tournament on Tuesday. The Patriots will be at Greenwood (1-1) on
Thursday and entertain Cumberland County (0-3) Friday in their homecoming game.
Next Tuesday, AC-S travels to Warren East (0-2).