The Logan County Cougars got off to a strong start in the first half, let their lead evaporate in a hurry to start the second half, and never regained the advantage in an 83-70 loss at Allen County-Scottsville last Tuesday.
Coach Lonnie Mason’s team played well in the early going, building leads of 20-16 and 38-31 at the first two stops.
AC-S had tied the score at 24-24 when Logan went on a run. TreVious Bowens hit a shot, followed by consecutive goals by Austin Rayno and Third Bell, both on assists from Lorenzo Garcia. Kelby Epley hit his second 3-pointer of the night, and Bell canned a trey, giving him nine points in the second quarter. Rayno and Bowen each had eight points at halftime.
But AC-S came out hot to start the third quarter, scoring the first 10 points of the half. Mason benched his starters for several minutes. Donnie Meador, Allen County’s super statistician, showed the Patriots missing only one shot the entire second half.
A free throw by Tommy Krohn gave the Cougars their last lead at 47-46, but Caydon Ross put together a three-point play to put the Patriots ahead for good. Sam Clarke made a steal and converted it into points to build a four-point margin for the home team.
Kerby Carver made the lead seven, but Garcia scored on an assist from Epley to make the margin three.
Logan threatened one last time with Rayno scoring five quick points via a drive on which he was fouled and on a goal with an assist from Epley. That made it 63-61, but the Cougars never threatened again.
Bell finished with 16 points and Rayno 15 for the Cougars. Garcia and Bowens added 8 each. Bowens had 5 rebounds with Ethan Smock, Rayno and Garcia getting 4 each. Rayno, Epley and Krohn each were credited with three assists. Garcia added 2 steals.
Brett Rippy led five double-figure scorers for AC-S with 23 points. Jack Ward scored 18, Marcus Carter 15, Kerby Carver 13 and Ross 10 for the winners. Carver had 9 rebounds and Carter 8.
The Cougars got much more help off their bench than did Allen County. Mason’s team got 42 points from its reserves, including Bell. The Patriots managed just four points from anyone but a starter.
The difference came at the free throw line. Logan shot well, hitting 9 of 12 freebies. But the home team attempted three times as many foul shots, going 25 of 36. Logan hit 7 three-pointers with Bell, Rayno and Epley each hitting 2 and Mykal Hampton the other one. The Patriots hit 2 of 5 from long range, but canned a sizzling 26 of 38 from shorter distances.
Meador notes that many Land of Logan connections can be found on the AC-S team. The Patriots are coached by Lex Lindsey, who was an assistant to Coach Mike Haynes on the two Lady Cougar teams which made it to the state quarterfinals. One of his assistants is Brandon Dewitt, who assisted Coach Scot MacAllister with the Lady Cougars for a year. Sam Clarke is the son of former Russellville standout Jordan Clarke. Brett Rippy is the son of Jeff Rippy, who played on Coach Gary Shelton’s state tournament team in 1981. The late Coach Shelton was a Lewisburg native, the son of Hattie Ruth Shelton of Lewisburg and the brother of legendary baseball coach Greg Shelton.
Score by Quarters: 10 LCHS 20-16, 2) LCHS 38-31, 3) AC-S 53- 49, Final) Allen County-Scottsville 83, Logan County 70
LCHS (70) Third Bell 16, Austin Rayno 15, Tre Vious Bowens 8, Lorenzo Carcia 8, Kelby Epley 6, Will Bingham 5, Tommy Krohn 5, Ethan Smock 4, Mykal Hampton 3, John Mark Page, Nick Wooden
AC-S (83) Brett Tippy 23, Jack Ward 18, Marcus Carter 15, Kerby Carver 14, Caydon Ross 10, Sam Clarke 4, Dillon Reid, Will Calvert, Brock Meador, Ryan Conner