Not until the final buzzer blew Thursday could Cougar seniors Kelby Epley, Third Bell, Tommy Krohn and Reggie Powell be sure they were going to win the first district basketball championship of their high school career.
The last time Logan County won the boys’ district title came on the final weekend of February 2015, these seniors were eighth graders. On that night, Tahmir Graham scored on an assist from freshman Austin Rayno to give Coach Lonnie Mason’s Cougars a 64-63 win over Russellville at Todd Central.
Thursday, Logan County became 13th District champion again when Dalton Thompson scored on an assist from Krohn to give Coach John Tinsley’s Cougars a 67-66 win over Franklin-Simpson at Todd Central.
Déjà vu, welcome back, old friend.
What proved to be the winning basket appeared to come with 2.3 seconds left in regulation, but the officials added 74 percent more time to make the clock read 4.0 seconds when Franklin inbounded the ball for the last time. They got downcourt but the Cougar defense—led by tournament MVP Bell—kept the Wildcats from getting off a clean shot.
Franklin had taken the lead with 15 seconds remaining after killing 40 seconds of playing time. That goal came on a shot by the Cats’ DeMarco Chatman. The Cougars came down, ran a play, and got Thompson free on a spin move for the winning bucket.
All of that was typical of a game that was tight throughout with 12 ties and 7 lead changes. For most of the game, neither team led by more than three points, and it was usually fewer than that.
The lone exception came late in the second quarter. With the Cougars leading by a point, Bell put together a three-point play to give LCHS its first four-point lead. Epley’s 3-point goal with 1:51 remaining until the intermission made the margin seven. But the Wildcats’ Kyjuan Stutzman hit two 3-pointers before that break came. The halftime score was, appropriately, 30-30.
The Wildcats’ biggest lead of the third quarter was 40-37, but Logan’s Anthony ‘Rooster’ Woodard scored at the buzzer to put the Cougars up 48-46 entering the final period.
Stutzman’s third trey gave F-S its first lead of the quarter at 64-61. Woodard hit two straight shots—the second on a Krohn assist—to put the Cougars up 65-64 with 0:55. That’s when Coach Dee Spencer had his team play deliberately on offense, leading to Chatman’s go-ahead bucket.
It was Krohn’s second assist of the last minute that set up Thompson with the winner.
Woodard’s playing time was limited because of two early fouls and a late technical for hanging on the rim after a thunderous dunk. Still he was sensational at times, combining points, rebounds, steals, assists and defense. Logan County does not announce individual statistics.
While he was out, the only reserve Coach Tinsley used—senior Reggie Powell—gave the team a huge lift. He scored and rebounded at crucial times, and, as always, he was instant defense every time he came into the game for Woodard or any other starter. Powell was a starter before being injured in a Franklin game in January.
Epley scored all 17 of his team-high points in the first three quarters. Bell added 15, Woodard 12, Thompson 9, Krohn 8 and Powell 6.
Sophomore Andreyous Miller led the Cats and the game with 23 points. Chatman and Stutzman each had 13, and Tedric Partinger 10 and Dayveon Harris 6. The Wildcats didn’t manage a single bench point. Dawson Knight missed the game with an injury.
The Wildcats don’t have a senior on their roster.
The Cougars’ sixth straight win ran their record to 24-6, tying Tinsley’s team with Bowling Green for the most wins in the region. Franklin-Simpson fell to 16-12.
Logan will find out who its Fourth Region opponent will be during the regional draw at Warren East Saturday morning. The Cougars will play the runner-up in either districts 14, 15 or 16 Sunday afternoon or Monday night at Diddle Arena.
Athletic Director Greg Howard has explained the procedure for buying advanced regional tickets in a Guest Article on The LoJo at http://www.theloganjournal.com/Stories.aspx?Article=guests597.