In coming ever-so-close to getting first win of the year in their regular season home finale, the Logan County Cougars fell just short of that goal in a 55-52 loss to visiting Allen County-Scottsville Thursday.
Coach Nathan Thompson’s team led the Patriots by two points at the half and maintained that margin going into the final quarter. They scored the first five points of the fourth quarter to expand their lead to seven at 44-37.
The Cougars also forced AC-S into 21 turnovers and scored 11 points off those miscues. They shot 55 percent from two-point range and played their guests even on the boards with 28 rebounds each.
Still, it wasn’t enough for the home team to record that elusive victory. The Patriots outscored the Cougars 18-8 in the final minutes of the game, which gave them their sixth win of the season.
The downfall for Logan came in two shooting categories. The home team was a dismal 4 of 18 (22.2 percent) from beyond the 3-point arc and disappointing 8 of 20 (40 percent) at the foul line.
While the Cougars were jacking up off-line 3-pointers, AC-S worked the ball inside. They took over three shots from long range, hitting one. Their free throw shooting was particularly good (12 of 18), those four extra free throws made resulted in a win.
The Cougars had a balanced scoring attack with three players in double figures. Davin Yates scored 12 points off the bench with starters Chance Sweeney and Dakota Clinard scoring 10 each. Clinard, who was honored as the team’s only senior, also had 10 rebounds for a double-double. He added three blocked shots and two steals.
Zane Batten was second in rebounding with five. Sweeney was the assist leader with two.
Colton Costello did most of the scoring for AC-S with 20 points. Chase Ross and Wyatt Coffee tied for second with 8. Costello was also his team’s leading rebounder with five.
Logan plays top-seeded Franklin-Simpson in the opening round of the 13th District Tournament at home Monday.
Score by Quarters: 1) AC-S 13-12, 2) LCHS 27-25, 3) LCHS 39-37, Final) Allen County-Scottsville 55, Logan County 52
AC-S (55) Colton Costello 20, Chase Ross 8, Wyatt Coffee 8, J.C. Skiles 6, Jordan Turner 5, Jackson Morris 4, Thorny Walker 2, Jae Jackson 2, Robert Robledo
LCHS (52) Davin Yates 12, Dakota Clinard 10, Chance Sweeney 10, Kade Wall 6, Jack Delaney 6, Zane Batten 5, JunVontre Dillard 2, Brady Hinton 1, Evan Campbell, Colby Collins