RUSSELLVILLE — Barren County coach Warren Cunningham has said that he wants to find ways to get senior standout Jared Coomer going early in the game with a good amount of energy.
The Trojans certainly found their recipe to achieve that goal on Tuesday night.
Coomer slammed down a dunk off an alley-oop on the very first possession of the game, and the senior blazed his way to a double-double in just the middle of the second quarter to lead Barren County to a 67-54 win at Logan County on Tuesday night.
“Jared Coomer was really, really good from the get-go (Tuesday night),” Cunningham said. “I think he sets the tone for the team, and when he plays like that everyone else follows suit.”
Barren County (11-9) opened up the game with a 7-0 lead before the Cougars got hot from the outside and nailed four 3-pointers to get back in it. Kelby Epley netted three straight trifectas for Logan County, and the Cougars ended the quarter on a 16-10 run to trail just 17-16 after one.
Epley continued his early showcase with a steal and layup on the first play of the second quarter to propel the Cougars in front 18-17.
But Logan County would never lead again the rest of the night.
The Trojans ended the half on a 18-8 scoring spurt to lead 35-26 at the intermission, and Logan County spent much of the second half trailing by double digits.
The Cougars (10-11) were able to cut the deficit back to single digits after a layup by Mykal Hampton made it 58-49 with 2:17 left in regulation, but Barren County sophomore Will Bandy answered right back with a three-point play on the next possession to put his team back up 12 and squash any hope for a Cougar rally.
Hampton and Epley each scored 16 in the loss for the Cougars while Austin Rayno tallied seven.
Senior Garrett Arterburn topped all Barren County scorers with 19 points, and he seemed to have the answer for the Trojans anytime Logan County made a stab at chipping into the lead.
“He made some big shots,” Cunningham said. “It seemed like every time they were trying to make a run he made a shot. He’s been playing well. He hasn’t been scoring a lot [before Tuesday night], but he shot the ball with confidence (Tuesday night).”
Coomer finished with15 points and 12 rebounds—only scoring one bucket and grabbing two more rebounds after having 13 points and 10 rebounds midway through the second quarter. Bandy added 12 points for Barren in the win while Parker Stephens had 11.
With the win Barren County will now shift its focus to archrival Glasgow at home on Friday night—a team they defeated 77-69 at Scottie Gym on Dec. 29.
“We have to do some of same things we did the first time,” Cunningham said. “We got to keep them off the glass because they’re really good on the glass. We have to keep them out of transition because they’re really good in transition. They’re a tough matchup because of their athleticism and speed, and we’ll have our work cut out for us.”
Meanwhile Logan County will look to return to the winning path on the road at crosstown rival Russellville on Friday night.
