Logan County may have looked done, but it was far from stopping.
Trailing 38-21 with 2:13 remaining in the third quarter on Tuesday evening at Greenwood, the Lady Cougars completely switched gears – putting together a commanding 23-1 run and outscoring GHS 46-29 in the second half to earn a 58-50 comeback win.
“I do have a gritty team, and we did have a couple issues coming out, but we overcame those, we played hard and we did what we needed to do to win that ball game,” Logan County head coach Finley Baird said.
Logan County (18-9) played a lackluster opening quarter – and half – as it shot just 3-of-35 from the field and scored 12 total points. The Lady Cougars were down 11-5 after the first and 21-12 at halftime before closing the third quarter with a 13-0 run – which came after Baird was given a technical – to get within 38-34 entering the final period.
Outscoring Greenwood 24-12 in the fourth, LCHS was able to complete the comeback and record an exciting victory.
“I said, ‘OK ladies, I got the technical for you because you’ve been getting beat up and it hasn’t been called, so now you have to go out there and play for me,’” Baird said. “I think they did – that’s what I told them in the locker room.”
Sarah Hale led the way for the Lady Cougars with 18 points and was one of three in double figures as Paige Vanzant finished with 17 points and Kennedy Nichols recorded a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds.
Jacqueline Jackson carried Greenwood (10-13) – which has lost five straight – with 21 points. Carly Miller tallied 10.
“It means a lot,” Hale said of the fight Logan County showed. “They beat us at our place and we got our revenge tonight. Having three people in double figures – we all need to be scoring to win ball games – and playing team ball will help us win. Getting that win was great.”
Greenwood couldn’t have asked for a better start – opening the game with six quick points in a span of 3:10. Vanzant’s score at the 1:54 mark brought Logan County within 8-5, but Megan Une recorded a bucket and Jackson made a free throw to put the Lady Gators up 11-5 after one.
Back-to-back baskets from Jackson made it 15-7 at the 6:18 mark of the second, and a 4:56 scoring drought by the Lady Cougars dug themselves into a 19-9 hole at the 2:48 mark. Une’s bucket with just over a minute left in the half sent Greenwood into the break with a 21-11 lead.
“We came out like we wanted to,” Greenwood head coach Zach Simpson said. “I felt like we controlled the tempo for the first half. We got into some foul troubles, and I think they turned up their defensive intensity in the third quarter and we didn’t have any match for it.
“We told our girls that, ‘Even though this is a tough loss, we’re still heading in the right direction going into tournament time and there is a lot of things you can learn about yourself from games like this.’”
Logan County went to work in the second half.
Down 23-12 after Jackson scored inside, the Lady Cougars put together a dominant 13-0 run – which included 11 points from Hale – to cut their deficit to just four at 38-34 entering the final period.
Vanzant’s layup at the 7:27 mark of the fourth evened the scoreboard at 38-all, and Nichols’ basket gave Logan County its first lead of the night at 40-39 with 6:01 remaining. Four straight points from the Vanzant twins put the Lady Cougars up 54-48 with 30.2 seconds left and a few more sets of clutch free throws sealed it.
“We have heart and our defense is gonna help us in games – even when we’re down by big deficits like 17,” Hale said.
Greenwood returns to action Thursday at home against Butler County, while Logan County travels to Allen County-Scottsville on Saturday. Both games are scheduled to tip-off at 6 p.m.
Logan County – 5 7 22 24 — 58
Greenwood – 11 10 17 12 — 50
LCHS – Sarah Hale 18, Paige Vanzant 17, Nichols 12, Peyton Vanzant 6, Brittany Garrett 3, Addie White 2.
GHS – Jacqueline Jackson 21, Carly Miller 10, Megan Une 8, Nicole Milam 6, Leia Trinh 5.
Carroll’s put-back lifts Gators over Cougars
A put-back layup by Ben Carroll with 6.2 seconds left lifted the Greenwood boys’ basketball team to a hard-fought 44-43 overtime win over Logan County on Tuesday night at Greenwood High School.
A pair of free throws by the Cougars’ Kelby Epley gave them a 43-41 lead with 59.8 seconds remaining in overtime, but Carroll grabbed a missed shot by Cade Stinnett and put it right back up to send the Gators (13-11) – who have won five straight – out on top.
“Five in a row – and four of them road games; really good wins,” Carroll said. “I hit the big shot to extend this winning streak heading into the postseason.”
The two sides were knotted at 6-all after the opening quarter, and Logan County held a tight 20-17 advantage at halftime. The Cougars outscored Greenwood 11-4 in the third period to lead 31-21 entering the fourth, but the Gators responded with a big frame – which included them outscoring LCHS 17-7 – to tie the game at 38-all and send it into overtime.
Things remained tight in the extra period, but Carroll’s bucket proved to be the game-winner.
“Pretty excited about that one,” Greenwood head coach Bob Pels said of his team’s win. “We were struggling – and it’s not that we were playing badly – Logan’s a really good basketball team, but we got some more action going in the second half and got a little better.
“Ben’s had that opportunity several times this year to make that put-back. He got it right this time.”
Carroll led the way with a game-high 15 points and 10 rebounds, while Jack Roberts finished with 12 points and Cade Stinnett added 11.
Dalton Thompson paced the Cougars (18-6) with 10 points.
Greenwood returns to action Friday at home against District 14 foe Warren Central, while Logan County travels to Muhlenberg County on Friday. Both games are scheduled to tip-off at 7:30 p.m.
Logan County – 6 14 11 7 5 — 43
Greenwood – 6 11 4 17 6 — 44
LCHS – Dalton Thompson 10, Kelby Epley 9, Anthony Woodard 7, Tommy Krohn 6, Reggie Powell 6, Brady Griggs 3, Third Bell 2.
GHS – Ben Carroll 15, Jack Roberts 12, Cade Stinnett 11, Noah Stansbury 3, Isaac Stansbury 3.
