TOMPKINSVILLE-When Monroe County senior Billy Michael Dyer swished a three-pointer as time expired to give the Falcons a 26-21 lead over Franklin-Simpson at the end of the first quarter, it appeared that the game was going to be back-and-forth and high scoring.
Well the game certainly did go back-and-forth, but both defenses would step up to the plate after the first eight minutes of play to keep the game relatively low-scoring.
However, while both teams played very stout defense, only one team could emerge as victors.
Monroe County senior Ty Mink led the team with 16 points, Franklin-Simpson senior Dee Ragland finally cooled off from his red hot shooting performance late in the second half, and the Falcons were able to record a 60-54 victory over Franklin-Simpson in their season opener on Tuesday night in Tompkinsville.
“It feels good to win that one,” Monroe County coach Steve Kirkpatrick said. “Franklin-Simpson came with everything they had. They shot the ball extremely well in the first half, and I thought defensively we guarded them a lot better in the second half. You got to give Coach (Dee) Spencer and his staff a lot of credit.”
The Wildcats (0-1) were certainly not fazed by Dyer’s buzzer-beater as Franklin-Simpson outscored Monroe County 12-4 in the second quarter to take a 33-30 lead into the locker room.
Monroe County came right and battled to whittle the Wildcats’ lead to 37-36 at the 3:23 mark of the third quarter—an instance where you could hear a pin drop in the Falcon’s Nest after Dyer went down with an ankle injury and had to be escorted to the locker room.
The Falcons then went on a 6-2 run to own a 42-39 advantage at the end of the third quarter.
Both sides battled it out for the next few minutes before a three-pointer by Ragland made it a three-point ball game again.
Dyer—who had returned from the locker room—then hit a clutch shot from long-range to extend the Falcons’ lead back to 51-45 with 4:08 left in regulation.
“I knew he would come back,” Mink said. “We’ve been side-by-side ever since we were kids and I knew he would come back and make that shot for us.”
Monroe County was up 56-52 with 1:17 left in regulation when Ragland narrowly missed back-to-back attempts from long range before Mink netted four consecutive free throws in the final 30 seconds to seal the victory.
But Mink said the pressure did not affect him even though it was crunch time.
“I felt it but I have been here four years and it’s common now—big free throws in big games,” Mink said.
Mink led the Falcons with 16, while Dyer and junior Chandler Clements each added 15.
Franklin-Simpson was led by Dee Ragland with 20 points and four three-pointers, and the senior made several clutch shots to keep his team close the entire way.
“We couldn’t do nothing with him in the first half,” Kirkpatrick said. ‘We’re lucky he finally began missing his shots in the second half.”
While his team grabbed the win, Kirkpatrick still isn’t totally satisfied with his team just yet. The longtime Falcons’ coach says the main thing his team needs is gym time.
“I told them in the locker room that we’ve had three days of practice, two scrimmages, and a game. I’m not making excuses but we have to get in the gym. We have to get up and down and get some shots up and we definitely have to work on our defense.”
Franklin-Simpson played extremely well in its first game after losing 10 seniors and most of its production last season.
“We played hard,” Franklin-Simpson coach Dee Spencer said. “I thought we played good defense except the first quarter, and if we make some layups that we missed down the stretch then we probably win the game.”
The Wildcats will look to record their first win of the season in their home opener against Greenwood on Thursday night.
“Each game we’re just trying to get better,” Spencer said. “One game doenst make the season. As long as those guys show up and work hard every day we will be just fine.”
Meanwhile Monroe County will look to stay undefeated on the road at Metcalfe County.
“We’re playing on the road and we’ll have to come ready to play against a tough and improving Hornets’ team,” Kirkpatrick said.
