By Jim Mashek – ST Contributor
Barren County coach Warren Cunningham finished his radio interview and was immediately posed with a question.
How good can these Trojans be, with Adan Nyeken patrolling the paint and his Barren County teammates crashing the boards?
“That’s a very good question,” Cunningham said with a smile, after his visiting Trojans slipped past Noah Stansbury and the Greenwood Gators 74-69 on Tuesday night.
Barren County improved to 17-7 while the Gators fell to 14-10.
Nyeken’s inside game was clearly the difference, as the 6-foot-3 sophomore led all scorers with 27 points. Nyeken seldom took a shot deeper than 10 feet, but the Gators couldn’t match his inside strength near the basket.
“I think we’ve made some progress, but we still have room to improve,” Cunningham said. “I think we’re still getting better, to be honest with you. The future will tell.”
Greenwood led for most of the second quarter and took a 29-28 advantage into the locker room at the half.
Barren County quickly moved in front in the third quarter, with Nyeken and Will Bandy providing most of the inside scoring punch. Nyeken, a soccer standout in the fall, has become a marquee player in South Central Kentucky.
“I was just trying to play smart,” Nyeken said. “Take good shots. (Greenwood is) a very good team. We just tried to play our game tonight.”
Noah Stansbury, the Greenwood guard and the son of Western Kentucky head coach Rick Stansbury, led his team with 20 points. Stansbury showed a lot of ability in the open floor and kept the Gators in striking distance for most of the season half.
Greenwood is coached by Will McCoy, a former assistant coach to Cunningham at Barren County. Cunningham said he’s pleased with McCoy’s promising career at Greenwood, but knows all bets are off inside the lines.
“Will is a good coach and we’re happy for him,” Cunningham said. “You don’t think about that kind of stuff during the course of the game, but when it’s over, you’re always happy to see him.”
Cunningham liked the way the Trojans continued to pound the ball inside, while the Gators were usually content to fire up 3-point shots from the perimeter.
“They’re a very good offensive team, and can capitalize on your mistakes,” Cunningham said. “Aden and Bandy have the ability to rebound and finish plays near the basket. They played very well for us tonight.”
Jacob Shaw had 11 points for Barren County and teammate Tyler Bush finished with 10.
Greenwood forward Marc Grant, the son of WKU assistant coach Marcus Grant, had 15 points for the Gators. Cade Stinnett had 16 points for Greenwood, which sometimes struggled in its transition defense.
The Trojans are on the road to face Central Hardin on Friday night. The Gators, meanwhile, will play host to South Warren.
GREENWOOD GIRLS 58, BARREN COUNTY 57
The Lady Gators withstood a furious Barren County rally in the final two minutes, to improve to 11-9 on the season. It was a grueling defeat for the Trojanettes, who dropped to 18-5 with the defeat.
Rough-and-tumble guard Megan Une led the Lady Gators with 20 points, but it was the play of eighth-grader Leia Trinh, Greenwood’s starting point guard, that may have been the difference. Kayla Grant, Marc’s younger sister and a starter as a freshman at Greenwood, also came up with some key defensive plays down the stretch.
Trinh scored 17 points and was able to attack the Barren County press when the Trojanettes fell behind. Senior forward Annie Lasley blocked three shots in the first quarter alone and gave the Lady Gators a strong rebounding presence before fouling out in the final minute.
The Trojanettes’ Elizabeth Bertram led all scorers with 26 points. Teammate Raven Ennis finished with 10.
