PINEVILLE — Eric Swords’ Whitley County Colonels had hopes of getting some revenge on Tuesday due to an earlier loss against Bell County in the Kentucky 2A, Section 7 title game.
But the red-hot Bobcats made sure it didn’t happen by delivering the Colonels an 88-56 loss.
Bell County was coming off a win over defending 13th Region champion North Laurel, and after starting the game off slow, picked things up, improving to 22-5 while Whitley County falls to 18-9.
“We had a little bit of a sluggish start but was able to regroup in the second quarter, give Whitley County a lot of credit,” Bell County coach Brad Sizemore said. “They came out ready to play and was hitting a lot of outside shots. Overall, I’m pleased with how we played it always good with you can get a win against a quality team like Whitley.”The highlight of the game came during the opening minute of the first quarter with senior Blake Burnett scoring two points to become the career leader in points scored in Bobcat history. He now has 2,025 career points after tossing in 23 points against the Colonels. Jaxon Thomas hit four 3-pointers and scored 21 points while Ethan Buell added 18 points while hitting two 3-pointers. Braxton Ferguson chipped in 13 points while finishing with three 3-pointers.Tootie Mahan led the Colonels with 13 points while Garrett Sharp and Henry Bowling added 12 points apiece. Levi Jackson finished with 11 points.“
Good road game for us heading into district week,” Swords said. “I thought we did some things well early. Cut it to six in the third. Give credit to Bell they shot it well, their size and athleticism wore us down late. Once they started hitting shots, I think we tried to match it too quick on the other end instead of being patient and getting good ones.”
