The Trigg County boys’ basketball team welcomed McLean County into Wildcat Gym on Saturday and used a strong 4th-quarter performance to pull away for a 51-41 victory.
The Wildcats move to 2-0 for the first time since the 2017/18 season, while handing the Cougars their first loss in three outings this year.
McLean County won last season’s meeting in Calhoun by 25 points and it looked like this one might go the same way when the Cougars took a 10-2 advantage after Jaxon Floyd drilled a 3-pointer, part of his 10-point 1st quarter. But the Wildcats battled back behind six points for Jhaden Vaughn and his 3 from the corner in the final seconds cut the deficit to three at 12-9.
The Wildcats opened the 2nd quarter on a 10-2 run to take the lead, but the Cougars were back within a basket after Floyd was on target from deep again with just under two minutes to play in the half.
Tyler Ahart hit one of two free throws for the Wildcats after a technical foul on the McLean County bench to stretch the margin to seven, but the Cougars’ Brady Dame converted a pair of free throws for the final points of the half and a 24-19 score.
Trigg County came out of the locker room cold and McLean County was happy to hold the ball and run down the clock on each possession. The Wildcats only managed four points and found themselves down 29-28 after Floyd hit his fifth and last 3-pointer of the night. Both teams were scoreless over the final 4:48 of the quarter and Trigg trailed by a point going to the 4th.
McLean continued to milk the clock and limit possessions and the teams were tied at 31-31 with three and a half minutes to play. With the Wildcats needing a bucket, Ahart found some room on the left wing and knocked down a 3-pointer to take the lead for good.
Kendric Adams scored on consecutive possessions to give Trigg a 38-31 advantage and the Cougars wouldn’t get closer than five the rest of the way. Ahart capped a 16-point night by going 6/6 from the free-throw line down the stretch.
Trigg County 9 15 4 23 — 51
McLean County 12 7 10 12 — 41
Trigg County (2-0) — Ahart 16, J. Vaughn 13, Adams 11, K. Vaughn 7, Gude 3, Shearer 1
McLean County (2-1) — Floyd 19, Dame 15, Riley 5, Lee 2
