Trigg County battled back from a 15-point first half deficit to take the lead against West Creek, only to see the Clarksville school force them into mistakes down the stretch for a 68-52 win at the Battle at the Border hosted by Todd County Central Wednesday.
The Wildcats will face Gordonsville, Tenn. High School Thursday afternoon in the consolation bracket at 4:30.
Despite some missed shots early, Trigg County used its defense and accuracy at the free throw line to keep the Coyotes within striking distance.
The Wildcats went over nine minutes without a field goal in the first half and fell behind 32-17 midway through the second quarter. However, an 11-of-13 performance at the charity stripe along with eight points off eight West Creek turnovers kept Trigg in the game by halftime.
The Wildcats used a Landon Stewart 3-pointer ahead of the horn to get to within 34-27 by halftime.
Trigg hit 5-of-9 shots in the third quarter to take a 40-39 lead with 3:24 left. However, their fortunes changed when West Creek turned up its half court trapping defense. The Wildcats turned the ball over 13 times and managed just 13 shots from the field in the final 11:24 and were outscored 21-4 as the Coyotes took a 60-44 lead.
For the game, Trigg County turned the ball over 22 times which led to 16 Coyote points.
Jhaden Vaughn was just 4-of-5 from the field but knocked down 11-of-15 free throws and finished with 20 points and 14 rebounds. Luke Washer added 10 points and six rebounds for the Wildcats, who shot 34-percent from the field.
Freshman Kameron Bowers led West Creek with 19 points and three assists. The Coyotes shot 39-percent from the field and hit 7-of-17 from behind the arc.
West Creek 23 11 13 21– 68
Trigg County 13 14 13 12– 52
West Creek (8-3) – Bowers 19, Villeana 14, Pace 10, Smith 10, Harding 6, Lafortune 6, Jones 2, George 1
Trigg County (7-5) – Vaughn 20, Washer 10, Stewart 7, Reynolds 6, Gude 5, Shearer 2, Bush 2
