Thursday was a night of milestones for Ballard Memorial, who downed Trigg County 79-68 in Cadiz.
Jace Birney scored a career-high 40 points to help the Bombers keep the Wildcats at bay. The sophomore, who didn’t start the game, scored 14 points in the second quarter as Ballard Memorial used a 7-0 run – all by Birney – to grab a 38-30 lead with 1:14 left before the half.
Trigg missed 12 of their 15 shots from the field in the quarter but stayed in the contest with a 13-for-20 showing at the free throw line in the first half.
Birney added 12 more points in the third quarter as the Bombers built a 13-point lead.
Trigg got as close as 63-61 with 4:48 left, but Birney scored six of the Bombers’ next eight points to extend the advantage to 71-61.
Birney finished 14-of-20 from the field and 7-of-9 at the free throw line before fouling out with 1:15 left. Phillip Duncan added 11 points and six rebounds.
Landon Stewart scored 18 points for Trigg County, who welcomed back head coach Mason Burgett after a seven-game absence due to sickness but lost Luke Washer to an injury on the game’s second play.
Trigg County was 5-2 in Burgett’s absence.
Washer, who averages 14 points and eight rebounds a contest, is expected to be ready for next week’s district tournament.
The Ballard Memorial victory moves them to 20-10 – the school’s first 20-win season since the Bombers won the 1982 district tournament. That squad, coached by B.B. Kendrick, won 25 games and beat Paducah Tilghman for the title.
Trigg County will move into next week’s district tournament with a record of 14-15.
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| Ballard Memorial (20-10) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Jace Birney 14-20 7-9 40; Phillip Duncan 3-7 5-10 11; Jerrico Wilson 3-4 4-8 10; Kameron English 0-7 7-8 7; Jamison Smith 1-5 1-4 3; Cole Ballard 1-2 0-0 3; Konnor Myatt 1-2 0-0 3; Keaton Overstreet 1-5 0-0 2; Isaac Chandler 0-2 0-0 0; Ike Miller 0-0 0-0 0; Totals 24-54 24-39 79. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Trigg County (14-15) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Landon Stewart 7-15 4-4 18; Hunter Reynolds 5-14 3-6 17; Jhaden Vaughn 4-7 7-14 15; TuTu Gude 2-9 5-6 9; Davare Gude 3-4 1-3 8; Tayshaun Linton 0-2 1-2 1; Luke Washer 0-0 0-0 0; Lance Breckel 0-0 0-0 0; Matthew Reeves 0-0 0-0 0; Totals 21-51 21-35 68. | ||||||||||||||||||
| 3-point goals-Ballard Memorial 7-17 (Jace Birney 5-9; Cole Ballard 1-2; Konnor Myatt 1-1; Kameron English 0-3; Isaac Chandler 0-1; Keaton Overstreet 0-1), Trigg County 5-15 (Hunter Reynolds 4-10; Davare Gude 1-1; Landon Stewart 0-4).
Fouled out--Ballard Memorial-Jace Birney, Phillip Duncan, Trigg County-Jhaden Vaughn. Rebounds-Ballard Memorial 35 (Jerrico Wilson 6; Phillip Duncan 6), Trigg County 33 (Jhaden Vaughn 12). Assists- Ballard Memorial 15 (Kameron English 5), Trigg County 8 (TuTu Gude 3). Total Fouls -Ballard Memorial 26, Trigg County 23. |
