Easton Bourland was the right kind of thief at the right time for the Dawson Springs Panthers Tuesday night. Bourland came up with a steal and a pair of layups in the final 20 seconds as the Panthers completed a second half comeback to pick up a 77-74 win at Hopkins County Central.
Bourland’s steal and first layup came with 17.5 seconds to go and put the Panthers up 75-74. Then, as Hopkins County Central was trying to push the ball up the court for a potential game-winning basket, Montgomery Johnston turned burglar and fed a pass to Bourland, who scored to make it 77-74.
Hopkins County Central would get off a last-second shot from near mid-court, but it was offline and the celebration began among the Dawson Springs players and the fans who had made the short drive to Morton’s gap. The finish capped off a rally that saw the Panthers rebound from a 14 point halftime deficit.
Bourland’s steals and layups may have been the game-winners, but it was the second half effort of Montgomery Johnston that set up the opportunity for those heroics. Johnston’s constant attack of the defense in the second half ended up with either him scoring or shooting free throws, and he spent a bunch of time at the line during the comeback, shooting 18 of 22 at the charity stripe over the final two quarters.
Dawson Springs came out in the game firing from behind the arc. The Panthers knocked down four threes on their way to taking a 22-16 lead at the end of one quarter. A 9-2 run was the difference in the first eight minutes as Dawson took a 5-5 game and turned it into a 14-7 lead.
Rex Blue and Montgomery Johnston both got off to quick starts for the Panthers.
In addition to the Panthers’ outside shooting, the Dawson Springs defense gave Storm ballhandlers some issues with the ensuing turnovers leading to Panther transition baskets.
Then, the shots quit falling for Dawson Springs, in large part due to an energized defensive effort from Hopkins County Central. And, the Storm got hot, ‘Blaze-ing’ hot you might say.
Freshman Blaze Sumner found his stroke from behind the arc and ignited a ‘lightning’ quick 16-0 run from the Storm to close out the half. With Central down 27-25, Sumner went back-to-back-to-back from behind the 3-point line, and in a blink, Hopkins County Central was up 34-27.
By the time the blitz ended, due only to the clock running out on the half, Hopkins County Central had a 14 point lead. Fellow freshman Channing Stone buried a three at the horn to make it 41-27 as the teams headed off to the half.
The Storm also did a much better job with ball security in the second, cutting back on the miscues that led to some easy Dawson Springs baskets earlier in the game.
Defensively in the second quarter, Hopkins County Central was able, for the most part, to take the Panthers’ scoring duo Rex Blue and Montgomery Johnston out of the flow of the game and that played a big part in the Storm being able to get a run of their own.
As the teams came out for the second half, Johnston began to make a more concerted effort to attack the basket and it began to pay dividends for the Panthers. When Johnston did not get the shot to fall, he was drawing fouls from Hopkins County Central defenders and Dawson Springs began to grind away at the double-digit halftime lead.
Trailing 50-38 late in the third, with Johnston leading the way, the Panthers made their move to get back in the game. Dawson Springs got as close as three at 53-50 before a late 3-point play from Davonyae Butcher made it 56-50 going into the final quarter. Johnston ended up going 9 of 12 from the line in the third and scoring 15 points in the quarter to get the Panthers back in the game.
The Panther continued the comeback, chipping away at the lead as the 4th quarter got started. Hopkins County Central also suffered a recurrence of ball security issues coming down the stretch of the game. Dawson Springs got as close as one on several occasions but never pulled even or took the lead until the thievery in the final seconds.
Both teams had missed chances at the line late in the game and both teams got big plays. Hopkins County Central had some important moments from Sylas Gunn and Davonyae Butcher in an attempt to fend off the Panther comeback.
Butcher led Hopkins County Central with 20 points. Blaze Sumner ended up with 19, all coming in the first half. Channing Stone had 10 points coming off the bench. Sylas Gunn added 9 points for the Storm.
Montgomery Johnston led all scorers in the game with 35 points. Rex Blue had a quiet 18 points. Easton Bourland, in addition to having the four biggest points in the game, added 13 points. Jaydon Plunkette just missed double figures with 9.
Dawson Springs (2-3) has now won three straight games in the series. The Panthers will take on the Owensboro Knights Friday in the Commonwealth Rolled Products Tournament at McLean County.
Hopkins County Central (3-3) will play St. Mary Thursday night in the St. Mary Christmas Classic.
