The University Heights Academy Blazers continued their late-season hot streak Monday night but it did not come easy. The Blazers survived a three-point shooting barrage from the Todd County Central Rebels and then pulled away late to take a 93-75 win in a game where the final score gives no indication of just how hard the Blazers had to fight to put down a group of gritty Rebels.
The first quarter was one of runs back and forth. UHA opened with the first five points only to see Todd County Central score the next seven to take a 7-5 lead.
Led by Tylin George and Elijah Walton, the Blazers returned the favor with a 9-0 run to go up 14-7. The Rebels, getting a big first quarter from John Ross Cardwell, hit back with a 7-0 run to even the game back up at 14-14.
Time for another UHA run, and the Blazers obliged. University Heights scored 8 straight to take a 22-14 lead late in the first quarter. The lead would be 24-18 at the end of the first.
Coming out to start the second, the Rebels got hot in a hurry from behind the arc and made a massive charge to the lead. Four different Todd County Central players made a three in a 21-7 run to start the second that gave the Rebels a 39-31 lead. Connor Holder, John Ross Cardwell, Devin Schutt and Jayden Glass, all knocked down at least one three during the run.
Trailing 41-35 midway through the second, the Blazers struck back with an 11-0 run of their own to go up 46-41.Connor Holder hit a late three for Todd County Central to make it 46-44 at the half.
The story for the Rebels in the first half was the outside shooting. Todd County Central hit nine threes in the half, seven of them in the second quarter. Four of the nine came from Connor Holder.
For UHA it was another big half from Tylin George, who ended the half with 23 points.
John Ross Cardwell started the third quarter with five quick points to put the Rebels back into the lead at 49-46. With Cardwell and Hunter Johnson providing the spark, the Rebels would push the lead out to 57-52.
But the Rebels hit a cool spell over the final half of the third quarter and the Blazers were able to take advantage. Some missed shots and a few turnovers for the Rebels ended up in breakaway dunks for Elijah Walton and Tylin George. UHA would finish the third quarter on a 13-3 run to go into the final quarter up 65-60.
Devin Schutt opened the final quarter with a three to cut the Blazers’ lead to 65-63 and Rebels’ fans in attendance were roaring.
However, UHA made its move to get control of the game for good over the next couple of minutes and the Blazers got jumpstarted by a former Rebel. KeShawn Moore ignited a 10-0 Blazer run that put UHA up 75-63 and the lead would not fall below 10 points for the rest of the game.
In addition to the spark from Moore for the Blazers, the Rebels, who had battled on the boards with the Blazers all night long, appeared to maybe get a little leg weary down the stretch as shots that had fallen all night long did not go through late and the Blazers also began to control the glass over the final minutes of the game as they pulled away for the 18-point win.
Tylin George had a huge game to lead four Blazers in double figures with 36 points. Elijah Walton finished with 23 points. KeShawn Moore had his second straight double digit game with 18 points. Frank Pollard also got into double figures with 10.
John Ross Cardwell led a trio of Todd County Central players in double figures with 27 points. He made three shots from behind the 3-point line. Connor Holder connected on five 3-pointers and finished with 17 points. Jayden Glass hit two threes and ended his night with 10 points.
For the game, Todd County Central hit 12 three-pointers, but only one of them in the final 8 minutes of the game.
The 75 points was the most scored by the Rebels this season and the most since February 10, 2024, when Todd County Central scored 82 in a win over Crittenden County. In fact, the Rebels’ two highest scoring games of the season have come in their last two outings.
With the win, UHA goes to 9-11 for the seasons. The Blazers are scheduled to host Paducah Tilghman Tuesday night, weather pertmitting.
The Rebels drop to 2-25 and get ready to head to Trigg County Tuesday night, again, if winter weather allows.
