Livingston Uses Suffocating Defense To Down Trigg in District Semifinals

In two previous games between Livingston Central and Trigg County, the Wildcats hit 30 three-pointers and Matt Hargrove was going to make sure it wasn’t going to happen again in the district tournament.

The Livingston Central coach put together a game plan that saw Trigg County shoot just 4 of 20 behind the arc in Tuesday’s 74-57 Cardinal win in Tuesday’s district tournament semifinals in Cadiz.

Livingston’s guards continually pushed Trigg’s 3-pointers further on the floor and didn’t give them many open looks.

In the meantime, Logan Wring proved to be tough for the Wildcat defense to contain. The 6-7 junior scored nine points in the first quarter, including a deep 3-pointer ahead of the quarter horn, to give the Cardinals a 20-9 lead. Trigg wouldn’t get within single digits the rest of the night.

Livingston shot better than 50% in every quarter and finished at 58% for the game – getting up a shot per possession and hitting 23 of 31 shots in the paint.

The Cardinals pushed the lead to 41-25 at halftime and were up 43-25 when Wring picked up his third foul. Hargrove opted to keep his leading scorer and rebounder in the game which paid off as Wring scored seven points and grabbed three rebounds as Livingston built its lead to 26 points.

Wring went to the bench with his fourth foul in the final minute of the third quarter and fouled out with 3:03 left and Livingston leading 70-51.

Caleb Fogle hit back-to-back 3-pointers for Trigg County to get the Wildcats to within 70-54 but they would get no closer.

While Livingston was taking advantage of its success in the paint, Trigg County missed 22 shots inside the arc as Wring and 6-6 Brady Stone were able to alter the shots of anyone not named Davaree Gude.

The Wildcat guard scored 30 points and grabbed nine rebounds – six of those offensive. Fogle added 19 points – ten in the fourth quarter.

But Livingston’s gameplan suffocated Trigg’s shooters, holding Landon Swann – who hit eight 3-pointers against the Cardinals earlier this month in Smithland – scoreless. Lance Breckel, who scored 25 points in two games against Livingston, scored two points.

Wring finished with 28 points and seven rebounds, while Bryson Walker added 22 points and seven rebounds. Stone contributed eight points and a team-high eight rebounds.

Livingston Central moves into the district championship game for the first time since 2017 as they will face six-time defending champion Lyon County on Friday.