Photo - Kassity Boor
Todd County Central outscored the Dawson Springs in only one quarter in their home opener Thursday night, but fortunately for the Rebels it was just enough to eke out a 60-59 victory much to the delight of an enthusiastic home crowd.
The Rebels, now 1-1 on the season, outscored the Panthers 24-6 in the opening stanza. Conner Holder hit three of the team’s five treys. Lane Thomas banked in a three-pointer from the top of the key and Eli Wilson drilled one from the left wing just ahead of the buzzer.
While the Panthers struggled to score in the first period, they turned the tables on the Rebels in the second. Five players, led by Easton Bourland’s six points scored. The well-balanced Panther attack saw the visitors outscore Todd Central 16-4 in the quarter, cutting the deficit to six, 28-22, at the intermission.
The third quarter saw Jaydon Plunkette drill four three-point field goals to lead Dawson Springs into the lead at 40-39 with 2:32 to play. Todd Central righted the ship and pulled back into the lead 44-42 entering the fourth quarter.
Early in the final period, Todd County seemed to regain control pushing its lead to as many as seven points. The Panthers would not fold, however, cutting the Rebel lead to one on multiple occasions. Cooper Burge scored 11 of his game high 20 points in the final quarter.
The Rebels withstood the Dawson Springs charge as a team.
Freshman Spencer Pool, who moved to point guard once Lane Thomas fouled out, scored six points of his thirteen points in fourth quarter with aggressive drives to the basket. Holder, who had been held scoreless in the second half nailed his fifth trey of the game. Jayden Glass scored all five of his points in the stanza, hitting a clutch 3-pointer from the right corner and going 2-4 from the free throw line.
After Glass made his final free throw to push the Rebel lead to 60-57 with 7.7 seconds to play. The Panthers took a time out to set up a final play. Noah Riley took the inbounds pass from Plunkette and drove down the court to just inside the three-point line before turning and passing back to Plunkette who had been trailing the play. Plunkette lined up the potential game tying shot, but it rattled out. Burge’s tip in cut the deficit to one as time expired.
The Rebels round out a busy opening with a trip to Muhlenberg County on Friday night followed by home game Saturday afternoon against Hancock County (approximately 4:30pm).
Dawson Springs, 0-1, returns to the hardwood on Monday, December 8 for their home opener against McLean County at 7:30pm.
