After finding out that their opponent for the opening round of the 5th Region tournament would be Bardstown, the Indians set to figure out ways to turn an earlier 60 to 48 loss in the season into a win. Bardstown is one of the top teams in the region and entered the game with a 23-6 record, riding a six-game winning streak.
The Indians battled throughout the game and would pull within a few points before Bardstown answered back. In the end, Adair County came out on the losing side, 55 to 41.
“I was proud of the way our guys hung in there and battled back,” Coach Mark Fudge said. “We gave ourselves a chance but missed too many opportunities, especially down the stretch. Bardstown has a really good team and they are very athletic, which made it very difficult for us to execute on offense.”
The Tigers opened the game with a 3-point basket but was answered quickly by Zach Hutchison. The two 5th Region teams went back and forth throughout the quarter before Bardstown scored back-to-back baskets to close that gave them a 15 to 11 advantage at the close.
Bardstown opened the second quarter on a roll with a 7-2 run before a basket by Chance Melton settled things down. The Tigers answered with another basket to push their lead back out to nine points before Melton scored again on a long out of bounds pass from Ty Bennett coming out of a timeout by Coach Fudge.
Adair County could never get the edge in the quarter to cut the deficit and trailed 33 to 23 at the half.
To open the third quarter, both teams were back and forth at each other as the Indians never could get any breaks to cut down the lead. Adair County would get no closer than eight points from the Tigers in the quarter and left trailing 42 to 34 going into the fourth quarter.
Bennett came out in the fourth quarter and made back-to-back 3-pointers to cut the lead down to two points with momentum on the Indians side. Some bad offensive sequences by Adair County led to some easy Bardstown baskets on turnovers that put them back on top 50 to 41.
“It was a very big no call when Chance went in for what would’ve been a game tying layup and we thought he got fouled,” Coach Fudge said. “We could’ve had a chance to tie the game, not only that, but the officials delayed putting the ball back in play, which cost us an opportunity to run an out of bounds play under the basket that we often score on.”
The Indians failed to knock down any shots down the stretch and some offensive misfortunes left the Tigers pulling away for the victory and another chance to play on Monday night against John Hardin.
Melton led the team as the lone man in scoring double-figures with 17 points and 5 rebounds.
With the loss, Adair County’s season comes to a close but the Indians made a good run and had a successful season. Their final record for the year ended at 17-14.
Coach Fudge concluded, “I’m very proud of the way this team has battled and fought all season long. They have been a pleasure to coach. We are certainly going to miss our six seniors as they will leave some big shoes to fill.”
The Tigers would go on to beat John Hardin 68 to 52 to advance to the finals against Elizabethtown on Tuesday night.
Bardstown 55
Indians 41
Due to weather conditions the Lady Indians were in regional action on Wednesday of last week after it was originally scheduled for Monday night. Adair County took a tough draw for the 5th Region tournament as they got the number one team in state: Elizabethtown.
Adair County would turn out to be no contest for the top team as they won by a large margin, 78 to 30. The Lady Indians had a successful season as they made it to the 5th Region tournament and finished the year with a record of 18-11.
After the game Coach Turner said, “E-town played really well. It is easy to see why they are the number one team in the state. We played hard but were no match for them. We had a good season.”
The Lady Panthers dominated the opening of the game with intense defensive pressure on a full-court press to get out to an early 20-0 lead. After failing to convert on several attempts, Harlee Smock finally managed to score for the Lady Indians to get them started. From there, Adair County managed two more baskets and two made free-throws in the quarter to leave them trailing 25 to 8 after one.
Adair County continued to struggle against the high-powered Elizabethtown team as they built on their lead. At halftime, the Lady Indians were on the short end 44 to 16.
In the third period, due to KHSAA rules, a running clock was instituted due to the commanding lead that the Lady Panthers had built up. E-town ended the quarter on a 15-0 run to lead 67 to 23 going into the final quarter of play and would ultimately win it 78 to 30.
Elizabethtown shot an outstanding 63 percent from the field, while going 8 for 16 from behind the arc. Likewise, the Lady Indians shot 29 percent from the field and 17 percent from behind the arc on 1 of 6 attempts.
Beth Owens led the Lady Indians in the loss with 7 points and 4 rebounds. Complete stats for the game are found below.
E-town went on to win the 5th Region tournament by defeating Nelson County in the semi-finals before beating LaRue County 73 to 56 in the finals. They will represent the region in 2014 Girls Sweet Sixteen Tournament that began yesterday.
Elizabethtown 78
Lady Indians 30
