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1/18/2019
By Dan Manley
Advocate Sports Editor
Over-powered.
That was the category the Montgomery County Indians fell into Friday night at the Letcher Norton Gymnasium in Winchester as they dropped a 80-46 decision to the Clark County Cardinals.
Bigger and stronger at every position ultimately spelled victory for the Cardinals, who improved to 13-5 overall while the Indians fell to 9-8. Clark is now 3-0 in 40th District action while the Tribe stands 1-2.
“They just played really well and we couldn’t match them,” said Coach Matt Daniel. “Give them the credit. They were just a better team.”
Fast start
Montgomery County got off to a fast start with Will Cockrell, Austin Eichenberger and Duce Ralls all hitting three-pointers early in the game as the Indians took a 9-4 lead.
But Clark followed that with an 11-0 run before the Indians scored the final five points of the period on a three-pointer by Brandon Dyer and a pair of free throws by Eichenberger as the Cards ended the period with a 15-14 advantage.
Three-point dilemma
The Indians found themselves a quarter into the game having made four of six shots from long range but they were without a two-point field goal.
“We just couldn’t match them physically,” Daniel continued. “Pharoah did a great job on the boards in the first half but we weren’t able to establish anything on offense inside the paint.”
Freshman Hagan Harrison would hit a driving layup after making a steal in the second period and that would turn out to be the only two-point field goal the Indians could muster in the entire first half.
Graham
sensational
Meanwhile, Clark senior guard Jordan Graham was on his way to a sensational night.
He scored seven points in the second period and had 13 at halftime to help the Cards pull away to a 33-21 advantage.
Senior post player Jehdon Jenkins, who averages just six points per game, had eight in the first half and finished with 12 on the night.
Graham came back in the second half and had a flawless half, hitting all six of his field goal attempts, including four three-pointers, to finish with 29 points.
“Jordan’s always good, when he shoots the ball like that from behind the arc it elevates his game to an entirely different level,” Daniel said.
He finished the game 13 of 16 from the floor, five of six from behind the three-point line to score 29 points and he also had a team-high six rebounds.
“There weren’t very many rebounds to be had,” Daniel noted.
Davis had eight, all in the first half, as the Tribe got beaten on the glass, 33-21.
Along with that the Indians committed 16 turnovers to only seven against the Cardinals.
Cards pull away
Montgomery County was within 10 points at 37-27 a couple of minutes into the second half before Clark County gradually began to pull away.
With Graham and sophomore Jared Wellman leading the way and freshman Jerone Morton joining in with a three-pointer and two free throws and by the end of the third period the lead had stretched to 23 at 56-33.
The Cardinals owned a 63-41 lead midway through the period when Graham hit back-to-back-to-back three-pointers, as the lead grew to 72-44 in just three possessions.
Following that, both coaches went to their benches and the lead continued to grow right up until the end.
The Indians finished with just five field goals inside the three-point line in 32 minutes of playing time.
“We’re not going to let this game define us,” Daniel said. “We’re capable of playing much better, we have been playing better and we’ll go right back to work in that direction.”
Clark County would turn around the following day and lose at Lexington Bryan Station, 74-64. That was only the third win of the season for the Defenders.
District picture
The standings in the 40th District are a bit clouded at this point with Clark County owning the lead at 3-0 followed by Bourbon County at 1-1, Montgomery County now 1-2 and Paris at 1-3.
Bourbon County, which lost to Montgomery County early in the season by nine points on their home floor, was scheduled to play at the MCHS Arena Friday night.
That game had to be moved because the Colonels will be playing in the Class AA State Tournament at Owensboro this week.
The Colonels have been on quite a run since their loss to Montgomery County, winning 14 of 15 games with the only loss coming at the hands of Louisville Butler.
The Colonels have two games remaining with Clark County in addition to the matchup with Montgomery County and another meeting with Paris.
The Indians still have to play all three teams.
Early in the season it appeared that Clark County was well ahead of the field but now the Colonels appear ready to make a run.
The Indians can assure themselves of finishing no worse than third in the district with a win in their second meeting against Paris but their opening round opponent could be either Clark County or Bourbon County in the 40th District Tournament, which will be played this year at Bourbon County.
The Indians would need to run the table against their three district foes in the final games of the season and then would need Bourbon County to defeat Clark County twice in order for there to be a three-way tie for first place in the regular season district standings.
The Montgomery County-Bourbon County game has been rescheduled for next Wednesday, Jan. 23, at the MCHS Arena while the girls teams from the two schools will be playing Thursday night at The Arena.
MCHS (46) — Duce Ralls 2-7 1-3 7, Jon Kosier 1-2 0-0 3, Will Cockrell 4-10 2-2 13, Pharoah Davis 0-2 0-2 0, Austin Eichenberger 1-5 2-2 5, Brandon Dyer 4-8 2-2 12, Hagan Harrison 2-2 1-1 5, Trey Ishmael 0-0 1-2 1, Luke Fuller 0-0 0-0 0, Caleb Webb 0-1 0-0 0, J. T. Woosley 0-0 0-0 0, Trevor Igo 0-0 0-0 0, Trey Carroll 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 14-37 9-14 46.
Clark County (80) — Jordan Graham 13-16 0-0 29, Jehdon Jenkins 5-7 1-3 12, Jared Wellman 5-9 1-1 12,
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