Shepherdsville – Tuesday night’s game featured two teams trying to end small losing streaks. The Bullitt Central Cougars had lost two straight; South Oldham had lost three in a row. Ranked 7^th and 8^th in the Region according to the Litkenhous rankings, and with similar records (South Oldham was 6-8, while BC was 6-6), the game promised to be a close one matching the inside size and strength of the Cougars against the quickness of South Oldham.

The Dragons came in seeking to limit their turnovers and maximize their free throw opportunities. Coming into the contest, the Dragons were averaging 20 turnovers a game, and had managed to get to the line only a few times in their previous games. They succeeded in addressing these problems, committing only 10 (unofficial) turnovers and getting to the line 33 times. But the Dragons hit only 30.9% of their field goal attempts, and only 19 of the 33 free throws. Meanwhile, their defense continued to be very generous, and the Cougars hit 53% from the floor, mostly on layups, putbacks, or wide-open three point attempts.

The Cougars jumped out on top early, taking the lead for good at 5-4 on a bucket by 6’7" junior center Todd Spencer. With the score 17-11, Bullitt Central, Aaron Troutman nailed a three to end the quarter, giving the home squad a nine point bulge going into the second period. During the first period, the Dragons were their own worst enemy, hitting only 4 of 16 shots (25%) and allowing the "big and slow" Cougars to repeatedly beat their defense down the court for easy layups.

But Troutman wasn’t through. He started the second period right where he left off, hitting two more threes and a two-pointer to start the second quarter. After Justin Saunders followed Troutman’s one-man 11-0 run with a basket of his own, the Cougars had ripped off 13 unanswered points and led by 19, 30-11, with nearly six minutes to go in the half.

The Dragons continued to have trouble hitting the basket in the second period. Nevertheless, they hit some free throws thanks to some aggressive play, which helped keep the margin to within about 20 points. Late in the half, Steve Hay hit a free throw, and Matt Kennedy – who hit the only two field goals for the Dragons in the second period – nailed a three to pull South to within 16 at 38-22, but an apparent South Oldham defensive stopper to end the half was ruined by Matt McCubbins of BC, who rebounded a missed shot and scored on the putback as the halftime buzzer sounded, leaving South staring at a 40-22 deficit.

Kennedy opened the second half with a three pointer, but the Cougars responded with a basket and a free throw from Spencer. After a Steve Hay free throw, the Cougars went on a 9-2 run to build their biggest lead of the night at 52-28. They matched it at 54-32, before T. J. Beisner ended the quarter with a basket to pull South to within 54-32 with eight minutes to play.

The Dragons began a furious comeback attempt in the fourth. But the Cougars continued to beat the Dragon press downcourt easily – and with deadly quickness. The "big and slow" Cougars were beating South at their own game, and forwards Jason Rheaume and Matt McCubbins repeatedly scored on easy layups. Midway through the fourth period, a McCubbins basket gave BC a twenty point lead at 63-43, and the game appeared hopelessly out of reach.

But the Dragons’ T. J. Beisner and Matt Kennedy refused to go quietly. Beisner – who scored just four points in the first three quarters – and Kennedy racked up 27 of South Oldham’s 33 fourth-quarter points, with T. J. accounting for 16 all by himself.

Two minutes after trailing by 20, T.J. hit a three and Steve Hay scored on a two-point bucket to pull South to within 11 at 67-56 with 1:59 to go. In addition, Hay was fouled on his shot.

Hay missed the free throw, but after a Spencer free throw, a second Beisner three got the Dragons to within a single digit margin at 68-59 with a little over a minute and a half left. The Cougars sandwiched three free throws around a basket by Kennedy to push the lead to ten, but after Kennedy hit a little hook shot in the lane with 1:01 left, the Dragons were closer than they had been since the first quarter, trailing only 71-63.

The Dragons fouled Chad Stivers on the inbounds play with 56.5 seconds left, and the sophomore hit the first shot and missed the second. But Aaron Troutman rebounded the miss and scored, giving BC a 74-63 bulge.

The two teams then swapped free throws before Troutman stole the ball and scored on a layup at the buzzer to end the game.

Bullitt Central improved to 7-6. South fell to 6-9.

UNOFFICIAL STATS: South Oldham – Kennedy 27 points, Beisner 20, Cofer 5, Hay 5, Combest 2, Foley 2, Shultz 2, Losik 2

Bullitt Central – Troutman 19, Rheaume 17, McCubbins 17, Spencer 16, Saunders 5, Mitchell 2, Rowe 1, Stivers 1

NEXT SOUTH OLDHAM BROADCAST:

Thursday, January 11, 2001 – South Oldham AT Sacred Heart Academy (girls) Pregame 7 PM, Tipoff at 7:30 pm.

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