Whitley County’s Ethan Keene came up with the game-winning shot to push Whitley County past Bell County with an 84-82 overtime victory during Friday’s Cumberland Falls Invitational.
The Colonels (8-4) withstood the Bobcats’ (3-8) beat punches but managed to pull off the two-point win.
The game was close throughout with Whitley County building a 17-10 lead in the first quarter only to see Bell County rally to take a 35-34 advantage at halftime.
The game was tied at 58 apiece, and 75 apiece, at the end of the third, and fourth quarters, respectively before Bryce Anderson scored five minutes in overtime while Keene hit the game-winning shot to give the Colonels the win.
“Super proud of our kids,” Whitley County coach Eric Swords said. “We battled a ton of foul trouble all night, dealt with a ton of adversity. We could have quit and got down but we just kept battling. I thought every kid made huge plays throughout the game for us and I’m extremely proud.
“But I can’t tell you how happy I am for Ethan Keene hitting the game winner,” he added. “He has sacrificed so much and epitomizes what we are trying to establish here, he just goes about it his business everyday and is the ultimate team player. Brad (Sizemore) does a great job with his kids, great for us to win after losing a close one on to a very talented Doss team on Wednesday.”
Whitley County received a balanced scoring attack with Ashton Reynolds leading the way with 21 points. Mahan, and Danny Ellis each scored 13 points apiece while Keene finished with 12 points, and Anderson totaled 11 points.
Dawson Woolum led Bell County with 27 points while Blake Burnett finished with 21 points. Cameron Hall added 16 points while Cooper Miracle tallied eight points.
