MOREHEAD —
Last month, Rowan County and Fleming County played to an 81-76 double-overtime Panther win.
Troy Steward and the rest of the Panthers made sure this one would not be that close.
Steward poured in 26 points, tallied six rebounds and had five assists as Fleming County defeated Rowan County, 80-61, at Warren Cooper Gymnasium on Friday night in a 61st District showdown.
The Panthers (10-2) created all kinds of trouble for Rowan County (8-7), forcing 17 turnovers — 13 in the first half — en route to the victory.
“That’s what we’ve been working on,” Panthers coach Mark Starns said. “We’ve worked on that pressure defense like Louisville plays and tonight I thought our pressure defense wore them out.”
Rowan County had a 19-16 advantage after the first quarter but the Fleming County pressure forced a lot of bad decisions that led to 20 points off turnovers.
“They administer better pressure than anybody we’ve seen at this point,” Vikings coach Shawn Thacker said. “Until you’ve been through it and seen it, kids will start to (turn it over) and we’ll get better.”
In the second half, the Panthers used a 16-4 run out of the gate to take a 51-36 lead. Rowan County started chipping away, getting it to within five points, at 57-52 in the fourth quarter. But Fleming County stuck to its game plan and applied more pressure to seal the victory.
“They played hard,” Starns said. “We had that 15-point lead, and Coach (Thacker) really got on them. (They) got it within five and then we put a little more separation between them. It was just a hard-fought district game.”
In addition to Steward’s 26, Fleming had three other players in double figures. Darion Burns had 17 points, Austin Crisp had 14 and Brady Saunders 12. Fleming shot 49 percent from the field and outrebounded Rowan County 36-35.
“We’ve got to get our games to where we can play at a high level,” Thacker said. “We’ve got to calm down and have some leadership to do that and we didn’t have that tonight.”
FLEMING 16 19 22 23 — 80
ROWAN 19 13 17 12 — 61
Fleming County (80) — Steward 26, Burns 17, Crisp 14, Saunders 12, Puente 2, Williams 2.
Rowan County (61) — Newsome 12, Callahan 11, Barnard 10, Stone 8, Thacker 8, Brown 8, Graham 2, Lee 2.
GIRLS
Rowan County 54
Fleming County 48
Rowan County’s girls enjoyed a huge third quarter advantage to boost themselves to a six-point win.
The Lady Vikings (7-7) trailed by six at halftime before outscoring the Lady Panthers 15-4 in the third period.
Nicole Plank scored 14 points and Taylor Conn 13 to lead the Lady Vikings.
Tierra Taylor netted a game-best 15 points for Fleming County (6-6).
FLEMING 17 9 4 18 — 48
ROWAN 15 5 15 19 — 54
Fleming County (48) — Tierra Taylor 15, Robinson 9, Boyd 9, Ishmael 7, Miller 2, M. Taylor 2, Steward 2, Lytle 2
Rowan County (54) — Plank 14, T. Conn 13, Justice 10, F. Conn 9, Helvey 6, Bandura 2.
Local Sports
Fleming pressure leads to victory over Rowan
- Local Sports
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62nd District Softball: East playing second fiddle no longer
East Carter’s Morgan Jacobs fired a pitch across the plate for strike three in the bottom of the seventh inning and jumped into the arms of first baseman Montana Fouts.
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Salow Show: Ashland ace halts Boyd’s district streak
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63rd District baseball: Greenup County outduels Lewis, 7-3
Lightning delayed the 63rd District Tournament championship game several times following the first inning on Tuesday, creating a late night for Greenup County and Lewis County.
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Boyd’s Fraley commits to Herd
Boyd County sophomore basketball player Logan Fraley has announced her commitment to Marshall University.
The 5-foot-11 shooting guard informed Marshall women’s coach Matt Daniel of her decision on Monday morning, which was confirmed by Boyd County coach/father Pete Fraley via text message. -
63rd softball: Greenup leans on bunting, baserunning; Russell wins
Immersed in another district contest with little breathing room, Greenup County softball coach Eric Keeton resorted to the strengths of his lineup: bunting and baserunning.
Two bunts and a swinging bunt helped the Lady Musketeers scratch across three runs in the fifth inning of a 6-2 victory over Raceland in the 63rd District Tournament opening round on Monday night at Russell High School. Top-seeded Russell defeated Lewis County, also 6-2, earlier in the evening. -
Boyd pounds out 11 hits to go along with Grimm’s shutout, 14-0
Robbie Shivel might be a little sore after Monday night, but it was Fairview that left the game battered and bruised.
Boyd County belted out 11 hits to go along with Dylan Grimm's complete-game gem as the Lions roared past Fairview, 14-0, in the opening round of the 64th District Tournament at Ashland's Alumni Field. The game lasted five innings. -
Different look, same results for Lady Lions
A longtime fixture in the 64th District softball championship game, Boyd County looked different this return trip.
The Lady Lions defeated Fairview 10-5 in Monday’s district semifinal, which doubled as an Autism Awareness Night. Boyd County players wore light blue shirts and colorful, jigsaw puzzle socks for the event, which had to be rescheduled more than once due to weather problems. -
Musketeers explode in final 2 innings to beat Raceland; good times continue for Lewis
Through the first four innings of its 63rd District Tournament opener, Greenup County found itself hitless. The Musketeers made up for it over the next two innings.
Greenup County scored eight runs on eight hits in the final two innings to defeat Raceland, 9-1, at Russell High School on Monday. -
The will to win
Opponents get the same look from Emily Stewart whether it’s softball, basketball or soccer season.
Steely eyed and lips pursed, the Boyd County senior is keenly focused and all business between the lines. - More Local Sports Headlines
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