By Matt Fultz -- For the Independent
ASHLAND — Colt Barnhill’s 20-point outburst in the second half was not enough for East Carter, as it fell to unbeaten Bishop Brossart 51-49, in the afternoon session of the Ashland Invitational Tournament.
After going 0-for-5 from the field and scoring just two points before the intermission, Barnhill dominated the second half.
“He missed a couple of shots that he has been making in the first seven games,” said East Carter coach Brandon Baker. “It got in his head a little bit and he became frustrated. I just wanted him to clear his mind and compete, and I think that he did that.”
The Raiders (6-2) trailed for most of the afternoon, but rallied to tie the game at 49 with 25 seconds remaining, when Koty Buck connected on a 3-pointer from the corner.
The game looked as if it was headed to overtime, but Bishop Brossart’s Jacob Rieger had other ideas.
Rieger drove the lane and hit a twisting jumper from the baseline with just 2 seconds to play.
“You want the ball in the hands of your best player down the stretch,” said Bishop Brossart coach Mike Code. “He had to go through a lot of contact to make that shot.”
Rieger finished with 21 points and grabbed seven rebounds.
East Carter had one final shot to tie the game. A long pass found Buck at the free-throw line, but his shot came up just short.
Kyle Bair did all he could to keep the Raiders in it early, scoring 10 of his 12 points before halftime.
“That’s the way we need Kyle to play,” Baker said. “We need him to get involved in our offensive game. We have got to have that consistently night-in and night-out.”
Freshman Justin Saunders came off the bench and provided a nice spark for the Mustangs (8-0) by scoring 10 points.
East Carter will take on Christian County today at 2:30 in the consolation bracket.
Mason County 53,
Christian County 50
Mason County raced out to a 17-2 first-quarter lead, but had to hold on to defeat Christian County 53-50.
Christian County (9-1) slowly chipped away at the lead, and, after a putback by Donovan Kates, the Colonels were down by just three with 24 seconds to play.
After a Mason County turnover, the Colonels had the ball with 15 seconds to go and a chance to tie the game, but the Colonels were unable to even get a shot off, spoiling the opportunity with a turnover with 2 seconds left.
Christian County used offensive rebounding and Mason County turnovers to get back in the game.
“We turned it over to way too much, and turnovers turn into easy baskets,” said Mason County coach Chris O’Hearn. “We forgot to rebound the last two minutes of the game, but we were able to get the stop at the end when we needed it.”
Mason County’s final five points came from the charity stripe. Justin Lang was 5 of 6 from the foul line over the last minute of play.
Lang finished the game with 13 points, including two 3-pointers. In all the Royals knocked down 7 of 14 three-point shots.
“Fifty percent — we will take that any night,” said O’Hearn. “They pressure the ball so much, our guys were able to beat them off the dribble some and that opened up guys on the perimeter.”
Treg Setty led the way offensively for the Royals with 15 points and grabbed a game-high nine rebounds.
Christian County’s Kates led all scorers with 22 points, including 4 of 6 from 3-point territory.
Mason County will meet Bishop Brossart tonight at 7 in the championship bracket semifinals.
