The Christian County Colonels got 49 points from senior Detorrion Ware, and cruised to a 90-70 win over Louisville Western in the opening game of the Baptist Health and Sport Rehab Holiday Classic at Webster County on Thursday. The Colonels now stand at 5-1, and have won three straight since their only loss of the season.
The teams traded baskets in a fast-paced opening quarter, with the Colonels taking a 14-13 lead on a Ware layup with 3:55 left. With 2:20 to play in the quarter, Ware drove baseline and dunked over a Western player to give County a 19-15 lead, and spark a 10-0 run to close out the quarter with a 27-15 lead.
The second quarter was more of the same, with the Colonels’ trapping defense causing Western problems and Ware making them pay. Ware poured in 17 of the Colonels’ 27 second quarter points, and they outscored the Warriors by 6 to take a 54-36 halftime lead. Ware’s 30 led the Colonels, followed by junior forward Fred Tandy’s 8. Sophomore guard Damikeon Mathis had 7.
Ware started the third quarter with a bucket to give the Colonels a 20 point lead at 56-36. However, Western would take better care of the ball and begin to knock down some three-pointers to keep the lead in the 14-16 point range throughout the quarter. A Western three-pointer with 1:27 left in the third cut the lead to 69-57, and the Warriors outscored the Colonels 21-17 in the period.
For the first half of the final quarter the Colonel lead hovered around 15, until a Ware dunk off a lob from senior forward JaQuon Long restored the Colonels’ 20 point lead. Both teams played the last four minutes with mostly subs, with the lead getting as high as 25 before finishing at 90-70.
Ware’s 49 led all scorers, with Mathis chipping in 11. Tandy and Long both had 8, with junior guard Nate McGregor and sophomore Shay Stowe scoring 4 each. Junior guard DT Babb and sophomore Tyquez Douglas both had a bucket, and junior forward Eric Brody had a point. Senior guard Jordan Johnson didn’t play, but is expected back for tomorrow’s game.
The Colonels return to the floor on Friday at 6:30 when they face hosts Webster County (7-2), who were 76-65 winners over Todd County Central (5-3) in the Thursday nightcap.