After finding themselves trailing by 27 points at halftime of their 13-District clash with visiting Logan County on Thursday night, the Todd County Central Rebels roared back to cut the margin to 5 late in the fourth quarter, before falling 80-70.
The Cougars lead the 13th District with a 5-1 mark, while the Rebels are 3rd at 1-4.
The Cougars blitzed the Rebels out of the gate, leading 13-0 on the way to a 26-9 advantage after the first quarter. Four different Cougars hit 3-pointers, led by 6 points from Kelby Epley.
Logan County built the lead to 20 at 33-13, and led by 27 at the halftime break after a putback at the buzzer by Anthony Woodward. The Rebels’ Jon Calvery put up 6 second-quarter points, but Epley added 7 more, and Tommy Krohn exploded for 12 to seemingly put the game away.
However, after the break Todd County would find a spark off the bench in junior Deonte Toliver and freshman Preston Moore. Moore scored 10 and Toliver chipped in 8, and the Rebels trimmed the lead to 13 heading to the fourth quarter.
After Dominique Morrow came up with a steal and layup, Toliver knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers to pull the Rebels to within 7 at 64-57. With 2:03 left to play, Calvery scored on a putback to make the score 72-67, but the Cougars closed the game on an 8-3 run to seal the 10-point win.
Krohn’s 24 led all scorers, followed for the Cougars by Epley with 19 and Woodard with 12.
Toliver finished with 20 to lead the Rebels, including 16 in the second half. Calvery scored 17 and Moore had 15.