01/24/2023
BY JACK BULLOCK
HARRISBURG - For Coach Rodney Lane and his very young Hardin County Cougars there hasn't been much to brag about this season.

Starting the season just 1-10 with kids learning as they go, there have been some struggles.

However the lessons are being learned and on Tuesday night the Cougars picked up an important win.

With Pope County rallying and putting pressure on Hardin County late, Coach Lane's team didn't play like a young team.

The Cougars held on to their lead by nailing down 6-of-8 free throws in the final 1:45 as they upset the higher seeded Pirates, 45-36 to advance to the Friday night's semifinals in the 73rd annual Greater Egyptian Conference Tournament.

After the tough beginning, the Cougars are now 6-14 along with a spot in the final four of the conference tourney.

Coach Lane's kids hit 9-of-13 foul shots in the contest, all in the fourth quarter as they will now take on Norris City-Omaha-Enfield in the semifinals.

The Fighting Cardinals beat Carrier Mills-Stonefort 69-31 in the other quarterfinal on Tuesday.

Five-eleven freshman guard Brandon Dutton topped the Cougars with 15 points, including a trio of 3-pointers.

His final trifecta was huge as Pope County had rallied to within two at 36-34 with just over three minutes left.

Coach Jim Simmons' Pirates would get no closer the rest of the way as they fell to 14-7 overall and into the consolation bracket semifinals on Thursday against Carrier Mills-Stonefort.

Junior forward Nick Austin added 10 points for the Cougars and freshman Landon Fricker scored nine, including 5-of-6 of the fourth quarter charity tosses.

Another freshman 5-11 Nate Massie scored six points, all in the first half, as the Cougars took the lead midway through the first quarter and never relinquished it.

Juniors Morgan Fricker and Walker Bebout added three and two points respectively for the young team that is showing signs of improvement with each opportunity.

“Our three freshmen played a hell of a game, Dutton played well and Massie played well but got into foul trouble. Fricker made the free throws at the end,” said Coach Lane. “All three of them carried us. Austin played a good game, too.”

The Pirates had defeated Hardin County on January 13th at home 50-33 but the Cougars out-played the higher seed for most of the game to advance.

Pope County was topped by 6-5 junior Masin Presser with 15 points, who hit 5-of-5 from the foul line.

Six-five senior Garrett Robards added six points and Coach Simmons got five points each from senior Kane Jeffords and sophomore Eli Presser.

“Give the credit to Hardin County. They came out and put the pressure on us the whole game. We didn't match their intensity in the first three quarters of the game. We decided to play a little bit in the last quarter,” said Coach Simmons. “We should have played more aggressive the whole game.”

With the Pirates up early at 7-4, Dutton canned his first 3-point bomb to tie the score and Massie scored twice for the Cougars in the lane on a drive and an inbounds pass.

Another Dutton basket made it 15-12 at the end of the first quarter.

The defense was also very good in the first half for Coach Lane's club.

The Cougars forced six Pope County turnovers in the second quarter and they turned this advantage into a 10 point halftime lead.

Massie took an assist from Austin for an early score and Dutton got a pass from Massie for another inside basket.

A 3-pointer from the left corner by Austin forced a Pope County timeout at 22-12 with 4:10 left in the half.

After a free throw by Pope County junior Landon Oshe, Dutton nailed down his second 3-pointer of the half from the left wing as the Cougars led 25-15 at the break.

Even though the Cougars made mistakes in the third quarter (six turnovers) they still hung on to a 10 point spread heading into the final frame.

Bebout scored on a drive down the baseline and Morgan Fricker added a rebound basket.

A score from Dutton on a back door cut to the basket made it 31-21 Cougars heading to the fourth.

Pope County made its best move of the night to make things interesting in the final eight minutes.

Following a score from Austin to opening the scoring on an assist from Dutton, Pope County went on an 11-1 scoring spree.

Masin Presser scored seven of the points in the run, on a steal and fast break lay up along with a conventional three-point play.

He added two additional free throws to pull the Pirates to within 36-34 with 3:26 remaining.

Two free throws by Austin and a score by Robards set the stage for Dutton, who nailed down an important 3-pointer from the top of the arc.

Pope County could get no closer as Fricker (5-of-6) and Austin (1-of-2) closed the deal and sent the Cougars into the semifinals.

“Dutton made a big three for us and we made the free throws down the stretch where we needed them,” said Coach Lane. “These are young kids, freshmen and we have some juniors who haven't played varsity at all until this year. They have given that defensive effort all season, we just have had trouble scoring. As the year goes gradually they are getting offensive skills.”

The Pirates were just 12-of-39 from the field and hit just 1-of-14 shots from the 3-point line.

Hardin County hit 16-of-33 and hit 4-of-11 from 20 feet.

The Cougars held a 23-19 rebounding edge. After giving up some early offensive rebounds to Pope County, they only allowed three second chances to the Pirates in the final three quarters.

Hardin County gets a rematch with Norris City-Omaha-Enfield on Friday night.

The Cardinals defeated Coach Lane's squad 54-41 at home back on December 16.

“They never stopped playing defense through the whole game and the effort was there all night,” said Coach Lane. “It's difficult to put effort into kids. I'll take the kids you have to turn back a bit. These kids have the effort in them.”

The Pirates will hook up with Carrier Mills-Stonefort on Thursday night.

Coach Simmons' team has a pair of wins over the Wildcats, 66-45 on the road December 16 and 69-47 at home on January 17.

“I'm pretty proud of them. It's only our sixth win but I'm proud of the way they've played and the schedule we have faced,” said Coach Lane. “They have made strides every night.”

Coach Jordan Johnson's troops romped to an easy win while improving to 13-8 on the season.

Six-two senior Preston Long came up big for NCOE scoring 22 points, which includingd three 3-pointers.

Senior Joel Hortin netted 15 for the Fighting Cardinals while senior Colby Prather added 10.

Senior Erik Healy scored seven, freshman Jaxon Simmons tossed in six and freshman Javan Garrett added a couple of buckets.

Carrier Mills-Stonefort got 16 points from sophomore Jalon Ellis as the Wildcats and head coach Austin Ferrell slipped to 1-17 on the season.

Long and Prather each hit two 3-pointers in the first two quarters as NCOE led 35-14 at halftime.

Two freshmen; Caden Sexton (three) and Connor Graves (two) added fourth quarter points for the Cardinals.

Carrier Mills-Stonefort (31) – Hadley 0 0 0-2 0, York 1 0 0-0 2, Ellis 7 0 2-2 16, Taylor 3 0 0-0 6. Daughenbaugh 2 0 0-0 4, Van Dyke 0 0 0-0 0, Shafer 0 0 0-0 0, Harman 0 0 0-0 0, Layman 0 1 0-0 3.
2FG-13, 3FG-1 FT-2-4, PF-8.
Norris City-Omaha-Enfield (69) – Garrett 2 0 0-0 4, Prather 2 2 0-0 10, Simmons 3 0 0-1 6, Tucker 0 0 0-2 0, Healy 3 0 1-1 7, Long 6 3 1-3 22, Wells 0 0 0-0 0, Hortin 7 0 1-2 15, Sexton 0 1 0-0 3, Graves 1 0 0-1 2.
2FG-24, 3FG-6, FT-3-10, PF-5.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.