01-07-11
BY JACK BULLOCK
CRAB ORCHARD – In a game that defenses were seldom effective – the Crab Orchard Trojans made the most of its one defensive stand.

Holding Hardin County to just four points in the fourth quarter – Coach Jon Browns' club led nearly wire-to-wire in the Greater Egyptian Conference win Friday night, 74-53.

Behind yet another outstanding performance by 6-foot-5 junior center Ben Kissing (41-points, 18-rebounds) and 19-points from junior guard Drew Johnson – the Trojans improved to 14-2 overall and 5-0 in the league.

Hardin County – who slipped to 5-6 overall and 1-3 in the GEC – was led by Austin German with 28-points.

“Him in there (Kissing) was a big presence in the middle for us,” said Coach Brown. “I thought our half court defense at the end of the third quarter and the beginning of the fourth quarter. We did a good job pressuring the ball. It seemed like we pushed them out more to the perimeter and created some havoc.”

Crab Orchard pounded the glass and out shinned the Cougars 50-31.

But the story of the night turned out to be Kissing as this junior dominated on both ends of the floor.

He helped his club get off to a roaring start and continued throughout the contest.

Opening the first quarter by scoring 13-points and grabbing five rebounds – Kissing led Crab Orchard which turned a 2-0 early deficit into a 27-14 lead at the end of one.

His conventional three-point play with :18.2 remaining gave Crab Orchard a ten-point spread.

“He (Kissing) is a load in there and we gave him way too many early looks at the game,” said Coach Lane. “We didn't get back on defense a few times and we can't do that against good teams – give up easy baskets. Silly turnovers and we just ran out of gas in the fourth quarter tonight.”

After a Cougar score by Tony Parkinson – Hardin County allowed Johnson to drive straight down the court for a score in the lane in less than five seconds for a 13-point lead.

Hardin County produced some scoring runs of its own but none of them put much of a dent into the Crab Orchard advantage.

Coach Rodney Lane saw his club commit seven first quarter turnovers to fall behind.

However German single-handedly kept the Cougars in the contest.

This 5-foot-10 senior guard scored 14-points in the second quarter and his basket on a fast break got HC back to within ten at intermission.

Another Kissing score made it 43-33 at the break.

The best scoring move by Hardin County opened the third quarter.

A 6-2 sprint with German, Joe McClenahan and Garrett Flemming putting up points cut the Trojans' lead to just 46-39 and forced a Jon Brown timeout.

However Johnson got hot at the right time to get Crab Orchard back on track.

Johnson – who would reach the 1,000-point club with his final basket in the fourth quarter – scored nine consecutive points for the Trojans.

His 3-point bomb from the left wing put Crab Orchard back up comfortably at 57-45.

A tip-in by Kissing beat the third quarter horn for a 59-49 lead heading home.

Crab Orchard closed the sale with a 10-0 scoring blast to begin the final stanza.

Johnson reached 1,000-points by scoring on a fast break from an assist from Kissing.

Kissing made his only 3-point shot attempt connecting from 20-feet out near the top of the arc.

When his shot ripped through the twine – the Trojans were in command at 69-49.

Dylan Hutson – a 5-foot-11 senior – scored 12-points on four made 3-pointers for Crab Orchard.

He nailed a pair of those treys in the final period his team coasted home.

His 3-pointer with 2:05 to go closed the Crab Orchard onslaught and led to the reserves to finish out the night.

Kyle Holloman followed German in points for Hardin County with seven points..

The Cougars shot the ball pretty well on the evening with a 26-of-60 mark overall (43 percent) but they didn't attempt a free throw and couldn't overcome 16-turnovers.

“We can't spot good teams like this team that many points to begin the game and expect to win,” added Coach Lane. “But this team is getting better every game and they finally have the will to win games and it showed tonight. They played with heart tonight but we ran out of gas late in the game.”

Crab Orchard (33-of-82 overall) hit 40 percent of its field goal attempts and committed just nine turnovers on the night.

Hardin County will host Galatia on Tuesday night while Crab Orchard travels to Carrier Mills for a GEC game on Tuesday.

'He (Johnson) was big in the third quarter especially. He got to the rim and made good decisions,” added Coach Brown. “I thought we did a good job in transition pushing the ball. I got a lot of respect for him (German) and he is tough. They (Hardin County) play hard. They're a dangerous team and you have to show up and play and they will keep coming ay you.”

Hardin County (53) – German 14 0 0-0 28, Holloman 2 1 0-0 7, McClenahan 3 0 0-0 6, Flemmings 1 0 0-0 2, Parkinson 3 0 0-0 6, Smith 0 0 0-0 0, Hicks 0 0 0-0 0, Vaughn 1 0 0-0 2, Ogelsby 0 0 0-0 0, Walker 1 0 0-0 2, Williams 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-25, 3FG-1, FT-0-0, PF-9.
Crab Orchard (74) – Johnson 8 1 0-0 19, Wece 0 0 0-0 0, Kissing 18 1 2-10 41, Hutson 0 4 0-0 12, Boester 1 0 0-0 2, C. Emery 0 0 0-0 0, J. Emery 0 0 0-0 0, Bailey 0 0 0-0 0, Clerk 0 0 0-0 0, Ray 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-27, 3FG-1, FT-2-10, PF-8.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.