AIT consolation: Cougars hold off Bears; Cardinals rally against Eagles

Dec. 30—ASHLAND — The Butler didn't do it.

It wasn't for a lack of effort or determination. Morgan County showed the same attributes late in the opening game at the Ashland Invitational Tournament on Friday.

The Cougars survived a Bears rally and a last-second 3-point attempt from Dayton Williams to emerge with a hard-fought 66-65 win at Anderson Gym.

"We were resilient and scrapp," Morgan County Reece Griffith said. "Even though we were having turnovers, and it wasn't just the live-ball turnovers, we were giving up wide-open dunks and layups. We still found a way to rally, get stops and pull it out."

An Eli Griffith layup gave Morgan County a 60-51 lead with five minutes remaining in the game. Butler came back with an 8-2 run to claw back into the game.

Williams started to take over. The Butler senior hit two long 3-pointers in the closing minutes, the second coming off a turnover. Williams intercepted a Cougars pass out of midair near halfcourt then took two long strides into his long jump shot that found the bottom of the net.

It closed the gap to one. After the Cougars missed a pair of free throws, Williams's teammates found him on the wing for one last attempt but the shot caromed off the rim.

Morgan County made enough stops down the stretch and hit big shots to fend off their opponent. The Cougars were making their first appearance at the AIT in the last two decades. Any win in the prestigious tournament can propel a team into the second half of the season.

"The quality of opponents you will get while you are here is big for the program," Griffith said.

The finish was better than Morgan County's start. The Cougars missed their first eight field goal attempts and didn't score their first point until the 3:37 mark of the first quarter. The first field goal finally dropped 30 seconds later.

"We knew we were in a good spot," Griffith said. "We look up and there are 3 minutes left in the first quarter and we don't have a bucket. We were only down two points. We really took pride in our defense and knew that our offense would come as the game progressed. We learned how to attack and be disciplined and not take the first shot we could get."

Preston Hoskins led Morgan County with 19 points. He was 5 of 9 from the 3-point line. Hoskins's long-range shooting helped turn the tide on offense and led the Cougars to a 16-7 lead at the end of the first frame.

The lead continued into the following quarter and Morgan County (9-3) took early command with a 22-5 run. Logan Spencer hit key shots inside and scored the last three Cougar buckets to give his team a 28-20 lead at the break.

"Logan has always been that glue guy," Griffith said. "He's one of the most underrated players in this area. A lot of the stuff he does for us doesn't show up in the stat sheet. Today, he was able to capitalize on some advantages we had with the matchups.

Spencer finished with 12 points. Gatlin Griffith added 16 points and seven rebounds.

Williams tallied a game-high 27 points for Butler (6-6). Dontre Russell added 12 points.

BUTLER 7 13 22 23 — 65

MORGAN CO. 16 12 27 11 — 66

Butler (65)—Russell 12, Williams 27, Carter 2, Perkins 6, Thompson, Anderson 1, Morris 7, Robinson, Wells 5, Arop 2, Trowell 3. 3-pt Fgs: 9 (Russell 2, Williams 4, Carter, Morris, Wells) FT: 10-16. Fouls: 17.

Morgan County (66)—E. Griffith 8, Hoskins 19, Adkins 9, L. Spencer 12, G. Griffith 16, Justice 2, J. Spencer., Gamble. 3-pt Fgs: 7 (Hoskins 5, Adkins, G. Griffith) FT: 11-15. Fouls: 15.

Martin County 76 Ohio County 70The clutch shots started raining down in the fourth quarter during the second consolation game of the day at the AIT.

Martin County mixed in a lot of "Hale."

Luke Hale caught fire from the perimeter in the second half and helped conduct a Cardinals comeback victory over Ohio County on Friday.

Hale hit three triples in the fourth quarter along with 18 of his game-high 34 points. Martin County (6-6) erased a nine-point deficit after three frames. It outscored the Eagles, 33-18, over the final eight minutes.

Brayden McKenzie added 17 points for the Cardinals.

Carter Young had 16 points for Ohio County (5-7). Caleb Manning tallied 11 points and Carson Kennedy netted 10. Bo Morse collected 12 rebounds.

Martin County will play Morgan County in the fifth-place game today at 4.

MARTIN CO. 8 21 14 33 — 76

OHIO CO. 12 17 23 18 — 70

Martin County (76)—Hale 34, McKenzie 17, Davis 6, Sturgell 9, D. Maynard 3, B. Maynard 1, Dials. 3-pt Fgs: 10 (Hale 6, McKenzie, Davis 2, Sturgell) FT: 12-16. Fouls: 10.

Ohio County (70)—Phelps , Young 16, Kennedy 10, Manning 11, Morse 4, Cotton, Durham 7, Decker 2, Ward, Abney. 3-pt Fgs: 8 (Young, Kennedy 2, Manning 3, Durham, Decker) FT: 5-9. Fouls: 15.