Southwestern falls flat in second half in district final loss to Wayne

Mar. 4—For the first time in the Jeron Dunbar era, the Southwestern Warriors competed for the 48th District title on Friday night. Unfortunately, standing in front of them and their goal was the Wayne County Cardinals, a team that has long been considered a regional favorite this season.

Building some momentum heading into half, despite trailing for the entire game, a six-point third quarter plus a potential late injury on Zach Hutchinson led to the Warriors falling to the Cardinals by a final score of 56-41.

Sophomore Kendall Phillips heated up quick in the first quarter, drilling two-consecutive shots from long range, with junior Antajuan Dumphord also hitting a three, for nine early Wayne County points. Jarrett Simpson was the first Warrior to score, although they were already behind 9-2 at this point. Phillips added another two and Dunbar needed to talk to his crew after they fell behind by nine, with Southwestern calling a timeout.

Hutchinson added his first two points of the game before a three was drained by senior Kayden Phillips. Simpson scored once again inside before the end of the period, although Kendall Phillips would drain his third three-point basket of the evening to give his team a 17-8 edge after the first eight minutes.

Sophomore Seth Farmer began the second with a traditional three-point play and a flex, giving the Cardinals a 20-8 lead. Two made free throws from freshman Korbyn Edwards and yet another three from Phillips later, and the Warriors were forced to call another timeout down 25-8 with the game threatening to get away from them. Hutchinson carried his team back into the ball game nearly by himself, scoring eight straight, including two made baskets from deep, to cut the Wayne County lead down to single digits at 25-16.

A made free throw each by Dumphord and Kayden Phillips brought the Cardinals back to a double digit lead before Hutchinson and Dumphord swapped baskets near the end of the quarter. Whatever had been going through the air in the 47th District Tournament and nearly impossible shots somehow made it to the Wig Wam at the end of the half though, as Connor Hudson connected on his first shot from beyond half court for a buzzer-beating three-pointer that decreased the Wayne County lead to 29-21.

Dumphord and Wyatt Stevenson each had two-pointers to begin play in the second half before a three from Kayden Phillips brought the Cardinals' lead back to 10+. Hutchinson continued his stellar play from the first 16 minutes with a basket inside, followed by an offensive put-back from Farmer. Hunter Hamm became the fifth Warrior to score after that, but unfortunately for the hosts, those were the final two points they were able to score in the third.

The Cardinals poured on the defensive pressure over the last few minutes and went on an 8-0 run, with three different players scoring, to take a commanding 44-27 lead with just eight minutes left to play for the district title.

Edwards continued the run to begin the fourth, with the Wayne County lead nearly reaching 20 before Simpson finally broke the scoring run with a basket inside. Dumphord had an emphatic slam dunk inside that seemingly was an exclamation point on the championship game. Kaden Campbell became the sixth Southwestern player to score before Hutchinson was forced out of the game with a potential injury. Prayers up that it is nothing serious heading into the region tournament.

A controversial intentional foul was called on the Warriors that awarded Wayne County two free throws and the ball, in addition to a double technical called on both teams, the second time in the night it had happened in a chippy ball game on both sides. Collin Hibbard scored a three-point basket late in his final game at the Wig Wam, with both Hamm and Stevenson scoring points late, but it was the Cardinals celebrating a district title after the buzzer as they defeated Southwestern 56-41.

The Warriors were led by Hutchinson with a near double-double with 16 points and eight rebounds. Other scorers included Simpson with eight, Hudson, Stevenson and Hamm with four apiece, Hibbard with three and Campbell with two. Wayne County was led by Kendall Phillips with a game-high 20 points, as well as Dumphord with a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds.

The All-Tournament Team was announced following the game. Representing Somerset Christian was Braley Adderley and Isaiah Hensley, representing McCreary Central was Drew Privett and Kolton Summers, representing Southwestern was Connor Hudson, Zach Hutchinson and Jarrett Simpson and representing Wayne County was Antajuan Dumphord, Kendall Phillips, Kayden Phillips and Seth Farmer.

Southwestern's four-game winning streak is snapped, but both the Warriors and Wayne County advance to this week's 12th Region Tournament at Pulaski County High School. Southwestern's first game will be on Wednesday, when they take on the 46th District champions Mercer County at 6:30 p.m.

Jacob Pratt is the Sports Editor of the Commonwealth Journal and can be reached at jpratt@somerset-kentucky.com.