Tigers make first-half run stand up

Bardstown created distance with a 14-0 first-half spurt Friday and while the Tigers never really seemed to totally put away Nelson County, they were able to maintain their cushion after that on the way to a 56-40 road win.

Tiger coach James “Boo” Brewer said he was experimenting with different lineups, which sometimes led to inconsistent play on the offensive end. Bardstown (19-8, 5-1 dist.) was coming off a stretch earlier this week where his team played six games in eight days.

“We made some good runs,” he said. “I used a lot of bench to save some legs. The guys played well and played together. They had fun.”

Devonte Grundy led the way with 19 points for the Tigers.

Bardstown opened with a 10-2 spurt highlighted by a Justin Hubbard steal and a breakaway dunk. Hubbard was assessed a technical foul, however, for taunting the Nelson County student section after the play, which sparked a 7-0 Cardinal response, five of the points coming from Cameron Morgeson.

After the Cardinals (6-16, 1-5 dist.) pulled within 10-9, the Tigers scored the next 14 points, including a pair of Grundy three-pointers, before Nelson County’s Bradley Gerage finally stopped the run with a three of his own with 2:38 left in the half.

Nelson County never got closer than 10 after that, and Bardstown’s largest lead was 18 in the closing minutes of the game.

“Their defense is really good,” Nelson coach William “Bev” Hart said of Bardstown. “It’s really hard to get much going against them.”

Hart said his team never could get that one big shot to go down to get the lead under 10.

The Cardinals got 10 points apiece from Morgeson and John Land.

Bardstown hosts Marion County (16-7) 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, a game that will also feature homecoming festivities at halftime. Nelson County is at LaRue County (16-6) for a 7:30 p.m. tipoff Tuesday. Both games are the back end of girls-boys doubleheaders.

Courtesy of Peter W. Zubaty, the Kentucky Standard