Bardstown overcame a slow start with a big second-half run to put away a pesky Nelson County club Friday, 63-41.

Peter W. Zubaty

Bardstown’s Marcus Cosby (3) drives to the basket against Nelson County. Cosby led the Tigers with 12.

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Peter W. Zubaty

 

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The Tigers got double-digit scoring from three sources, as senior Marcus Cosby led the way with 12, followed by classmate Devonte Grundy and freshman Keanu Young with 11 apiece. Senior Joseph Cesare led the Cardinals with 10.

Nelson County (4-10, 1-3 dist.) hung tough with Bardstown through the first half, limiting turnovers and rebounding well while going into the intermission down 23-20 after a three by Ryan Bell with a minute left. The Cardinals had three tries in the half’s closing seconds to cut it to one, but failed.

After the break, Nelson came right after Bardstown (10-4, 3-0 dist.) as senior Jesse Crume sandwiched a pair of buckets around a Cesare basket, giving the Cardinals a 6-1 spurt and a 26-24 lead.

It was short-lived, however, as the Tigers got a quick answer by Cosby and a steal and a finish from Young to give Bardstown the lead back for good (28-26) and force a Bev Hart time out at the 4:46 mark of the third quarter.

Seconds later, the Bardstown bench drew a technical foul, but Nelson County was unable to capitalize with points. From there, it was all Tigers, with junior Tavon Johnson’s back-to-back buckets kick-starting a six-minute, 21-4 run that swelled the Bardstown lead to 49-30 with six minutes to play, and the Cardinals were never able to recover.

The Tigers extended their current win streak this season — as well as in the series with the Cardinals — to six. They’ll try to stop Bethlehem’s home win streak at 20 and seize control of the 19th District seeding race at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. Nelson County will try to avenge an earlier 67-60 overtime loss to Washington County when the Commanders visit at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.

BOYS: Scrappy Generals fall late to Seneca

Thomas Nelson put a scare into one of the better teams in the Louisville area Thursday before visiting Seneca was able to pull away late a the free throw line for a 63-52 win.

A.J. Youngman’s 19 and Austin Willett’s 18 points led the Generals. Seneca’s Brandon Trotter had 21 to lead all scorers, 16 in the first half.

The Red Hawks (8-6) got their biggest lead at 37-25 to open the third quarter, but the Generals (2-14) were able rally back and stay within striking distance, down five in the fourth quarter.

Thomas Nelson was at Shelby County after press time Saturday, and hosts Fort Knox at 6 p.m. Tuesday.