The Mason County Royals braved the cold and hosted the Pendleton County Wildcats at the Fieldhouse on Tuesday.
As one of the few games that wasn’t cancelled or rescheduled the Royals and Wildcats took to the floor eager to compete. With several of the Royals back from either illness or injury, Mason County was has ready as ever when they hit the floor.
The Royals jumped out ahead of Pendleton County, outscoring the Wildcats 22-11 in the first quarter. Up 11, Mason County continued to play aggressively throughout the rest of the first half, to build up an even more comfortable lead over Pendleton County.
“This time of year, we’ve got to continue to get better. We had a great week of practice. Got a lot of our guys back from injuries or sickness, we had a great couple days of practice leading into today and I thought our guys did exactly what we needed them to do.” said Royals head coach, Brian Kirk.
Having continued to push, Mason County pulled ahead of the Wildcats 45-27 by the end of the first half, dominating the court.
“We were sharing the basketball. 20 assists, there is many times where you don’t see that on the stats sheet. Our kids were finding the open guys, finding our shooters, we were attacking, making the easy pass and the right play.” said coach Kirk.
While the Royals’ offense continued to drive up the score, Mason County’s defense was putting pressure on the Wildcats, causing turnovers and uncomfortable shots for Pendleton County. Numerous defensive stops in the third quarter allowed Mason County to expand their lead even further, as the Royals put up 27 more points, outscoring the Wildcats by 17.
“We looked at a couple different things, things we knew we needed to work on. There was times where we even backed up into a half court trap, just seeing different things that we may have to utilize down the stretch as we continue into February and postseason play, but I thought our guys were locked in from the start for 32 minutes.” said coach Kirk.
Up 72-37, Mason County had built up a 35 point lead over the Wildcats heading into the final eight minutes of the contest.
As the clock ticked down, Pendleton County was doing their best to catch up to the Royals, but Mason County’s offense continued to perform. With a running clock working against them, the Wildcats were doing everything they could to slow down Mason County. Unfortunately for Pendleton County, the Royals were up just too much for them to mark a comeback, as Mason County’s shooters continued to connect with the basket.
The Royals took the contest 88-49.
“A win’s a win. We’re getting there. We’re taking small strides forward, we’ve had a big setback with several guys out, sickness, injuries different things going on. We’re very fortunate to have several of those guys back, still without Carter McClanahan right now, but we’re hoping he’ll be able to return here soon too. We’ve just gotta to chip away at it one game at a time and continue to get better.” said coach Kirk.
The Royals next game will be this Friday, January 19 at the Fieldhouse, where Mason County will host the Dixie Heights Colonels. Following that contest, the Royals will travel to Flemingsburg to take part in the Coach Lake Kelly Classic, hosted by Fleming County.
WILDCATS 49
ROYALS 88
PENDLETON COUNTY- 11-16-10-12- 49
MASON COUNTY- 22-23-27-16- 88
Scoring
Pendleton County- Beyst 11, Keeton 5, Stewart 2, Ohara 8, Nichols 2, Gregg 2, Merrill 14, Kirsch 5
Mason County- Hamilton 4, Feldhaus 12, C. Reed 16, Horch 7, B. Reed 20, Routt 2, Scilley 6, Gibbs 4, Myrick 9, Malone 2, McClain 6
Game Stats
Field Goals: Pendleton County 16, Mason County 28
3-Pointers: Pendleton County5, Mason County 9
Free Throws: Pendleton County2/6, Mason County 5/6
Fouls: Pendleton County 4, Mason County 9
Records: Pendleton County 10-9, Mason County 11-6
