The Mason County Royals and Montgomery County Indians in the semifinal round of the boys’ 10th region basketball tournament.
In the rematch of the season for Mason County, the Royals were eager to take on the Indians, hoping for a strong performance and a bid to the 10th region championship game. The last time the two teams tipped off against one another, Montgomery County jumped out ahead early and rolled past the Royals for a 40-point, 82-42 win in the Lake Kelly Classic at Fleming County.
“Our kids, they knew they didn’t perform to their potential that night. It was a great thing to have an opportunity to get that revenge, and I feel like we outplayed them for 26 minutes of the game. Foul trouble kinda hindered us a little bit there in the second half. I think if Nazir Metts is able to stay on the floor, I think this ball game goes down to the last two minutes of the fourth quarter.” said Royals head coach, Brian Kirk.
This time the two teams met at Montgomery County’s home gym, both hungry for their shot at the 10th region championship.
Eager to prove their doubters wrong, Mason County came out of the gate strong in the first quarter. Both teams battled back and forth, neither willing to give up a solid lead, with Montgomery County leading 19-18 by the end of the first eight minutes of play. Heading into the second, Mason County refused to quit, outscoring the Indians 21-18 to lead 39-35 heading into halftime.
“Our kids just executed. They did everything we asked, we put together a game plan and our kids bought into it. No matter what happens, if our kids don’t perform, we’re not in the ball game. All credit to our kids, stepping up, buying in and doing the things that they need to do to put themselves in the situation to win the basketball game.” said coach Kirk.
A four point lead at the half had Mason County confident they could pull out a win in the 10th region semifinals, against a tough Montgomery County team. The Indians however, looked to bounce back in a big way in the second half, and pull well ahead of the Royals.
In the third, Montgomery County’s tough offense, led by Cayden Reed, Luke Fawns and Tyce Jarvis, went to work outscoring Mason County 31-13, to lead 68-52 heading into the fourth. Down 16, Mason County had to work hard to get out ahead of the Indians in the final eight minutes of play, but were still feeling strong as the game continued.
While Mason County was able to outscore the Indians in the fourth quarter, putting up 21 over Montgomery County’s 18, despite having several of their starting lineup foul out of the physical, hard fought contest, the Indians had built up too large a lead for Mason County to overcome in the final few minutes of the contest. Montgomery County took the win 86-73, and will advance to the championship game tonight, against George Rogers Clark.
Although Mason County dropped to the Indians, this loss bringing an end to their 2024-25 season, the Royals proved themselves on the court once again, bouncing back from their 40 point loss in January, playing a competitive game against one of the top teams in the 10th region.
“I mean, hey, not many people believed in our guys. They quit believing back in January when we went into a tough stretch. People didn’t think we’d win a district championship, people said they won’t win a game in the regional tournament, people said you can’t compete with Montgomery County. Did we just not do that for 32 minutes? So if these people bet their houses, that it’d be a 30 point game, I hope they got somewhere to go tonight.” said coach Kirk.
This loss not only marks the Royals last game of the season, but it is also Cole Horch’s, Braxton Malone’s, Garryon McClain’s, Nazir Metts’s and Teegin Routt’s last game with the Mason County Royals basketball team.
“I love ‘em.” said coach Kirk, “it’s been four great years, great kids, great families. Each one of them is going to go on and be successful. They’ve made me a better person, they’ve made me a better father, they’ve made me a better coach, and those are the things that are most important in the game of basketball, and sports in general.”
Montgomery County and George Rogers Clark now prep to face each other tonight at Montgomery County High School at 7:00 p.m.for the 10th region championship, two of the toughest, most competitive teams in the region. Both will be hungry for a championship victory, but only one will get to take home region gold, and represent the 10th region in the upcoming KHSAA boys’ basketball sweet 16.
ROYALS 18-21-13-21 – 73
INDIANS 19-18-31-18 – 86
Mason County (Routt 6, McClain 27, Myrick 28, Horch 14)
Montgomery County (Reed 32, Fawns 16, Jarvis 15, Terry 13, Gentry 10)
Field Goals: Mason 18, Montgomery 23
Three-Pointers: Mason 8, Montgomery 7
Free Throws: Mason 13/18, Montgomery 19/30
Records: Mason 17-14, Montgomery 21-10
