After a hard-fought game against the Taylor County Cardinals last Friday, Adair County emerged as Kentucky’s 20th District Champions.
Adair County played to a packed house on their home floor, earning the cheers of fans draped in blue shirts recognizing that the team was “here to win banners.”
The final buzzer sounded off on a victory of 70 to 67 for the Indians.
The boys spent much of the game’s second half fighting to keep a comfortable margin of victory against Taylor County. The Cardinals threatened to close the gap several times, but Adair was always able to stay at least a few steps ahead of the team.
“I thought we did pretty well,” said Head Coach Deron Breeze. “The third quarter… they got a lot of threes… but outside of that, I thought we did pretty well.”
Some excellent numbers emerged from the Taylor County game. Isaiah Cochran (#5, senior) was the MVP, clocking in with a total of 17 points for the team. Cochran made three out of seven attempted two-point field goals, one of three attempted three-point field goals, and eight out of nine attempted free throws.
Connor Loy (#14, senior) was the second highest-scoring athlete on the team. Loy made 15 points across four two-pointers and seven out of 10 attempted free-throws.
Dawson Gilbert (#1, junior) came in right on Loy’s heels with 14 points. His 14 points include three out of six attempted three-pointers he shot.
Lane Grant (#20, senior) had 12 points; Brayton Coomer (#21, senior) scored seven points; Blane Bardin (#11, senior) scored three points; and Carter White (#4, senior) score two points.
The team as a whole had a 73.9% free throw accuracy, scoring 17 out of 23 attempted baskets. They also made 51.2% of their field goals, including nine out of 18 three-pointers. The team had 24 total rebounds.
This marks the third win by Adair over the Cardinals this season. Last December, the boys played them in an away game that the Indians won 87 to 55—easily the most decisive victory that the boys had of the three games they had played by then. They went up against Taylor County again at the end of January. The Cardinals had since grown as a team and Adair won by five points, going 69 to 64. Adair could face Taylor County once again depending on how the teams progress during next week’s Fifth Regional Tournament.
Adair County’s District Championship win comes off the heels of a season with many wins (not only against Taylor County). The Indians currently rest at a win rate of 27 to 5. This number makes them one of the more formidable teams going into Regionals at Marion County. There, in their first game of the competition, the boys will face off against Central Hardin. Adair already has a history with Central Hardin, having beaten them as recently as Feb. 17 when the boys won 80 to 74. Though they could continue to improve, much as Taylor County did throughout the season, Central Hardin lost the 17th District championship game 72 to 91 against North Hardin.
“They had us down eight at half-time,” Coach Breeze said of the last Central Hardin matchup. “They’ve got 19 wins (now) so it’s not like it’s an easy game. Every game of the region, you’ve got to win.”
Adair County plays Central Hardin at Marion County on Sunday, March 9 at 4 p.m. CST. If they win, their next game will be against either Bardstown or Caverna on Monday, March 17. The winner of that game will advance to the championship game on Tuesday, March 18. A full bracket is available in this edition of the Adair County Community Voice.
By Kenley Godby
kenley@adairvoice.com
