Colonels lost two straight

The Whitley County Colonels dropped a pair of ballgames last week, losing to the Barbourville Tigers Friday night, 55-52 and to Campbell County the night before, 65-53.
In the loss to the Tigers, the game was within reach at the end but a traveling call and a missed three pointer that wouldn’t go down ended the hopes of a Whitley County win over their district foes.
Down six midway through the final quarter the Colonels stepped up its defense and forced the Tigers into several turnovers that allowed them to take a 52-50 lead with a minute left in the game.
However it was Barbourville senior Chris Jackson who saved the day for the Tigers. Jackson scored five of his game high 20 points in the final minute and 12 of his 20 in the second half to help pull his team from defeat.
Neither team was able to pull away and take the game in a run away. Barbourville grabbed a 4-0 lead in the opening minutes as Chris Good scored on back to back baskets.
The Tigers (5-1) were able to maintain the lead for much of the first half but the Colonels did comeback to take a 5-4 lead in the game when senior Jeremy Taylor hit a three pointer and Travis Raper scored from close range.
However back to back baskets by Jackson pushed the lead back into Barbourville’s side of the scoreboard. The Colonels trailed 14-12 at the end of the first period.
Barbourville again tried to pull away when Jackson hit a pair of free throws, Good hit a basket and Matthew Cox sank a three pointer for a 21-12 lead at the 6:05 mark of the second quarter.
A Whitley County timeout by coach Darrell Guffey did the trick as the Colonels changed a few things and got back on the scoring path. Sammy Wilson and Taylor hit three straight three-pointers in a 9-2 run and pulled the Colonels within 23-21.
Travis Roaden pushed the Colonels ahead with the next five points. He hit a pair of free throws that tied the game at 23-all then after Cox scored from close range, swished a three pointer for the lead, 26-25.
Casey Smith sent Barbourville back on top but a Raper bucked sent Whitley County to the dressing room with a 28-27 lead.
Barbourville regained the lead in the third quarter and led 40-39 at the end of the quarter. That set the stage for a dramatic finish.
Raper led the Colonels with 18 points while Taylor finished with 14 points.
•The Colonels took it on the chin at Campbell County, Tennessee Thursday night, losing to the home team, 65-53. Whitley County kept it close in the first half and trailed at the break, 31-24.
Whitley County outscored the Cougars in the third period and closed the gap to 42-38 heading into the final period.
The host won the game at the free throw line in the final quarter hitting 15 of 29. For the game the Cougars shot 38 free throws while the Colonels were 12 of 23.
J.J. Morgan led the Colonels with 14 points while Taylor tossed in 11 points and Wilson 10 points.

Barbourville 14 13 13 15- 55
Whitley Co. 12 16 11 13- 52
Barbourville (55) – Jackson 20, Cox 18, Smith 2, Grubb 6, Good 4, Warren 5.
Whitley Co. (52) – Taylor 14, Wilson 10, Roaden 6, Raper 18, Morgan 4, Jones 1.

Whitley Co. 12 12 14 16- 53
Campbell Co. 17 14 11 23- 65
Whitley County (53) – Wilson 10, Taylor 11, Roaden 5, Morgan 14, Prewitt 1, Powers 3, Jones 3.
Campbell County (65) – Allen 14, Minton 13, Housley 7, Berry 13, Taylor 13, Overbay 5.