{"id":1697,"date":"2022-03-02T14:40:23","date_gmt":"2022-03-02T14:40:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jimmashek.com\/?p=1697"},"modified":"2022-03-03T03:37:18","modified_gmt":"2022-03-03T03:37:18","slug":"finding-a-way-wardlow-bghs-suffocate-wildcats-davis-buzzer-beater-eliminates-glasgow-43-40","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jimmashek.com\/?p=1697","title":{"rendered":"Finding a way\/Wardlow, BGHS suffocate Wildcats; Davis’ buzzer beater eliminates Glasgow 43-40"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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SOPHOMORE GUARD MJ WARDLOW AND BOWLING GREEN STOPPED FRANKLIN-SIMPSON 62-45<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

BUTTRY: PURPLES NEED TO RE-DEDICATE THEMSELVES FOR<\/strong> 4TH REGION SEMIFINALS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bowling Green High School coach DG Sherrill was looking at the big picture, thankful his Purples squad found the resolve to foil Franklin-Simpson’s upset plans on Tuesday night in the KHSAA 4th Region quarterfinals at E.A. Diddle Arena.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BGHS senior guard Turner Buttry wasn’t grading on the same curve, however, after the Purples pulled away in the second half to knock off Franklin-Simpson 62-45.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I’m out of tomorrows,” Buttry said. “We’re going to have to get back in the gym. I think some people thought this was going to be easy … We’re going to get everybody’s best shot.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bowling Green never trailed in improving to 25-6 on the season. The Purples withstood the solid perimeter game of Franklin-Simpson teammates Gabe Jones and Jalen Briscoe, limiting Franklin Simpson to just 13 second-half points, on 4-of-18 shooting. BGHS also finished with a solid advantage on the boards (34-27) while turning the ball over only four times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Bowling Green and Franklin-Simpson players scrap for a second-half loose ball<\/strong>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Bowling Green sophomore guard MJ Wardlow defends against Franklin-Simpson’s Jalen Briscoe.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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All of which Sherrill was considering while evaluating his team’s performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“It’s definitely a good win for us … Hat’s off to Franklin,” Sherrill said. “I thought they had a great game plan. In the first half, every run we made, Franklin answered … In the second half, especially the third quarter, we buckled down defensively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We got the game going a little bit faster. If the game is fast, that is when we are at our best.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Franklin-Simpson, the District 15 Tournament champion, lost senior guard Andreyas Miller to a hand injury late in regular-season play . But the Wildcats found another gear in the second quarter Tuesday night, when they outscored BGHS 21-12 while trimming the Purples’ halftime lead to a single point (33-32) in the process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the half, sophomore guard MJ Wardlow got the hot hand for the Purples, and he finished the game with a team-high 16 points on 6-of-13 shooting. Wardlow, who also played a team-high 30 minutes, had five rebounds, three assists and three steals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I felt like it was my job to step up … That’s what I did,” Wardlow said softly when it was over.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Bowling Green finished with a 34-27 rebounding edge against Franklin-Simpson<\/strong>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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Franklin-Simpson coach Dee Spencer was in no mood to rationalize his team’s defeat, the injury to Miller, his only senior, notwithstanding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen I sit down and look back at it,” Spencer said, ” I am sure I will be happy about it … but right now, I’m not. I’m not satisfied with the way things went. I feel like we could have played better in the second half.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We just have to get better.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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BGHS sophomore center Mason Ritter looks for a path to the basket in the first half.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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BGHS senior forward Brad Gurley looks to push the ball upcourt against Franklin-Simpson.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gabe Jones led the Wildcats with 13 points, and F-S teammate Jalen Briscoe finished with 12.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Buttry, the Eastern Kentucky University signee and BGHS team captain, drew a technical foul in the second quarter and had five of his 14 points in the fourth quarter, when the Purples kept Franklin-Simpson at arm’s length.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sophomore center Mason Ritter had a solid game for the Purples, finishing with 9 points, 5 rebounds and two blocked shots. Lightning-quick guard Deuce Bailey, the football team’s starting quarterback and a freshman, had 9 points and two steals, while sophomore forward Elijah Starks added 9 points and a team-high 7 rebounds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eight BGHS players finished in the scoring column as the Purples turn their attention to Monday night’s 4th Region semifinals against Clinton County. The Bulldogs stunned 43-40 on Cohen Davis’ clutch 3-pointer from the baseline at the buzzer on Monday night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I told our coaching staff that we might have needed a game like this,” Sherrill said. “Maybe we needed a wake-up call … In the second half, we were able to rebound and get some transition buckets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Clinton County will be a tough, physical game.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

COHEN DAVIS’ BASKET SENDS CLINTON COUNTY PAST GLASGOW 43-40<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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SAM BOWLING HIT AN OFF-BALANCE SHOT, TYING GLASGOW’S 4TH REGION GAME WITH CLINTON COUNTY AT 40-ALL ….<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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BUT CLINTON COUNTY’S BLAKE MELTON GOT THE BALL TO TEAMMATE COHEN DAVIS FOR THE GAME-WINNING SHOT AT THE BUZZER.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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For most of the evening, it was a slow, grind-it-out affair, without any lead changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clinton County High School dictated the tempo, and the methodical Bulldogs were keeping the Glasgow Scotties on their heels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then, it happened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Glasgow’s Sam Bowling hit two tough 3-pointers, the second an off-balance shot from just to the left of the top of the key, and the Scotties had somehow tied Clinton County at 40 with about nine seconds left in regulation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Bulldogs got the ball to the front court before calling a timeout and turning to senior forward Blake Melton, who brings the ball into play in most inbounds situations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This time, under the Glasgow basket.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Melton surveyed the floor and snapped the ball to the left corner of the floor, where sophomore Bulldogs guard Cohen Davis was waiting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Scotties collapsed on Davis, but it was too late.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Clinton County guard Bryson Cross hit all six of his free-throw attempts.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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His buzzer-beating 3-pointer would be the difference, in a 43-40 victory, as Clinton County (22-8) advanced to Monday’s KHSAA 4th Region Tournament semifinal game against Bowling Green.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was Cohen Davis’ first field goal of the night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We’ve had great success in out-of-bounds plays,” Clinton County coach Todd Messer said, “and that’s what happened tonight.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Melton shrugged off his role at the podium and said, “We just made the plays when we needed them.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Glasgow forward John Carter Myers, the quarterback for the Scotties’ football team, admitted Cohen Davis’ baseline 3 at the buzzer seemed to hang in mid-air before falling through the net.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“It was like nothing I could ever explain,” Myers said. “When (Davis) shot it, I said to myself, ‘No way …'”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Glasgow’s John Carter Myers (No. 11) battles Clinton County’s Blake Melton, right, for a late rebound.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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Glasgow coach James Willett said the Bulldogs’ Melton “had good vision” in finding his open teammate. The Scotties were in a zone defense to keep Clinton County out of the lane for a possible free-throw situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We were looking to keep everything out of the paint,” Willett said. “We probably took the first option, and maybe the second option, away … I liked the way we defended all night. We just came up a little short.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nick Delk led Clinton County (22-8) with 12 points, while rugged point guard Bryson Cross and Melton finished with 9 and 8 points, respectively. Sam Bowling had a terrific game for the Scotties, scoring a game-high 24 points on 8-of-17 shooting. Glasgow’s Ashton Cerwinski had 10 rebounds and three steals, while Myers, playing in his final high school game, had nine rebounds and four blocked shots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Glasgow finishes its season at 14-14.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Clinton County coach Todd Messer is joined by Bulldogs players (from left) Bryson Cross, Blake Melton and Nick Delk.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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Glasgow coach James Willett is joined by Scotties teammates John Carter Myers, left, and Sam Bowling at the podium.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BUTTRY: PURPLES NEED TO RE-DEDICATE THEMSELVES FOR 4TH REGION SEMIFINALS Bowling Green High School coach DG Sherrill was looking at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1697","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-hsbasketball"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jimmashek.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1697","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jimmashek.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jimmashek.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimmashek.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimmashek.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1697"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/jimmashek.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1697\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1723,"href":"https:\/\/jimmashek.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1697\/revisions\/1723"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jimmashek.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1697"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimmashek.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1697"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimmashek.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1697"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}