Boys continue to struggle with lopsided losses

Unless the names are Jordan, Bird or James, a team that places only three players in the scoring box at the end of a game is not likely to be highly successful. That was the story for the young Bears Sunday afternoon as they struggled on offense during a 58-32 loss to Carroll County in the second round of a holiday tournament in Gallatin County.

JOHN SHINDLEBOWER for The Spencer MagnetJohnny Thacker dribbles past a Panther defender Sunday afternoon during the Bear’s second-round loss in the Gallatin County Tournament. Thacker is the lone senior on Spencer County’s young team.

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JOHN SHINDLEBOWER for The Spencer MagnetJunior Josh Swinney looks for room around a Carroll County defender during Sunday’s game in Gallatin County.

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The day before, the Bears suffered a lopsided loss to a larger, more athletic Iroquois team, 85-48, and hoped to bounce back with a better performance on Sunday.

Spencer County jumped out to an early 2-0 lead when sophomore Logan Dunbar scored in the opening seconds, but the Panthers quickly built a 7-2 lead.

The Bears’ Trey Wyatt split a pair of field goals and Brian Thacker scored to cut the lead to 7-5, but Carroll County used a three-pointer and power play inside to build their lead to 14-9 by the end of the quarter.

The Panthers extended their advantage to 20-11 before the Bears mounted a mild rally. Thacker hit a short jumper and Wyatt cut backdoor for a layup to pull the Bears back to within 5 at 20-15, and minutes later, Wyatt connected on a three-pointer to narrow the gap to 22-18 with just under two minutes remaining in the half.

But the Panthers scored on an old-fashioned three point play and then hit a 3-pointer in the last minute to go up 28-18 at the break.

Dunbar tried to keep the Bears competitive early in the third quarter, scoring two buckets to keep pace with Carroll County and Thacker added a put-back basket after a rebound to make it 32-24 with just under five minutes left in the frame. But the Panthers put the game away with a 10-2 run to end the third period, going up 42-26.

For the game, Thacker led the way with 13 points, while Dunbar added 12 and Wyatt chipped in with seven, as the Bears fell to 2-7 on the season with the loss. The Bears were scheduled to play Monday afternoon against Dayton, but no score had been reported at press time.

The Bears will be back in action this weekend as they take part in the Nelson County tournament in Bardstown, and will back home on January 6 to host Eminence.