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02-11-2012, 08:55 PM
AUGUSTA | It has often been said that familiarity breeds contempt but the battle for bragging rights in Bracken County is more of a friendly but still hard-fought rivalry.
The head coaches for Augusta and Bracken--the Panthers' Jason Hinson and the Polar Bears' Chad Persinger--are old friends and were exchanging pleasantries during the junior varsity game. But as soon as the varsity game tipped off, the Panthers Den began rocking and both coaches got down to the business at hand.
In the third meeting this season between the two teams, the Panthers were never seriously threatened after beginning the game with a 10-0 run.
The hosts split a pair of games against the Polar Bears in Brooksville but cruised to a 58-45 win in the rubber match.
The teams will renew their rivalry in a 39th District tournament semifinal tilt on Feb. 21 in the Igloo.
Augusta's Corey Moore began the run with an inside basket 35 seconds into the fray before sophomore guard Brent Bach hit a driving layup and buried a pair of 3-pointers to lift the Panthers into a 10-0 lead at the 5:35 mark.
Bracken's Josh Cummins answered with back-to-back bombs to close the margin to 10-6 before Bach scored his 10th point fo the frame on a jumper. Another Cummins trey followed, getting the Polar Bears within three but Augusta answered with an 8-0 run to go in front 20-9 early in the second quarter.
Moore, who scored eight of his 15 points in the first half, was the recipient of a nice assist from Dalton Appelman with 5:44 left in the second to give the Panthers an 11-point lead. Appelman pitched in eight of his 11 total points in the second quarter, including two of his three 3-pointers. His second three made the score 30-15 but Bracken's Austin Ray converted an old-fashioned three-point play late in the frame to make the score 30-18 at the break.
Augusta led by as many as 19 points on a pair of occasions in the second half and the margin never dipped below 10 after a 10-0 run early in the third quarter. The Polar Bears' Phillip Jefferson began the second half scoring with a 3-pointer to get Bracken within nine but the run proved to be the knockout punch. Tanner Kelsch began the 10-0 blitz with a putback bucket, Bach followed with a steal and a layup before Clay Krebs and Bach both scored on putbacks. The run was capped off by a Moore basket and the Panthers were in front 40-21 with 3:18 left in the third.
Hinson was pleased with his squad's overall performance.
"Our energy level was high and I knew we'd come ready to play," he said. "We got off to that great start but I told the kids to keep their focus and composure and I'm proud of how they did that. Our bench came in and kept it right there and Brahm Hamilton came in and played extremely well. We played very good team basketball and we're playing our best at the right now, which is what you want right now."
Hamilton came off the bench to score eight points for the Panthers, who were led by Bach's game-high 16 points. Bach was limited to less than 18 minutes because of foul difficulties but Hinson noted how that turned out to be a positive.
"Some people were saying that since we lost Wyatt Thorpe (the senior forward who is out for the season) that we would be a one-dimensional team but we did a tremendous job tonight and Brent didn't even play in the second quarter," said Hinson. "We played great defense tonight and we threw some different looks at 'em."
Augusta owned the boards most of the evening, finishing the game with a 36-24 advantage, led by Kelsch's nine rebounds. Eli Florer led Bracken with eight boards.
The Panthers cooled off in the second half after shooting a sizzling 59.1 percent in the first 16 minutes, ending the game at 49 percent but they did convert five of their 12 3-point tries.
The Polar Bears finished 36.7 percent from the floor and made just five of 20 attempts from behind the 3-point line.
Persinger knew his team was in for a challenging evening after falling behind 10-0 at the outset.
"They shot the ball extremely well here and we just got down by too many to finish off the comeback," he said. "We know Bach's a tremendous player but we hope we can contain them better when we play them in the district. If we don't play better on the glass, we'll be in trouble but I feel like these boys will step up and we'll be ready and play much better on the 21st. We still have four games left to get us ready for the big night."
Cummins and Ray led the Polar Bears, scoring 15 and 10 points, respectively.
Bracken will host Villa Madonna on Monday and Hinson spoke about the Panthers' next game, a date with St. Patrick in Maysville on Monday.
"I'm not gonna sugarcoat it, I'd like to get that one," said the former Saints' bench boss. "I know from experience that it's a hard place to win and it will be senior night for them as well. I will get to say goodbye to players that I coached there and I'm glad to be a part of that. I have some great memories there but I am making new memories here now."
Read more: http://www.maysville-online.com/sports/a...z1m7eaqS4u
The head coaches for Augusta and Bracken--the Panthers' Jason Hinson and the Polar Bears' Chad Persinger--are old friends and were exchanging pleasantries during the junior varsity game. But as soon as the varsity game tipped off, the Panthers Den began rocking and both coaches got down to the business at hand.
In the third meeting this season between the two teams, the Panthers were never seriously threatened after beginning the game with a 10-0 run.
The hosts split a pair of games against the Polar Bears in Brooksville but cruised to a 58-45 win in the rubber match.
The teams will renew their rivalry in a 39th District tournament semifinal tilt on Feb. 21 in the Igloo.
Augusta's Corey Moore began the run with an inside basket 35 seconds into the fray before sophomore guard Brent Bach hit a driving layup and buried a pair of 3-pointers to lift the Panthers into a 10-0 lead at the 5:35 mark.
Bracken's Josh Cummins answered with back-to-back bombs to close the margin to 10-6 before Bach scored his 10th point fo the frame on a jumper. Another Cummins trey followed, getting the Polar Bears within three but Augusta answered with an 8-0 run to go in front 20-9 early in the second quarter.
Moore, who scored eight of his 15 points in the first half, was the recipient of a nice assist from Dalton Appelman with 5:44 left in the second to give the Panthers an 11-point lead. Appelman pitched in eight of his 11 total points in the second quarter, including two of his three 3-pointers. His second three made the score 30-15 but Bracken's Austin Ray converted an old-fashioned three-point play late in the frame to make the score 30-18 at the break.
Augusta led by as many as 19 points on a pair of occasions in the second half and the margin never dipped below 10 after a 10-0 run early in the third quarter. The Polar Bears' Phillip Jefferson began the second half scoring with a 3-pointer to get Bracken within nine but the run proved to be the knockout punch. Tanner Kelsch began the 10-0 blitz with a putback bucket, Bach followed with a steal and a layup before Clay Krebs and Bach both scored on putbacks. The run was capped off by a Moore basket and the Panthers were in front 40-21 with 3:18 left in the third.
Hinson was pleased with his squad's overall performance.
"Our energy level was high and I knew we'd come ready to play," he said. "We got off to that great start but I told the kids to keep their focus and composure and I'm proud of how they did that. Our bench came in and kept it right there and Brahm Hamilton came in and played extremely well. We played very good team basketball and we're playing our best at the right now, which is what you want right now."
Hamilton came off the bench to score eight points for the Panthers, who were led by Bach's game-high 16 points. Bach was limited to less than 18 minutes because of foul difficulties but Hinson noted how that turned out to be a positive.
"Some people were saying that since we lost Wyatt Thorpe (the senior forward who is out for the season) that we would be a one-dimensional team but we did a tremendous job tonight and Brent didn't even play in the second quarter," said Hinson. "We played great defense tonight and we threw some different looks at 'em."
Augusta owned the boards most of the evening, finishing the game with a 36-24 advantage, led by Kelsch's nine rebounds. Eli Florer led Bracken with eight boards.
The Panthers cooled off in the second half after shooting a sizzling 59.1 percent in the first 16 minutes, ending the game at 49 percent but they did convert five of their 12 3-point tries.
The Polar Bears finished 36.7 percent from the floor and made just five of 20 attempts from behind the 3-point line.
Persinger knew his team was in for a challenging evening after falling behind 10-0 at the outset.
"They shot the ball extremely well here and we just got down by too many to finish off the comeback," he said. "We know Bach's a tremendous player but we hope we can contain them better when we play them in the district. If we don't play better on the glass, we'll be in trouble but I feel like these boys will step up and we'll be ready and play much better on the 21st. We still have four games left to get us ready for the big night."
Cummins and Ray led the Polar Bears, scoring 15 and 10 points, respectively.
Bracken will host Villa Madonna on Monday and Hinson spoke about the Panthers' next game, a date with St. Patrick in Maysville on Monday.
"I'm not gonna sugarcoat it, I'd like to get that one," said the former Saints' bench boss. "I know from experience that it's a hard place to win and it will be senior night for them as well. I will get to say goodbye to players that I coached there and I'm glad to be a part of that. I have some great memories there but I am making new memories here now."
Read more: http://www.maysville-online.com/sports/a...z1m7eaqS4u
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02-11-2012, 08:56 PM
Bracken 9 9 10 17 --45
Augusta 16 14 10 18 --58
BC: Cummins 15, Florer 0, Hamilton 6, Ray 10, Crawford 5, Jefferson 5, Fite 4, Haight 0, Total 45.
AHS: Appelman 11, Krebs 4, Moore 15, Bach 16, Kelsch 4, Hamilton 8, Huber 0, Halawani 0, Linville 0, Ruf 0, Tre. Barrett 0, Tri. Barrett 0, Conn 0, Total 58.
3-pointers: BC 4 (Cummins 3, Ray), AHS 5 (Appelman 3, Bach 2).
Records: Bracken County 11-15, Augusta 15-11.
Read more: http://www.maysville-online.com/sports/a...z1m7edWPqC
Augusta 16 14 10 18 --58
BC: Cummins 15, Florer 0, Hamilton 6, Ray 10, Crawford 5, Jefferson 5, Fite 4, Haight 0, Total 45.
AHS: Appelman 11, Krebs 4, Moore 15, Bach 16, Kelsch 4, Hamilton 8, Huber 0, Halawani 0, Linville 0, Ruf 0, Tre. Barrett 0, Tri. Barrett 0, Conn 0, Total 58.
3-pointers: BC 4 (Cummins 3, Ray), AHS 5 (Appelman 3, Bach 2).
Records: Bracken County 11-15, Augusta 15-11.
Read more: http://www.maysville-online.com/sports/a...z1m7edWPqC
02-11-2012, 08:56 PM
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