The Grayson County Cougars put three players into double figures Saturday night in the Cougar Den to beat the Metcalfe County Hornets 68-57 to move to 2-1 for the season.
Sophomore River Blanton had the best game of his career with 19 points, 11 rebounds, two assists and two steals to lead the Cougars. Junior Chandler McCrady had 16 points and eight rebounds, while junior Keegan Sharp added 11 points.
There were two lead changes and three ties in the first period before the Cougars scored the last four points of the period to take a 15-11 lead heading into the second period, a lead they would not give back.
The Cougars then outscored the Hornets 16-10 in the second period to lead by 10 points, 31-21 at the half.
A McCrady lay-in at the 3:48 mark of the third quarter gave the Cougars their largest lead of the night, 14 points at 40-26. The Hornets then closed out the period by outscoring the Cougars 8-3 to trail by just nine points, 43-34 heading into the final period of play.
The Hornets pulled to within seven points of the lead, 47-40 on a lay-in by senior Boston Devore at the 5:51 mark of the fourth quarter, but they would never be closer than eight points the rest of the way.
Junior Wyatt Ray Blythe led the Hornets with 17 points, while junior Payton Dial added 12.
Sophomore Nolan Hornbeck had a career high with eight points and he added four rebounds. Junior Hunter Tomes scored six points and pulled down six boards, while sophomore Brayden Childress had four points. Dillon Horn and Owen Bratcher both scored two points to close out the Cougar scoring, and Horn added seven rebounds.
By Don Brown, Local Sports
Reach Don at donbrown@k105.com
