A cold shooting second half spelled doom for Christian County as the Colonels dropped a 48-41 boys’ high school basketball game to Paducah St. Mary Saturday afternoon at the Owensboro Sportscenter.
The Colonels took a 5-4 lead on a 3-pointer by Josh Bridges midway through the first quarter and led the rest of the first half. They took their largest lead of the game at 17-9 in the opening minutes of the second quarter.
However, the Vikings turned up the defense after a timeout and climbed back to within 23-20 at halftime.
St. Mary outscored the Colonels 14-7 in the third quarter and led 34-30 entering the final period.
Christian County (5-17) scored the first five points of the final quarter to take their final lead of the game 35-34.
The Vikings (16-6) took advantage of the Colonels’ shooting woes and opened up a 44-36 lead, which was their largest of the game.
The Colonels battled back and cut the lead to 46-41 on a 3-pointer by Bridges. But that was as close as they would get as St. Mary’s senior guard Luke Sims sealed the win with a pair of free throws.
Bridges led the Colonels in scoring with nine points. Kam Williams added eight.
Williams and Bridges also helped shut down Sims, who was coming into the game averaging 21.5 points per game. At halftime, the Vikings’ star had only two points. He finished the game with 12 to lead St. Mary. Griffin Mayes and Brett Haas each had 11.
The Colonels return to action Thursday night at home against McCracken County. Airtime for the F&M Bank Pregame Show is 5:45 p.m. on 95.3 The Farm.
Score by Quarters:
Christian Co. 11 12 7 11 – 41
Paducah St. Mary 9 11 14 14 – 48
Individual Scoring:
CCHS (5-17) – Acree 1, Wharton 7, Johnson 6, Williams 8, Bridges 9, Rowe 3, Stevenson 7.
SMHS (16-6) – Mayes 11, Puckett 8, Sims 12, Haas 11, Spurr 6.
3-Point Goals:
CCHS – Johnson 2, Bridges 3, Rowe; SMHS – Puckett.
Photo by Joe Wilson