At the end of the day in basketball, it comes down to the simplest and sometimes cruelest truth, the team that makes shots moves on and the team that does not goes home.
Despite an all-out effort at a comeback in the fourth quarter by Simon Kenton, early shooting struggles dug a hole that was too deep to climb out of. The Pioneers’ season came to an end with a 64-57 loss to Spencer County in the 8th Region quarterfinals at Roy L. Winchester Gymnasium at Henry County High School.
Simon Kenton buried themselves in a 21-point deficit twice in the third quarter, trailing 47-26 by the end. The Pioneers rallied late and outscored the Bears 31-17 in the final eight minutes, creating multiple chances to cut the game to one possession. Each time, the shots they needed refused to fall.
For the night, Simon Kenton shot 21-for-66 from the field and 5-for-28 from three-point range.
“At the end of the day, the team that makes it wins and the team that misses loses,” Simon Kenton head coach Trent Steiner said. “Unfortunately that was the end of our season. We shot the ball bad from three. We were five for a lot. Sometimes it happens.”
Spencer County was the team that made them and much of that shooting came in the first half.
The Bears drilled six of their seven three-pointers in the half and outscored the Pioneers 16-9 in both the first and second quarters to take a 32-18 lead into halftime.
“We thought we had an advantage inside and kind of got inside out,” Spencer County head coach Jason Burns said. “We hit some threes early, which kind of helped us space it out.”
Five players scored for Spencer County by the break, including Chris Armstrong, who had 12 of his game-high 23 points at the half.
Two more Bears finished in double figures as Rollie Tackett scored 14 and Keeton Jones added 10.
While Simon Kenton struggled to find consistent offense and managed just eight points in the third quarter, the Pioneers’ intensity in the final eight minutes began to wear on a short-handed Spencer County team. The Bears are playing without their two leading scorers this season with injuries, Samuel Seawright (14.9 points per game) and Brady Smith (13.6).
Simon Kenton’s pressure began to expose Spencer County’s lack of depth late in the game.
“We knew they would,” Burns said. “With our injuries we’re not very deep. With the combination of what they did and us being tired, we made just enough plays. We tried to give it away and got a little out of character. Even on defense we kind of lost our minds a bit.”
Simon Kenton was not ready for its season to end quietly.
Eddie Marx scored 11 of his team-high 21 points in the fourth quarter, while Bray Bilton added eight of his 18 points during the late push.
“Effort-wise I thought we played like our hair was on fire,” Steiner said. “Once they got a nine or 10-point lead in the first three quarters I thought we were a deer in headlights. We played that way until the fourth quarter. Credit to our kids, when it was 18, 19, or 20 they could have laid down.”
Spencer County advances to face Henry County in the semifinals, while Simon Kenton’s season ends with a 16-11 record.
The Pioneers will lose three senior starters, center Christian Bounds, point guard Aiden Thomas and Will Scobee, the team’s second-leading scorer this season.
However, leading scorer and rebounder Bray Bilton and the team’s third-leading scorer Eddie Marx return next season to lead the Pioneers.
BEARS 64, PIONEERS 57
SPENCER COUNTY — 16-16-15-17 — 64
SIMON KENTON — 9-9-8-31 — 57
Scoring
Spencer County (64) — C. Armstrong 23, Tackett 14, Jones 10, B. Armstrong 9, Allen 7, Cornell 1
Simon Kenton (57) — Marx 21, Bilton 18, Scobee 6, Thomas 5, Bounds 4, Lindenschmidt 2, Hardcorn 1
Game Stats
Field Goals: Spencer County 21/41, Simon Kenton 21/66
3-Pointers: Spencer County 7/22, Simon Kenton 5/28
Free Throws: Spencer County 15/27, Simon Kenton 8/15
Rebounds: Spencer County 27, Simon Kenton 24
Assists: Spencer County 18, Simon Kenton 7
Turnovers: Spencer County 16, Simon Kenton 5
Steals: Spencer County 4, Simon Kenton 9
Fouls: Spencer County 14, Simon Kenton 20
Records: Spencer County 20-13, Simon Kenton 16-11