Kenton Ridge gets first win when it counts

Cougars reach second round after 0-21 regular season.

Withonlyone SPRINGFIELD— returning starter, most players on Kenton Ridge’s boys basketball teamassumedthis season would be a rebuilding year that included some losses. What no player or coach assumed was that Kenton Ridgewould be 0-21 entering the tournament.

With the Cougars facing a 12-win Indian Lake teamin a sectional quarterfinal game on Saturday, few assumed a win was in store. ButKenton Ridge used an 8-2 run over the game’s final two minutes to secure a 64-56 victory, which puts the Cougars in a second-round game against the sectional’s top seed in Urbana on Tuesday night.

“We’re going to remember this forever,” Kenton Ridge junior guard Jameel Cosby said. “We tried hard to get a win, but we just didn’t execute well enough in a lot of close games. We kept the ball secure in this one, and we finished it. To get our first win in the tournament is so awesome.”

Theresult shouldn’t be too shocking to thosewho paid close attention to Kenton Ridge this season. Though the Cougars were winless, three losses came in overtime, and therewere plenty of other close ones, too— like a one-point loss to Tecumseh and an eight-point loss to Bellefontaine as Kenton Ridge blew a six-point lead in the fourth quarter.

Kenton Ridge almost beat the Lakers in regular season aswell. The Cougars led Indian Lake by four points entering the fourth quarter on Jan. 24 but lost 63-59.

“In those other situations, we just always gave up an offensivereboundorcouldn’t get a stop when we needed to,” Kenton Ridge coach Kris Spriggs said.

Kyl e Shoffner h i t a 3-pointer with two minutes left in Saturday game’s to cut Kenton Ridge’s lead to 56-54. But instead of folding down the stretch like in many other games, Kenton Ridge took control.

Michael Baker hit a layup to give the Cougars a fourpoint lead, then Indian Lake turned it over on the next possession. Cosby then added several free throws over the last 90 seconds to help Kenton Ridge hold on.

“We had been in so many close games that Iwasn’t too nervous there with those free throws,” Cosby said. “We feel comfortable in close games, andweknowwhattodonow.”

It will be tough for theCougars to pull an encore upset over Urbana (13-9) tonight after two 30-point losses to the Hilltoppers in their regular-season meetings.