Unbeaten County Line routs New School

1A-1-WEST BOYS COUNTY LINE 77, THE NEW SCHOOL 50

FAYETTEVILLE — The County Line Indians dominated a rare early-February matchup between the top two teams in Class A as well as two teams already with at least 30 wins.

County Line failed to score on its first three trips down the floor and then reeled off three-straight 20-plus quarters for a 77-50 win over The New School on Monday night in a make-up 1A-1-West game.

No. 1 County Line (33-0, 110) still has three conference games left this week while No. 2 The New School (30-3, 10-2) has two but for all intents and purposes, they will be the top two seeds in the district tournament next week in County Line. They will be seeded into the semifinals, which also wraps up berths in the regional tournament the following week in Lincoln, which will be hosted by The New School and Ozark Catholic.

Monday, County Line committed two turnovers and missed a shot on its first three possessions, and The New School promptly turned it into a quick 6-0 lead on consecutive 3-pointers by Jackson Harris.

County Line hit 25 of their next 36 shots, for a nice 69.4 percent clip, and ran away to the win.

“It felt like we were scoring the ball,” County Line Joe Brunson said. “We shot it really well. We got some energy points, some offensive rebounds, some steals.”

The Indians shot out to a 20-9 lead after a quarter, a 4221 advantage at the half, and a 64-40 lead after three quarters.

“I was pleased with the way we played,” Brunson said. “We came out and played like a team, we shared the ball and played well.”

All five starters for County Line; Aundrae Milum, Kelby Rudd, Cooper Watson, Drake Price and Trent Johnston scored in double-digits, and Caden Vest came off the bench to add eight points and eight rebounds.

“We talk about sharing the ball, we talk about looking for the open man, and playing within your role,” Brunson said. “The guys did that.”

Milum scored 10 of his team-high 18 points in the second half, all from the floor, and had eight rebounds.

Rudd scored nine of his 15 points in the second half and swished 3-pointers in each of the final three quarters.

Johnston scored 14 points with nine in the second half.

Watson and Price each scored 11 points with Price ending the first quarter with a 3-pointer and a basket off an offensive rebound at the buzzer. Watson scored seven of his points in the third quarter with a spinning basket inside, a fast-break layup off a dish from Milum, and swished a 3-pointer.

Vest converted a pair of three-point plays, one in the first quarter during a 14-1 run that ended the quarter and one in the second quarter after scoring off an offensive rebound and being fouled.

“They were looking forward to this game,” Brunson said. “We’ve still got three more conference games, but it’s a good win.”

Harris led The New School with 16 points, scoring 10 in the second half. Machael Hardiman and Will Sturner each scored 13 points. Hardiman hit a 3- pointer in the third quarter and ended the quarter with a conventional three-point play, scoring off an offensive rebound and hitting the free throw.

The win was the second for County Line over The New School in conference play with County Line winning, 52-30, in the first game of January.

“They’re really good,” New School coach David Ferrell said. “The pace was a little quicker, but they played great at their place and they played great here.”