The first-place Pioneers improved to 12-4 and 6-1 in the division, moving one game clear of Urbana (12-3, 5-2) and two games ahead of Kenton Ridge (12-4, 4-3).
“We took a big step backward tonight with a shot at getting where we wanted to be in the CBC,” said Kenton Ridge coach Brian Smith. “The challenge is to just keep going, win out and see what happens. We have to have help now, so that’s the problem.”
Cougars senior Xavier White had 20 points and junior Will Rastatter had 12 and Trey Johnson added 10 for Kenton Ridge.
A 7-0 run to open the third quarter — a layup and 3-pointer by Caleb Hall and a steal and layup by White — tied the score at 36, forcing a Pioneers timeout.
KR took a one-point lead on a 3-pointer by Johnson, but the Pioneers went on an 8-2 run to grab a 48-43 lead. Rastatter scored five straight points to tie the score, but Pioneers sophomore Byron Byerly made a putback, giving his team a 50-48 lead after three quarters.
“They just kept hitting a burst every time,” Smith said. “It just seemed like everything we did they had an answer. I give them a lot of credit, but a lot of that’s our fault too. Our defense is terrible right now. It was not good. We can’t expect to give up 70 points to Jonathan Alder and beat them. You’re just not going to score in the 80s against them.”
The Cougars would take the lead again at 52-51 on two free throws by White, but wouldn’t lead again.
The Pioneers caused multiple turnovers throughout the fourth quarter, holding the Cougars scoreless for nearly five minutes. They went on an 11-0 run capped by senior Chase Muetzel‘s old-fashioned three-point play that gave Jonathan Alder a 61-52 lead with two minutes remaining.
Kenton Ridge cut the lead to six points, but couldn’t get any closer. The Pioneers went 12-for-15 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter to seal the victory.
“Those (turnovers) are just killers against them because turnovers are buckets on the other end the way we played defense,” Smith said. “I loved our surge at the start of the third ... we just weren’t able to sustain it. It’s disappointing. I’ll take the fall. We gotta play better defense; we’ve worked on it and worked on it and we were letting guys get wide open looks. They ran the same play two straight times and got easy layups and that just can’t happen at this level.”
“We got a little stagnant on offense, but it’s hard to really fault the offense when you’re in the 60s against a team like that. It’s all defense right there.”
While the loss may have diminished KR’s chance at a CBC title, the Cougars have plenty to play for the rest of the way.
“We’re not giving up or going anywhere right now,” Smith said. “We’re still having a tremendous season. We’ve gotten some big wins. We’re going to continue that. We’ve got some great games still coming, and I really like where we’re going to sit in the tournament. We’re just going to play the best we can and if we get some help, we get some help.”
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