The Braves outscored the Cougars 13-3 down the stretch to earn a 50-38 Central Buckeye Conference Kenton Trail Division win in front of a packed house on Friday night.
Shawnee senior Zion Crowe scored 18 points and junior Darian Dixon added 13 points as the Braves improved to 12-5 and 5-2 in the CBC Kenton Trail Division.
Kenton Ridge junior Logan Fyffe scored a game-high 21 points and junior Canye Rogan added 10 points as the Cougars fell to 7-9 and 3-4 in the CBC Kenton Trail.
Crowe opened the game with a 3-pointer, breaking the school record for career points. He passed 2015 graduate Jaden Greenwood, who scored 1,271 career points.
The Braves jumped out to a 16-0 lead, but the Cougars fought back to cut the lead to 17-7 on a 3-pointer by Brady King to end the first quarter. KR outscored the Braves 7-3 in the second quarter as Shawnee took a 20-14 lead at the half.
The Cougars tied the score at 25 on a putback by Rogan midway through the third quarter.
“When you get yourself behind, the comeback is great, but everything has to go your way from that point on,” said Cougars coach Brian Smith. “As soon as we tied it, they bang home two 3s and the game is over. We’re still in it, but it took all your effort to get back. At some point, we had to cut down that 16-0 run.”
The Braves responded with a 6-0 run to grab a 31-25 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
“I told the guys I was proud of them because we could’ve folded,” McGuire said. “They had the momentum. We just battled back, went on a little run and were able to sustain it. We knew they were going to try to key on Zion as everyone does and we had some kids step up and make some big shots.”
Shawnee opened the fourth quarter with back-to-back 3-pointers by junior Logan Earles and Desmond Houseman to grab a 37-29 lead, forcing a KR timeout.
The Cougars responded with six straight points from Fyffe to cut the lead to two at 37-35, forcing Shawnee to call timeout.
“Logan has played really well,” Smith said. “We’ve talked to him about getting to the hole more because not a lot of people can cut him off by themselves. He finishes really well around the rim. He’s had several really good games and we’re going to lean on him a lot.”
KR wouldn’t get any closer. Crowe scored seven straight points to spark an 11-0 run, sealing the win for the Braves.
“We were able to get stops on one end and make some baskets on the other,” McGuire said.
The Braves remained in first-place tie in the CBC Kenton Trail with Jonathan Alder (10-8, 5-2), which beat London 49-43. Shawnee travels to Tecumseh on Tuesday night, while the Pioneers host Bellefontaine.
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