Monticello — The Wayne County Cardinals hosted Rockcastle County on Tuesday, January

19. The Cards were coming off a win at Pulaski County the previous weekend,

while Rockcastle County was coming off a win over Knox Central.

The game marked the 13th meeting between the two schools. Wayne County

leads the series with an 11-2 record. The Cards won the first meeting

between the schools this season on December 28 by a score of 67-49.

The Cardinals used a good second quarter to take a double digit lead and

then headed on for a 70-50 victory over the Rockets.

"I thought we really played hard tonight," said Wayne County coach

Rodney Woods. "We rebounded hard on both ends. We didn't shoot the ball well

but only had 8 turnovers and held them to 30 percent shooting and 10 percent

from behind the 3-point line so our defense really carried us."

Wayne County led 12-10 at the end of the first quarter, but their

defense stepped up in the second stanza, holding Rockcastle County to only 4

points. The Cards led 30-14 at the half.

The Cardinals were up 43-29 at the end of the third quarter on their way

to the 20-point win.

Wayne County was led by the two junior forwards, Gavin Dunagan and

Austin Shearer. Dunagan had a game-high 19 points on 7 of 13 shooting from

the field. Shearer finished with 17 points, hitting 4 of 6 from the field

and 2 of 5 from beyond the arc. Shearer also led the Cards in blocked shots

with 4.

Also in double figures for Wayne County was Kyle Gehring with 12 points.

Kyle Hopper, who finished with 1 point, led the Cards in steals with 4

and in assists with 6.

Wayne County hit 22 of 57 from the field for 38 percent. From beyond the

arc, the Cards were 7 of 24 for 29 percent. They hit 19 of 27 from the free

throw line for 70 percent.

The Rockets were led by Derrick Thacker with 16 points and Dustin

Reynolds with 10 points.

Rockcastle County hit 17 of 56 from the field for 30 percent. They were

2 of 19 from beyond the arc for 10 percent. From the free throw line, the

Rockets hit 14 of 23 for 60 percent.

Wayne County won the battle on the boards 45-42. Cardinal Gavin Dunagan

led his team in rebounds with 14.

With the win, the Cards improved to 14-4 on the season. Next up was a

Friday night game at Boyle County. See a related story in this edition.