Melodie Phelps, News Editor
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.