After leading for the entirety of the first three quarters and holding a 14-point advantage in the fourth, the Todd County Central boys’ basketball team couldn’t hold off a late charge by Cumberland County in a 57-53 loss on Saturday in Elkton.
The Rebels looked to be on their way to their first win of the season but instead slip to 0-2 ahead of a trip to Cumberland County on Monday to begin play in the 4th Region All “A” Classic against Monroe County.
Todd Central built an early advantage with 4 points each from Preston Rager and Logan Burgess and led 14-6 after a steal and layup by Will Kearns with three minutes to play in the first. However, the Panthers answered with a 7-0 run and were within a point after Deacon Duvall scored in the paint with just over a minute left. Rager added a straightaway 3-pointer and Burgess scored on a pull-up just ahead of the buzzer to give the Rebels a 20-13 edge going to the second quarter.
The cushion hovered around 11 for most of the second until the Rebels put together a 6-0 spurt, capped by a Rager jumper, to double-up the Panthers 36-18 with under a minute left until halftime. Rager picked up a technical foul after the basket and Cumberland’s Ty Seay hit both free throws to spark a 5-0 spurt to close the half for a 36-23 score.
The Rebels led by double digits until the final seconds of the third quarter when the Panthers pulled to within 8, but Preston Moore drilled a 3 at the buzzer to give Todd County Central an 11-point edge with a quarter to play.
The win appeared to be secure after back-to-back baskets by Jamison Glass gave the Rebels a 50-36 lead just over a minute into the fourth, but a technical foul on the Todd Central bench sparked a Panther run.
Cumberland County scored 18 points over the next three minutes, including three 3-pointers by Randall Camfield, to take a 54-53 lead with just under a minute to play. After Malachi Caprietta scored on a putback to give the Panthers a 3-point edge, Todd Central’s Moore was fouled chasing down his own rebound with :6.7 left. Moore was injured and Kearns took the free throws in his place, but he missed the front end and the Rebels were forced to foul. Hunter Perdue hit one of two attempts to push the Panther lead to 4 and close the door on the Rebels.
Cumberland County 13 10 12 22 — 57
Todd County Central 20 16 10 7 — 53
Cumberland County (1-2) — Seay 16, Perdue 12, Camfield 9, Sewell 9, Duvall 8, Caprietta 3
Todd County Central (0-2) — Moore 13, M. Johnson 11, Rager 11, Burgess 8, Glass 4, A. Johnson 2, Reding 2
