Trigg County ended a historic in-season basketball layoff Saturday with a 54-50 win at St. Mary.
The Wildcats last played on Jan. 26 and shortly thereafter, entered a two-week COVID-19 protocol period. The recent winter storm added another 10 days to the layoff.
Despite getting to the gym just three times in the previous three weeks, Trigg County ended the game strong, outscoring the Vikings 9-2 over the final two minutes to get the win.
The fourth quarter featured five lead changes and saw the Vikings grab a 48-45 lead with two minutes left.
Khyran Vaughn hit a pair of free throws, and Tae Thompson added a bucket to put Trigg ahead 49-48 with 37 seconds left.
Thompson came with a steal and bucket off St. Mary’s next possession to put Trigg up 51-48 with 33 seconds left.
After a pair of Michael Lurtz free throws with 31 seconds left, Trigg pushed the lead back out to three points on a De’Von Ladd bucket with 23 ticks showing on the clock.
Parker McCauley, who led all scorers with 24 points, got a good look at a game-tying 3-pointer with nine seconds left but couldn’t connect. Trigg hit one more free throw in the closing seconds for the final four-point margin.
St. Mary hit just 1 of 11 shots from the field in the final quarter but stayed in the game by hitting 7 of 9 free throws.
Trigg County led for most of the first half until a 9-0 St. Mary run in the final 90 seconds of the second quarter gave them a 30-24 lead at intermission.
The Vikings were outscored 30-20 in the second half in part due to 4 of 25 shooting from the field. Trigg County shot 44-percent in the second half and 38-percent for the game.
Despite the layoff, Trigg County appeared strong down the stretch. They also turned the ball over just 10 times.
The 25-day layoff was one day more than the 24-day gap between games in the 1978-79 season, also due to a record winter snowfall.
Freshman Jhaden Vaughn scored 14 points and grabbed 14 rebounds for the Wildcats while also handing out five assists. De’Von Ladd added 13 points. Thompson also scored 13 points, and Khyran Vaughn came off the bench to score 10 points and pull down eight rebounds.
Trigg County evened its record at 5-5 and snapped a four-game losing streak to the Vikings. The win was Trigg’s first on St. Mary’s home floor since 1995.
The Wildcats will play at Livingston Central Tuesday in a contest that will count toward seeding in the 5th District Tournament.
Trigg County 14 10 14 16– 54
St. Mary 12 18 10 10– 50
Trigg County [5-5] – J. Vaughn 14, Thompson 13, Ladd 13, K. Vaughn 10
St. Mary [5-10] – McCauley 24, Haas 12, Lurtz 8, Bell 2, Maggard 2, Wright 2
