GLASGOW — If anyone at Barren County High School’s Trojan Gym didn’t know about Allen County-Scottsville’s Kevin Bunton before Tuesday’s game, they left the arena knowing plenty.

The 6-foot-4 junior transfer from Ohio County had 15 points, three rebounds and three steals off the bench for the Patriots, and his high-flying dunk in the fourth quarter put the finishing touches on a 66-56 Allen County-Scottsville victory over the host Trojans in the District 15 opener for both teams.

Bunton transferred to Allen County-Scottsville in April and has boosted an already experienced Patriot team, which is off to a 4-0 start.

“It’s going good so far – I’m getting along well with my teammates and having fun,” Bunton said. “I like being able to play down on the blocks, working my way inside out and helping the team.”

With 6-foot-9 senior center Phillip Hayes relegated to the bench because of foul trouble for most of the game, Bunton provided ACS with some of the lost size. He tallied seven points in the first half before scoring six down the stretch in the fourth quarter.

The Patriots (4-0, 1-0) led virtually the entire game, jumping out to a 19-8 lead after the first quarter. Barren County (0-3, 0-1) trimmed the lead to four at halftime, but an 8-2 burst to open the third quarter pushed ACS’s lead back to double-digits.

The Trojans hung around, however, cutting the lead to single digits on numerous occasions. But when Patriot senior Anthony Graves found a cutting Bunton late in the fourth quarter, any wind left in the Barren County sails dissipated.

Bunton caught the cross-court pass, leapt through the air, pulled the ball behind his head and emphatically flushed it home to give Allen County-Scottsville a 56-44 lead with less than three minutes to go, leading to the Patriots’ first district win of the year.

“Every district win matters, and playing at Barren County is tough and tonight wasn’t much different,” ACS coach Scott Shelton said. “They came ready to play tonight. I felt like their effort and intensity was better than ours, but we feel fortunate to come out with a win.”

Barren County coach Warren Cunningham said he was impressed with the Trojans’ work ethic after coming off an uninspired 21-point loss Saturday to Warren East.

But Cunningham left the building more impressed with Allen County-Scottsville and its new weapon.

“(Bunton) probably takes them to the next level, because he brings something more to the table being that he’s so athletic,” Cunningham said. “At the end of the first half we went zone and they shot a lot of perimeter shots. In the second half they got him involved more around the basket and he was really effective.

“He’s a big-time athlete, and the longer they go on in the season and the more comfortable he feels, he’ll just get better and better. He takes them to the next level where I’m sure they can compete with anybody and will be one of the favorites in the region.”

Despite foul issues, Hayes still finished with 15 points, five rebounds and seven blocks for the Patriots, while junior Caleb Carver added 12 points, three rebounds and two assists.

Barren County was led by senior Zach Gibson’s 23 points and six rebounds. Classmate Michael Toms finished with 11 points for the Trojans, scoring all of them in the fourth quarter.

Despite the Patriots’ 4-0 start – including three wins over Region 4 powers Franklin-Simpson, Greenwood and now Barren County – Shelton said it’s too early to get too excited.

“You can always ask for better,” Shelton said. “I think Bob Knight said it best when he said he’s never seen the perfect basketball game, and until we get to that, we can always get better.

“The good thing is, we’ve got time to improve.”

ACSHS 19 9 18 20 — 66

BCHS 8 16 11 21 — 56

ACSHS — Napier 8, Carver 12, Jeskie 3, Lovett 6, Hayes 15, Cooper 2, Bunton 15, Graves 5.

BCHS — Gibson 23, Crews 6, Birge 2, Adwell 2, Hubbard 2, Deckard 5, Toms 11, Dubree 5.

Allen County-Scottsville (girls) 46, Barren County 42

Allen County-Scottsville coach Brad Bonds unintentionally put his team through a pretty difficult test Tuesday night.

Fortunately for Bonds, the Lady Patriots passed.

ACS led host Barren County virtually the entire game before a Bonds technical late in the fourth quarter turned a double-digit lead into a single-possession contest.

The Lady Patriots proved resilient, knocking off host Barren County 46-42.

The technical was the result of what Bonds called a simple “misunderstanding.” He was stomping his feet to get the attention of one of his players after a foul, but the official translated the stomping as a show of disagreement and issued the technical.

The Lady Trojans went on a 7-0 run over the next two minutes, but two free throws apiece from Allen County-Scottsville’s Shelby Harper and Hannah Harper – as well as a drawn charge from junior Marah Rice – preserved the win.

“I felt like we were in control, then I get the technical foul on the miscommunication, but I’ll take responsibility for it,” Bonds said. “That closed the gap, but what I’m really proud of our girls on is that we didn’t fold – we could’ve easily let that affect our game and they could’ve beat us.

“But we hit our free throws, played well down the stretch and got the win.”

The victory was the Lady Patriots’ first win over Barren County since 2001, and most of it had to do with senior Shelby Harper.

Harper scored 17 of her game-high 21 points in the first half – nine of them from beyond the arc – to put the Lady Patriots at 4-0, 1-0 in District 15.

“Shelby didn’t shoot the ball very well at all last year, and that was a focal point for her this summer because she knew she had to lead this team,” Bonds said. “And Shelby’s had a great four games for us already, and she’s a special player.

“Not many people have the luxury of having that type of player, and she’s really stepped up her game.”

Barren County coach John Butler said he couldn’t complain about his team’s effort, especially down the stretch.

“I thought we really competed better in the second half,” Butler said. “I wasn’t really pleased with that in the first half, we took care of the ball and our inside players played really well.

“We had a chance to win a ballgame, but Allen’s very, very good and Shelby Harper’s a big-time player that made a lot of big shots.”

Sophomore Kelsey Mitchell led the Trojanettes (1-2, 0-1) with 15 points, while freshman Jamie Cummings finished with 10 points and six rebounds. Barren County also had to overcome the absence of senior leader Tiffany Jones, who missed the game for reasons Butler didn’t divulge.

In the end, Bonds said his team needed a statement game this season – and it looks like they have it.

“We’re just glad to get the monkey off our backs,” Bonds said. “A lot of teams in the past have overlooked us a bit, and we just want to make the claim now that we can play too.”

ACSHS 12 15 10 9 — 46

BCHS 7 10 9 16 — 42

ACSHS — S. Harper 21, Napier 2, Rich 3, H. Harper 8, Rice 5, Kirby 2, Borders 3, Gothard 2.

BCHS — Trowbridge 9, Cummings 10, Chapman 6, Mitchell 15, McKinney 2.