GLASGOW – The Allen County-Scottsville boys’ basketball team remained perfect under head coach Brad Bonds with a nail-biting 58-56 win over Barren County on Friday at Barren County.

Allen County-Scottsville (6-0 overall, 1-0 District 15) rallied from a nine-point deficit early in the second half, but had to survive three free-throw attempts and a desperation 3-pointer in the final second to pick up its first win over the Trojans since 2014.

“It’s a big district win,” ACS senior guard Brett Rippy said. “It’s a rivalry, so coming in here and getting a win, it’s a big win. It’s a confidence booster.”

Allen County-Scottsville started hot, scoring five points in the first minute before the Trojans settled in.

Barren County took its first lead of the night when Will Bandy’s jumper made the score 12-10 late in the first quarter. ACS scored the first five points of the second quarter to briefly regain the advantage before the Trojans scored five straight to make the score 17-15.

The Trojans led by as much as 25-19 late in the second quarter, but Rippy’s floater as time expired cut the deficit to four at halftime.

A 3 from Bandy and a steal and layup by Gavin Withrow to open the second half gave Barren County its largest lead of the night at 30-21. The Patriots went to work to erase the deficit, tying the score 38-all on Owen Stamper’s 3 with 1:31 left in the third quarter.

“We’ve already been put in that position before with Greenwood and we were able to pull back and win that one,” Bonds said. “There was definitely confidence in that group to be able to do so. These kids play with a lot of energy. I think (after I called a timeout down nine) you started seeing the energy flowing back into our kids.”

The score was 40-all to start the fourth quarter. Stamper’s free throw in the opening seconds of the quarter gave ACS its first lead of the second half, a lead that lasted less than 30 seconds with Bandy’s layup on the other end making the score 42-41 Barren County.

The Patriots scored five points in 17 seconds to push in front 46-42 with 6:43 left.

Barren County (3-4, 0-2) regained the advantage with a 6-1 spurt only to have Allen County-Scottsville score the next five points to push back ahead 52-48 with 3:38 remaining.

ACS didn’t relinquish the lead again, but Barren County had several chances to overtake the Patriots.

After cutting the lead to 56-55, Bandy’s shot in the paint, which could have given the Trojans the lead with 47 seconds left, rimmed out. Rippy hit two free throws with 33.2 seconds remaining to make the score 58-55 and give Barren County another chance.

Withrow was fouled in the right corner on a 3 attempt with one second left – giving him three free throws with a chance to tie. Withrow hit the first, missed the second and was called for a violation when his attempt to miss the third bounced wildly off the backboard.

ACS inbounded the ball to run out the clock, but Landon Key got the steal and threw up a last-ditch 20-footer that fell short as time expired.

“That is what this team is – they have done whatever they’ve had to do to win a basketball game,” Bonds said. “We still make silly mistakes, just like at the end of the game we made a couple of silly mistakes that could have very well cost us, but the kids are having fun. They are learning. They are growing in the game and they are finding ways to win.

“For a team that has struggled to win basketball games for many years now, this is a very positive thing. Positive for the community and positive for these young men.”

Rippy led Allen County-Scottsville with 20 points. Stamper added 14 points and Mason Shirley finished with 11 points.

Aden Nyekan led Barren County with 21 points and 11 rebounds. Bandy had 14 points and Withrow finished with 11.

“We’ve lost two other close games – the Whitley County game and the Monroe game – and I didn’t think we executed very well in the last three minutes,” Barren County coach Warren Cunningham said. “Tonight I thought we did. We executed. We just didn’t finish the plays, so it is a step in the right direction.”

Allen County-Scottsville will host Franklin-Simpson at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, while Barren County hosts Elizabethtown at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday.

ACSHS 10 11 19 18 – 58

BCHS 12 13 15 16 – 56

ACS – Rippy 20, Stamper 14, Shirley 11, Carter 7, Cooper 2, Ross 2, Carver 2.

BC – Nyekan 21, Bandy 14, Withrow 11, Key 6, Bush 2, Griggs 2.

Barren County 47, Allen County-Scottsville 38, girls

The Trojanettes held the Lady Patriots to 28.6 percent shooting, but had to survive a late run to win a District 15 battle.

Allen County-Scottsville (4-3 overall, 0-1 District 15) went nearly nine minutes between field goals in the opening half – allowing Barren County (7-0, 2-0) to use an 11-3 run to take a 17-11 advantage midway through the second period.

Mason Towery’s three-point play stopped the drought and the Lady Patriots got as close as one before McKenzie England’s bucket in the paint made the score 23-20 at the half.

Barren County scored the first four points in the second half to get a seven-point cushion, but ACS was able to make another push – trimming the deficit to 29-26 after three quarters.

The Trojanettes took over in the final period, opening the fourth quarter with an 8-0 run that extended the advantage to 11 points with 6:14 left.

The Lady Patriots made one more charge – pulling within 41-38 after Towery split a pair of free throws with 1:43 – but Barren County scored the final six points to seal the win.

“It feels great to finally come out of this one with a win,” Barren County coach Piper Lindsey said. “I was stressing early, but it was good. I think the girls held their composure the entire game. When they cut it to three, I thought we did a good job of regrouping and coming away with it.”

Elizabeth Bertram led the Trojanettes with 18 points.

Towery had 14 points for ACS. Sarah Sutton finished with 11 points and 16 rebounds, but was held to two field goals – both coming in the fourth quarter.

“We were right in there and felt like we were giving everything we had,” ACS coach Greg Dunn said. “We hit a few more shots and we are right in there with them. When you shoot 28 percent, it’s hard to even be close really. I think we will build on this. It is a positive for us. I’m never one for moral victories, but we had some inexperienced players play in a big game and I think we will be better for that.”

Allen County-Scottsville will return at action at 6 p.m. Saturday, hosting Franklin-Simpson. Barren County will head to Orlando, Fla., for the KSA Events Holiday Tournament beginning Thursday.

ACSHS 8 12 6 12 – 38

BCHS 10 13 6 18 – 47

ACS – Towery 14, Sutton 11, Carter 8, Bullington 3, Tuttle 2.

BC – Bertram 18, Bush 9, M. Pedigo 8, B. Pedigo 7, Jackson 3, England 2.{&end}