Trying to defend Barren County at the 3-point line is the basketball equivalent of battling a wildfire.

Race to one hotspot to douse the flames, then another springs up somewhere else. Put that one out and watch as the sparks spread elsewhere until you’re left scorched by the Trojans.

South Warren did its best to fireproof the Spartans’ home gym Tuesday night, but eventually Barren County caught fire and delivered a devastating barrage of 3-pointers to pull away for a 67-51 victory.

Barren County (8-3) hit 13 treys in the win, with a trio of Trojans – Mason Bunch, William Compton and Tate Spillman – each sinking multiple 3-pointers in the process.

“I think it helps because it’s hard to scout us,” said Compton, who hit four 3-pointers and finished with 13 points. “We’ve got so many guys that can make shots, you can’t really stick on one guy. You’ve got to guard everybody. If they’re going to try and face-guard one guy, we’ve got a lot of guys that can hit shots.”

Trailing 27-23 at halftime, the Trojans used their long-range shooting proficiency to swing the game their way. Bunch, who scored all 13 of his points in the second half, hit a trio of triples, Compton had a pair and Spillman sank one as Barren County went from down four to start the quarter to up five at 46-41 to end it.

South Warren (7-5) tried to keep pace, with Bryce Button’s basket from under the rim getting the Spartans within three at 48-45 with 5:41 to play.

Barren answered with a 5-0 burst before Griffin Rardin’s 3-pointer got South back to within five – for about 30 seconds.

Then Spillman lit the final match with a nifty step-back 3-pointer, followed by another less than a minute later that propelled a decisive 8-0 run that pushed the Trojans ahead 61-48 with 35 seconds to go.

“For whatever reason, I didn’t think we really played with a lot of confidence in the first half,” Barren County coach Warren Cunningham said. “We were kind of hesitant on a lot of shots, other than maybe Tate and William. But we got going there a little bit, and it’s contagious.”

Spillman finished with a game-high 23 points, with Compton and Bunch adding 13 points each. Senior Graham Hall didn’t score, but kept the Trojans well-supplied for second-chance scoring opportunities with a game-high 13 rebounds.

“He really battled and he’s probably got some bruises on the way home, but he battled,” Cunningham said of Hall. “How important was his play, of being physical and rebounding and guarding around the basket? I thought his play was really important.”

The Trojans outrebounded the Spartans 29-23 and had a better night at the free-throw line, hitting 12 of 17 while South managed a 6-for-16 effort.

Rardin had 21 points and Button tallied 12 for the Spartans, who lost a bit of momentum after closing out 2023 with a tournament win at Henderson County last week.

“We knew going in that they can shoot it like that,” South Warren coach Carlos Quarles said. “And our game plan, the focus was getting to the shooters and we did early in the game. And then we kind of lost focus – you can’t lose focus and give them any airspace. They made us pay for it when we did.”

Both teams will be on the road Friday for district matchups, with Barren County at District 15 rival Warren East and the Spartans visiting District 14 foe Bowling Green.

BCHS 12 11 23 21 – 67

SWHS 16 11 14 10 – 51

BCHS – Spillman 23, Bunch 13, Compton 13, Bewley 7, Clemmons 6, Hardy 3, Reece 2.

SWHS – Rardin 21, Button 12, Hudson 7, Bell 4, Decker 3, Jarvis 2, Rich 2.

Girls Barren County 46, South Warren 45

Barren County trailed for most of the night against host South Warren, but the Trojanettes made sure they had the only lead the really matters – the last one – in Tuesday’s 46-45 win against the Spartans.

Trailing by as many as 11 points in the third quarter, Barren County (9-3) broke out a zone defense that gave South Warren (5-7) fits with seven forced turnovers in the third. After Grace Maxwell’s two made free throws put the home team up 26-17, the Trojanettes closed out the third by outscoring 14-6 to get within three points heading into the fourth.

Barren County kept that momentum to start the fourth as Hannah Bragg scored back-to-back baskets and Ann Ashley Atkinson drained a jumper to push the Trojanettes out to a 35-32 lead.

Atkinson played a huge role in the Trojanettes’ defensive success, often forming half the trap at midcourt or in the corner.

“I like being aggressive and forcing turnovers,” Atkinson said. “That’s really how we get the momentum on offense.”

The Spartans stayed right with them, grabbing their last lead at 38-37 on Abigail Overbay’s drive. South force a 42-all tie with 30 seconds left on Overbay’s offensive putback, but Abigail Varney drew a foul and hit both free throws to put the Trojanettes up by two with 28 seconds to go.

Two made free throws by Shelby Byrd stretched the lead to four with five seconds to play, but Jooniper Strow’s 3-pointer sliced that advantage to just a point.

There just wasn’t enough time for the Spartans, as Barren successfully inbounded – on its second try – to burn off the remaining 0.3 seconds left on the game clock.

“I felt like we missed some shots early, we were kind of stagnant defensively, kind of slow moving and jumping to the basketball,” Barren County coach Piper Lindsey said. “I thought once we kind of picked up the pace and started trapping them, it turned them over a little bit and we got some easy baskets.”

Abigail Varney tallied game highs of 15 points and four blocks to lead the Trojanettes. Atkinson added 11 points and eight rebounds, and Bragg chipped in with eight points. Barren County visits Warren East on Friday.

McLaine Hudson and Grace Maxwell had 10 points each to lead the Spartans, who travel to face Bowling Green on Friday.

“We put ourselves in a position to win, executed a lot of things well early,” South Warren coach Lane Embry said. “Our defense was good early I thought, and then coach Lindsey made an adjustment and went to a zone that really rattled us a little bit and got us on our heels a little bit. That was a nice move by her. We just never quite recovered, missed some really easy shots down the stretch.”

BCHS 11 4 14 17 – 46

SWHS 16 6 10 13 – 45

BCHS – Varney 15, Atkinson 11, Bragg 8, Byrd 6, Gearlds 3, Strange 2, Elmore 1.

SWHS – Hudson 10, Maxwell 10, Strow 9, Bolin 6, Ab. Overbay 6, Lindsey 4. – Follow sports editor Jeff Nations on Twitter @Jeff_NationsBG or visit bgdailynews.com.