The Greenwood boys’ basketball team trailed most of the night, but the Gators finally got the lead back when it mattered most – beating visiting Logan County 44-43 on Tuesday.

Greenwood (13-11) erased an 11-point fourth-quarter deficit to force overtime, then got a putback by Ben Carroll with 6.2 seconds left to escape and stretch its win streak to a season-best five games.

“Five in a row, four of them road games, they have been really good wins,” Carroll said. “I’m glad I hit that big shot. They are a tough team. Their record shows it. They’ve beaten a lot of good teams. I think we just fought harder tonight. We had the effort and we put it away.”

Greenwood struggled all night, shooting 28.6 percent from the field – 6-for-31 from 3-point range – but managed to stay within striking distance by holding Logan County to 35 percent shooting.

Logan County (18-6) used a 10-0 run to take the lead early in the second quarter, then went into the locker room still in front 20-17.

Another 10-0 run at the end of the third and the opening seconds of the fourth pushed the margin out to 32-21 before Greenwood started to rally.

Carroll scored six points during a 10-0 run to shave the deficit to one, but the Gators couldn’t wrestle the lead away from the Cougars.

Greenwood finally pulled even on a 3-pointer by Jack Roberts with 19 seconds left in regulation – giving the Gators a chance to win in overtime.

Noah Stansbury’s 3 gave Greenwood its first lead since the second quarter, but the Cougars quickly responded with five straight points to take a 43-41 lead.

Cade Stinnett split a pair of free throws with 42.2 seconds left to make the score 43-42 and set the stage for Caroll’s game winner – a putback on the left block after a miss by Stinnett in the paint.

“I just saw Noah get the ball in to him and he had good position, but I saw the whole defense collapsed,” Carroll said. “I figured if the shot didn’t go in, which I wish it did, that I was going to be in the right position to put it back.”

Logan County had one more chance, but Kelby Epley’s 3 hit off the front of the rim as time expired.

“I’m pretty excited about that one,” Greenwood coach Bob Pels said. “We were struggling and we weren’t really playing badly. Logan is a good basketball team and they really had us tied in knots.

“We got some action going in the second half and got a little better. Ben has had that opportunity several times this year to make that putback. We got it right this time, so that was perfect.”

Carroll led the Gators with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Roberts added 12 points while Stinnett finished with 11 points.

Dalton Thompson led Logan County with 10 points.

“I thought we played great defense all night,” Logan County coach John Tinsley said. “We missed about 15 layups and we missed a bunch of free throws. (Greenwood) probably had no business being in the game, our defense was that good tonight. (It was) the best defensive outing of the year and the worst offensive outing of the year as far as missing easy shots.”

Greenwood will look to make it six straight when the Gators host Warren Central at 7:30 p.m. Friday. Logan County plays at Muhlenberg County at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

LCHS 6 14 11 7 5 – 43

GHS 6 11 4 17 6 – 44

LC – Thompson 10, Epley 9, Woodard 7, Powell 6, Krohn 3, Briggs 3, Harbison 3, Bell 2.

GHS – Carroll 15, Roberts 12, Stinnett 11, N. Stansbury 3, I. Stansbury 3.

Logan County 58, Greenwood 50, girls

The Lady Cougars rallied from 17 down in the final 10 minutes to stun the Lady Gators.

Greenwood appeared on the way to its second win of the season against Logan County, jumping out to a 6-0 advantage and stretching the margin to as much as 38-21 with 2:13 left in the third.

Logan County went to full-court pressure defense and Greenwood (10-3), with top two scorers Jacqueline Jackson and Carly Miller on the bench with four fouls, struggled with turnovers leading to easy transition baskets.

The Lady Cougars scored 17 straight to tie the game early in the fourth quarter. Greenwood got a Jackson free throw to regain the lead briefly, but Logan County scored the next six points to move in front for good.

Logan County (18-9) shot 28.6 percent, but forced 33 Greenwood turnovers.

“I have a gritty team,” Logan County coach Finley Baird said. “We had a couple of issues coming out, but we overcame that. We played hard and did what we needed to do to win that ballgame.”

Sarah Beth Hale led Logan County with 18 points. Paige Vanzant added 17 points and Kennedy Nichols finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Jackson led Greenwood with 21, while Miller added 10 points.

“One thing we told our kids before the game was that we can’t let Logan County control the tempo,” Greenwood coach Zach Simpson said. “That’s what they want to do. They want to control the tempo. They want to let their traps and pressure create your turnovers and then go the other way.

“I think for 2½ quarters we were phenomenal. We got in some foul trouble there, but you can’t discredit how good they were defensively right there in that short little span.”

Greenwood will host Butler County at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, while Logan County plays at Allen County-Scottsville at 6 p.m. Saturday.

LCHS 5 7 22 24 – 58

GHS 11 10 17 12 – 50

LC – Hale 18, Pa. Vanzant 17, Nichols 12, Pe. Vanzant 6, Garrett 3, White 2.

GHS – Jackson 21, Miller 10, Une 8, Milam 6, Trinh 5.{&end}