Spartans cool off red-hot Logan County

Published 11:49 pm Tuesday, January 28, 2025

by Micheal Compton

RUSSELLVILLE — The South Warren boys’ basketball team bounced back from an emotional double-overtime loss to Warren Central to cool down a red-hot Logan County team with a 69-58 win at Logan County on Tuesday.

South Warren (13-6) took control late in the second quarter and used a strong second half to earn the road win and get some momentum heading into a battle with District 14 rival Bowling Green on Friday.

“I’m proud of the way they closed the game out,” SW coach Carlos Quarles said. “We were a little sloppy tonight. We missed probably double-digit layups. They are a well-coached team. Hat’s off to Logan.”

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Logan County (10-9) entered with eight wins in the last nine games, including a win against Edmonson County on Monday. The Cougars held a 15-13 lead early in the second quarter before the momentum began to shift. An 8-2 spurt allowed South Warren to slip in front midway through the second. Samson Hightower’s three-point play trimmed the deficit to 21-20, but a 3-pointer from Griffin Rardin sparked a 10-0 run that gave the Spartans an 11-point lead.

Rardin added another 3 with 15 seconds remaining in the half, before two Logan County free throws made the score 36-26 at halftime.

“We are an unselfish basketball team … but sometimes we need a spark to get going,” Quarles said. “We got a couple of guys that came off the bench and got us going tonight.”

Logan County opened the second half with an 8-0 spurt to trim the deficit to two, but the Cougars were unable to get any closer. Thad Hall’s bucket sparked a 6-0 run from South Warren that gave the Spartans some distance again. The lead grew to 50-39 after three, with South Warren leading by as many as 14 points in the fourth quarter.

Hall led the Spartans with 15 points. Rardin added 12 points, while Owen Shively finished with 11 points.

“We didn’t play the best game overall, but we came in a tough environment and we just did the job,” Rardin said.

Tyler Johnson and Nicholas Blann led Logan County with 14 points each, while Hightower — coming off back-to-back games scoring 30-plus points — and Davis Switzer finished with 10 points each.

“That run at the end of the first half was kind of the difference, even though we went on that run to start the second half,” Logan County coach Josh Frick said. “Also we are playing on back-to-back nights. I thought our legs kind of gave way to us about halfway through the third, but you have to give them a lot of credit. They are a really good basketball team. We had mismatches all night and they took advantage of those.”

Both teams return at action at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Logan County will host Russellville, while South Warren travels to Bowling Green.

SWHS 13 23 14 19 — 69

LCHS 14 12 13 19 — 58

SW — Hall 15, Rardin 12, Shively 11, Perkins 8, Decker 7, Willis 6, Page 5, Jarvis 3, Button 2.

LC — Johnson 14, Blann 14, Hightower 10, Switzer 10, Sells 2, Thomas 2, Tichenor 2, Hinton 2, Woodard 2.

GIRLS

Logan County 42, South Warren 39

A strong fourth quarter was the difference for the Lady Cougars in a game that went back and forth most of the night.

Logan County (11-9) shot 43% from the field and limited the miscues, with nine turnovers on the night.

“We are seeing so many things that plagued us early that are not anymore,” Logan County coach Dedra Adler said. “We are getting it figured out. We hope that we peak at the right time. There are a lot of teams in the region that are in that boat, so that is what we are wanting at this point — to peak at the right time.”

Logan County scored seven straight to build a 15-10 lead early in the second, but South Warren (7-12) battled back and tied the score 20-all at halftime.

The Spartans scored the first four points in the second half, but six straight from Logan County put the Lady Cougars back in front 26-24 late in the third.

The lead volleyed back and forth over the next few minutes with a layup from Jenna Lindsey gave South Warren a 33-32 lead with 5:30 remaining. Logan County scored eight straight to take its largest lead of the night at 40-33.

The Spartans were able to get as close as 41-39 before Brenley Adler split a pair of free throws to secure the final margin of victory for the Lady Cougars.

“I thought they did a really good job of coming out in the second half and really try to attack the basket and work from the inside out,” Dedra Adler said. “We handled the press well. We handled the pressure well, but we just didn’t execute as well in the first half as I would like to. The second half I thought we made the little adjustments that we needed to.”

Brenley Adler led Logan County with 15 points, while Reese Wetton added 12 points.

“It definitely gives us more confidence going into more district play,” Brenley Adler said. “We’ve only had three district games so far and we have three big ones left to determine the seeding. With as young as we are, we are starting to learn to play together — get more team chemistry.”

Averi Fugate had 10 points to lead South Warren.

Logan County hosts Russellville at 6 p.m. on Friday, while South Warren will play at Bowling Green at 6 p.m. on Friday.

SWHS 10 10 9 10 — 39

LCHS 8 12 10 12 — 42

SW — Fugate 10, Strow 8, Hudson 7, Calvert 6, Lindsey 4, Overbay 2, Carter 2.

LC — Adler 15, R. Wetton 12, Bilyeu 8, Mason 5, Holiday 2.

About Micheal Compton

I am a sports reporter and movie critic for the Bowling Green Daily News.

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