PIKEVILLE, KY — Bracken County beat Perry County Central, 79-68, in the 3rd place game of the Pikeville Invitational Tournament.
The Polar Bear Bears went 2-1 in the tournament. They beat Paul Laurence Dunbar 74-68 and lost to Harlan 83-67 the previous two nights. Bracken County moved to 8-2 after beating Perry Central, the defending 14th Region Champions.
Perry Country Central lost to eventual PIT champion Pikeville 74-70 the previous night.
The lead changed six times in the 1st quarter, but the Polar Bears and Commodores were tied at the end of one.
Perry County Central’s only and largest lead would be by 3 points at 6:31 in the 1st.
Devante Jefferson would score 9 of his career-high 22 points in the next quarter. Bracken outscored Perry Central 26-21 in the 2nd, and would take a 42-37 lead into halftime.
Blake Reed made a half-court buzzer-beating bank shot to end the half.
Blake Reed came out of the half with back-to-back goals. A three from Austin Norton would put Bracken County up by double digits, 49-39, with 4:32 in the 3rd. Norton would hit two threes in the game and score 12 points.
Chase Archibald would make his second three of the game and stretch Bracken County’s lead to 55-43 with 2:48 left in the third.
Bracken County would lead at the end of three 59-47 over Perry County Central.
Blake Reed would score 6 straight points to start the last quarter, putting Bracken County ahead by 15 with 5:54 left in the game. The Polar Bears would get their largest lead of the night at 17 points shortly after.
By midway through the 4th quarter, both teams were visibly tired after three days of basketball in the mountains. This resulted in ten straight back-and-forth baskets by both teams due to the lack of defensive effort and exhaustion.
Bracken County won the game 79-68 and moved to 8-2. Perry County Central fell to 6-6.
Blake Reed finished with 35 points. The junior is now 18 away from 3,000 career points.
Bracken County’s next game will be against Mason County on Tuesday, December 27th, at 8:30 pm at Lexington Catholic. We will have a preview and updates on the WGM Holiday Classic next week.
BOX SCORE:
Bracken County (79) — Blake Reed 35, Devante Jefferson 22 (10 rebounds), Austin Norton 12, Chase Archibald 10.
Perry County Central (68) — Kizer Slone 13, Dylan Knight 12, Carter Castle 12, Ridge Beverly 10, Trayten Woods 8, Tyler Day 7, Mason McAlarnis 6.
BC: 16-26-17-20—79
PCC: 16-21-10-21—68
Field Goals: Bracken 32/56 (57.1%), Perry 31/71 (43/7%)
3-Point: Bracken 8/17 (47.1%), Perry 2/11 (18.2%)
Free Throws: Bracken 7/10 (70%), Perry 4/7 (57.1%)
Rebounds: Bracken 31, Perry 40
Assists: Bracken 10, Perry 15
Turnovers: Bracken 13, Perry 13
Steals: Bracken 7, Perry 8
Fast Break: Bracken 12, Perry
Paint: Bracken 32, Perry 42
Second Chance: Bracken 4, Perry 13
Bench: Bracken 0, Perry 18
Records: Bracken 8-2, Perry 6-6
