WEBSTER COUNTY, Ky. (1/16/13) - Webster County boys’ basketball team improved to 10-8 on the season, splitting a pair of contest last week. WCHS topped Caldwell County but then fell to Breckinridge County in a buzzer beater. The Trojans will compete in the All “A” Regional Tournament this week, hosted by Crittenden County. Webster is the defending All “A” Regional champs.

Webster County 51
Caldwell County 45

Webster County senior Kyle Hayes continued his hot shooting Tuesday night, leading the Trojans to a hard-fought win over the visiting Tigers last Tuesday night in Dixon. It was the fourth straight win for WCHS.

“We were fortunate to come away with a win because Caldwell was definitely the more aggressive team from the start,” noted WCHS head coach Jon Newton. “But our guys found a way to overcome a slow start and pull through in the end.”

Hayes, who nailed a trio of 3-pointers all in the second half, finished with a game-high 17 points.

Dan Boswell was also in double figures with 13 points while J. D. Newton added 11 points. Both Newton and Boswell pulled down six rebounds in the win. Webster struggled in the first quarter, falling behind 14-10 to a young Caldwell County squad. Webster picked up the pace a bit in the second period behind six points from Boswell and four from Newton. When the first half whistle sounded, the Trojans had gained a slim 24-23 lead.

WCHS then used a 15-10 scoring edge to earn a 39-33 lead heading into the final eight minutes and tacked on a 5-0 run to open the fourth quarter for a seemingly comfortable 44-33 advantage. Madison Melton’s 3-pointer capped off the surge. The Tigers fought back to set up a thrilling final six minutes of action. Caldwell (5-11) scored nine unanswered points in the next 3:01 to trim the WCHS lead to 44-42. Hayes, who scored 14 points in the second half, hit a driving layup to put the lead back to 44-42.

But the Tigers answered at the other end with a basket and then after a Webster miss, Dee Cain was fouled and he converted 1-of-2 free throws to cut the lead to just one point, 46-45 with 1:31 to go. Hayes came up big for Webster one more time, converting another driving shot in the lane for the hoop with 1:14 remaining and a 48-45 lead.

Caldwell committed back-to-back turnovers on its next two trips and were forced to foul. Mason Roland canned a pair of free throws and Hayes added one freebie in the final 20.1 seconds to ‘seal the deal’. Melton finished with six points in the victory while Roland added four points.

“Much like the win against Union County, our decision making and free throw shooting down the stretch really paid off,” Newton added.

Webster County 58
Breckinridge County 59

The Tigers rolled in to Dixon on Saturday night and snapped a four-game WCHS winning streak, rallying in the final three minutes to claim the victory.

Justin Potts lifted a shot from under the basket at the buzzer right at the final horn to hand Breckinridge the victory. The see-saw battle saw Webster gain a 10-9 first quarter lead while Breckinridge tied the game at halftime 28-all. The Trojans regained a two point lead after three quarters of play (44-42) before the Tigers rallied in the final three minutes to claim the victory.

“It was a slow start for us and we never really found our groove. Breckinridge is a veteran team and they really did a good job of playing aggressive basketball and taking the fight to us,” Newton stated. “The buzzer-beater was a fitting end to our night, it just seemed we were a step behind all night and not very aggressive.”

Dan Boswell led the Trojans with 14 points and six rebounds while Logan Prow added 12 points.

Kyle Hayes finished with 10 points and three assists. J. D. Newton added eight points, Mason Roland seven points along with four assists and four steals while Max McMain scored five points. Madison Melton completed the scoring with two points. Breckinridge held a strong 27-16 rebounding edge which proved to be a difference in the game. The Tigers committed 18 turnovers to the Trojans’ 13.

“Hopefully our guys will learn from this game and realize they have to be ready (to play) each night from the opening tip,” Newton concluded.

Charlie Hust
Journal Enterprise

Copyright © 2012 SurfKY News Group, Inc. all rights reserved.  SurfKY.com is an eNewspaper providing local news FREE to Kentucky 24/7.  Read Statewide Kentucky News, Sports, Obituaries and more from the following Kentucky Counties:  Calloway, Christian, Daviess, Fayette (Lexington), Henderson, Hopkins, Logan, McCracken, Muhlenberg, Warren, and Webster Counties as well as the Kentucky Lakes Area.