KING OF THE BLUEGRASS: CHAMPIONSHIP -- St. John's 59,Taylor County 56

In a battle of teams making their first King of the Bluegrass Championship appearance it was St. John's (7-2) who claimed the victory over Taylor County (10-1). The win was the Cadets first championship in the event and extended their winning streak to seven games. The game was an instant classic with the teams exchanging the lead twelve times including three lead changes and three ties in the final three minutes of play.

The opening quarter of the game was the Brandon Berry show as the Taylor County senior single-handedly outscored St. John's with 19 points including three 3-point field goals. The Cardinals 23-16 lead at the end of the first quarter didn't last long as Anthony Cowan capped an 8-0 run by St. John's put the Cadets ahead 24-23. An old fashion three-point play by Tre Wood put St. John's on top by four just minutes later. An administrative Technical Foul on St. John's with 1:46 to play put David Sloan at the free throw line where he tied the game at 31-31. Austin Webster put the Cardinals back in the leads with less than twenty seconds to play, but it was Jeffrey Dowtin's 3-pointer with three seconds to play that sent St. John's to the locker room with a 34-33 lead.

St. John's Matas Budrys opened the second half with a three-pointer to push the Cadets ahead by four and it took six straight points by Quentin Goodin to get Taylor County back in it midway through the third quarter. A putback by Brandon Berry gave the Cardinals their first lead of the half but it was short lived as Anthony Cowan drilled a three-pointer on the next possession to put St. John's back ahead. Ezra Oliver's basket with 2:24 remaining in the third quarter gave Taylor County a lead they would hold for nearly the next seven minutes. With 3:32 remaining in the game Jeffrey Dowtin got a block on one end of the floor and a basket on the other to put St. John's back in the lead 53-52. A pair of David Sloan free throws tied the game with 1:48 remaining and a third Sloan free throw put the Cards ahead 55-54 with 51.9 remaining in the game. A foul

on Goodin sent St. John's Cowan back to charity stripe where he hit a pair to put the Cadets ahead 56-55 with 6.1 seconds to play. A Tre Woods foul on the other end sent Sloan back to the free throw line where he hit the first-of-two shots to tie the game with 3.2 remaining. A miss and ensuing foul by Sloan put the Cadets' Dowtin on the line where he hit two free throws to put St. John's ahead 58-56. Anthony Cowan stole the ensuing inbound pass and sealed the St. John's 59-56 win with a final free throw.

Taylor County was led by Brandon Berry's 25 point, 11 rebound performance. All-Tournament Team selections Quentin Goodin and David Sloan added 16 points and 8 points respectively. Tounament Most Valuable Player Anthony Cowan Jr. notched 18 points for the Cadets and All-Tournament Team selection Jeffrey Dowtin added 12 points.

2014 Forcht Bank King of the Bluegrass Holiday Classic - Game Box Score
Taylor County Cardinals vs. St. John's Cadets
Date: 12/23/2014 Time: 7:30pm Site: Fairdale High School

Visitors: St. John's Cadets

Name

3 Pt

PTS

ORB

DRB

AST

MIN

* Kylia Sykes

1/3

1/1

2/4