Tolsia started out hot with a 22-16 first quarter lead behind 2 three pointers apiece from Jacob Mollette and Jesse Muncy.
The two teams battled in the second quarter with both teams scoring 20 points as the Rebels led 42-36 at the break.
In the third quarter the Bulldogs stormed in front with a 28-14 scoring advantage behind 8 points from Cody Maynard and 6 points from Chase Sartin to take a 64-56 lead going into the final stanza.
In the fourth it was Lucas Maynard scoring 7 points including a huge three pointer from the corner to keep the Rebels at bay and the Dawgs used second chance points to come away with the win to advance to the Championship game on Saturday night.
Lawrence Co. had all five starters in double figures and was led by Cody Maynard with 30 points including 9-10 from the free throw line, Chase Sartin tallied 23 points, Lucas Maynard finished with 17 points, Noah Fairchild 11 points, Tyler Maynard 10 points, Alex Ratliff chipped in with 2 points.
LCHS went 16-25 at the line and hit 3 three pointers in the contest.
Tolsia had three players in double figures as Freshman Jesse Muncy was lights out for the Rebels with a team high 28 points including 3 three pointers and 7-7 from the line, Austin Salmons finished with 21 points, Jacob Mollette tallied 18 points including 2 three pointers, Tyler Johnson had 7 points, Zach Ball 4 points, Rob Cantrell and Braxton Williams 2 points each.
THS went 12-17 from the charity stripe and hit 6 three pointers.
Lawrence Co. 16 20 28 29 = 93
Tolsia 22 20 14 28 = 84
Lawrence Co. will face Johnson Central ( 2-1 ) at 8:30 Saturday night for the Championship.
Tolsia will face Huntington( 0-1 ) at 6:45 in the consolation game.
In the first game of the #RISEabove Rebel Shootout Johnson Central overcame a 12 point halftime deficit to beat Huntington in overtime 80-72.
Lawrence Co. Head Coach Travis York
Coach’s comments
“…Second chance points really hurt us in the first half, it felt like neither team could get a defensive rebound. We had to score 93 to win because we couldn’t stop them, Jesse Muncy killed us we couldn’t slow him down. We tried a bunch of defenses on him.”
“… Tyler Maynard has done so much for us the last few nights and carries such a heavy loss he struggled tonight I think because he was tired. Other kids stepped up. I thought Chase Sartin played his best game and Cody Maynard really controlled the game.”
“… Great win tonight in a very good atmosphere. We feel good about ourselves right now but have a tough challenge Saturday vs Johnson Central who we also play Tuesday.”
Tolsia Head Coach Todd Maynard
COACH’S COMMENTS
“… One of the Key things that we talked about was second chance points. It was a category that we needed to win and we didn’t. Three things that we talked about we defense, offensive rebounding, and turnovers. I almost guarantee we lost all three. You give up 93 points you’re not going to win very many games.”
“… Give them a ton of credit, we did a great job on Tyler Maynard but the other kids hurt us, Cody Maynard, Chase Sartin and Lucas Maynard went off. We knew we couldn’t leave them open and we had some break downs on defense. They spread us out and our individual defense wasn’t very good. Give them their due.”
“… When we set this #RISEabove tournament up we didn’t bring in cupcakes all four teams are quality opponents that fans around the Tri state area want to see. The crowd tonight was awesome. Glenhayes is a basketball place and Rebel Arena was rocking tonight.”
“… I had a vision that this tournament was more then just about basketball. Wanted to make it about making right choices, no matter if you’re in high school or middle school.”
