December is proving to be a tough month for the Blazers as they came back off the road loss at Cedar View to take on two back-to-back conference games at home. Thursday, Cumberland gave Georgetown all they could handle but ended up short in the 54-52 final. The Bourbon Christian Academy Lions also overtook the Blazers down the stretch for a 69-57 final score.
Cumberland took the lead early against the Georgetown Homeschool Group Crusaders with a 13-8 lead at the end of the first. Several runouts by the Crusaders in the second quarter along with missed free throw opportunities put the Blazers down by 8 at the half. Cumberland regained their composure in the third quarter can came back to tie 35 all and Georgetown kept it close all through the fourth. The game came down to two plays with less than 45 seconds on the clock. The Blazers missed a game winning shot with less than 10 seconds on the clock which gave Georgetown time to come back full court for a layup at the buzzer for the 54-52 final score.
Shane Jung led the Blazers with 20 points while Tanner Pilarski and Cameron Mitchell pitched in 12 and 11 respectively. Conner Kincaid put in 19 for the Crusaders. Caleb Burnett added 16 and Tanner Crawford 11.
Cumberland regrouped and prepared for the fourth ranked Lions on Friday night. The Blazers left 6 points in free throws on the court in the first and trailed 24-15 at the end of the period. Down 39-25 at the half, Cumberland went on a couple of runs in the second half but was not able to close the gap to less than double digits for a 69-57 final score.
Tanner Pilarski led both teams in scoring with 28 and Shane Jung added 14. Bryce Kincaid led the Lions with 20 points while James Taylor pitched in 11.
“It’s tough to head out of this week without a ‘W’ in the book,” said Blazers head coach Justin Hensley after the third loss of the week on Friday night. “We played some close games. I take full responsibility for the Georgetown loss Thursday. It came down to bad coaching on my part to get our guys the best chance to win at the buzzer. Our guys played their tails off this week and we’re going to put some wins on the board if we keep up the hard work.”
Cumberland (3-6, 2-4) will take on Danville Christian (KHSAA) in a non-conference home matchup at First Baptist Church in Barbouville Tuesday night with a 7pm tip. The Blazers will hit the road this weekend and travel to western Kentucky for the Hawks Christmas Invitational at Belmont Christian Academy in Morgantown.
Cumberland Homeschool Athletic Teams, Inc is a 501c3 nonprofit organization designed to provide opportunities for K-12 student athletes to participate in competitive athletics principally in the Cumberland Valley region of Southeast Kentucky.
