Mercer Defeats Bethlehem, But Falls To Muhlenburg And Spencer
April Ellis
Herald Staff
The Mercer County Senior High Titans (8-3) traveled to Campbellsville over the holiday weekend for the Taylor County Farm Bureau Holiday Classic. The Titans went 1-2 for the tournament, defeating Bethlehem (7-4) in the first round, but falling short in the second and third rounds to Muhlenburg County (9-3) and Spencer County (8-5).
The Titans, on occasion, struggle to put a full game together and that’s what caused their problems in the holiday classic. They struggled in the first quarter, which ultimately led to their Muhlenburg defeat, and when they came out flat after halftime in the third quarter, it cost them the Spencer County game. However, in the Bethlehem game, the Titans moved the ball well and kept up defensive pressure throughout the game, which led to a 80-56 victory.
Braylon Ellis and Jackson Doughty were all smiles during the Titans’ win over Bethlehem. (Image: The Harrodsburg Herald/April Ellis).
Mercer vs. Bethlehem
Senior Hagan Preston opened the game with a 3-point shot, but Mercer didn’t score for a couple of minutes until junior Kaleb Murray added two from the free throw line. The Eagles gave the Titans some trouble and the lead went back and forth. Senior Andrew Tatum dropped a shot from behind the arc and regained the lead, 10-9. With two minutes left in the quarter, Mercer went on an eight point scoring run and ended it up 18-13.
Mercer amped up the defensive pressure and forced back-to-back turnovers to start the second quarter. Preston maneuvered through the lane and added a basket. Murray added five more with an offensive put back followed with an assist from senior Trevor Ellis as he cut to the basket and earned himself an and one call, 27-21.
Preston got the and one call on his next possession and extended the Titans lead. Preston and Ellis combined for four in the last minute of the first half and fell just short of a double-digit lead, 35-26.
Mercer exploded in the second half and had their highest game score yet. Sophomore Mijaia Dunn played good defense forced a turnover that Tatum fed to Ellis for the drive. Preston dropped another 3-point shot, Murray and Ellis were tearing it up at the rim and Bethlehem put in a full court press hoping to break some of Mercer’s momentum. It did not. However, the Banshees did put up two 3-point shots.
After Tatum hit a 3-point shot from the corner, he hustled back on defense to force a turn over. Preston made a move to the basket and succeeded with the goal but missed the foul shot, but it was enough to give a 23 point lead with a little under 3 minutes in the quarter, 55-32. Preston put in another 3-point shot at the buzzer and the Titans closed out the third quarter up, 61-39.
Bethlehem’s Nick Osbourne and Thomas Mudd hit 3-point shots to start off the fourth quarter, but it wouldn’t be enough. Preston and Ellis continued to move to the basket and the Banshees struggled to stop them. On an out of bounds play under the defenses’ basket, Preston found junior Jackson Doughty alone under his own basket for an easy layup. The Banshee’s seemed to lose momentum, after a defensive rebound, Ellis had another long pass to Doughty for another uncontested layup. The Titans wrapped up the game after junior Gage Phillips made a move to the basket for two and sophomore Collier Sexton added Mercer’s last points off a drive, 80-56.
Senior forward Trevor Ellis created seperation and called for the ball during Mercer’s win over Bethlehem. Ellis finished the game with 24 points. (Image: The Harrodsburg Herald/April Ellis).
Mercer vs. Muhlenberg (12/27)
The Muhlenburg County Mustangs were hot from the 3-point line. Junior Isaac Coats was six for seven on his 3-point shots and every time he was open behind the arc, he didn’t hesitate to let it fly. This is one of the games the Titans struggled to put a complete game together. They came out flat in the first quarter and it cost them in the end, losing 62-55.
In the first quarter, Coats dropped two 3s and jumped up 6-0 on the Titans. Tatum scored on a layup from a long pass off a defensive rebound. It took mercer 4 minutes to get on the score board. With under a minute in the first quarter, Preston sank both his foul shots and Mercer trailed at the end of the first quarter 16-6.
In the opening seconds of the second quarter, Murray hit a jump shot off the top of the key and it looked liked the Titans had finally found their rhythm. Well it seemed that way until Coats dropped back-to-back 3 point shots and expanded their lead 24-8. The Titans shrugged it off and got back to work. Ellis had eight points and started chipping away at the Mustangs lead. Excellent ball movement found Murray open for the 3. Doughty hit another trey for the Titans, and just like that the lead was cut to single digits, 23-28. Both teams put up two more points and closed out the first half with Muhlenberg still in the lead 30-25.
