West County rallies from early deficit to advance to title game

By CHRIS PERKINS
Daily Journal Sports Writer

PARK HILLS — Two nights after bouncing third-seeded Arcadia Valley in the opening round of the Class 3, District 3 tournament, the Herculaneum Blackcats had another high seed on the ropes. Early in the second quarter, the Blackcats led the second-seed West County Bulldogs 17-6.

By halftime, however, the Bulldogs had roared back to take a two-point lead before pulling away for a 61-45 victory and a berth in the district championship game.

In the opening four minutes, both teams spent their time matching baskets. Terry Moore tied the game at 6-6 before the Blackcat defense stood firm and held the Bulldogs scoreless the rest of the period, leading 13-6 entering the second.

Drew Achter and Justin Ramsey opened the second quarter with quick baskets, giving Herculaneum an 11-point lead, their largest of the game. Tyler Stacy started the Bulldog comeback with a three-pointer, making it 17-9. Later, Moore found Torey Watson with a no-look bounce pass for an open layup, cutting the Blackcat lead to six.

On West County’s next possession, it was Watson doing the giving, as he passed the ball to Stacy for a baseline three-pointer, and the Bulldogs only trailed by 20-17 with four minutes left in the half.

Corey Whelehon converted a three-point play to cut the deficit to two before Zac Priest closed out the half with back-to-back buckets to give West County their first lead, 24-22.

The teams went back to trading baskets in the first minutes of the third quarter. Herculaneum led 28-27 on a pair of Thomas Plager free throws with 5:22 left for Herculaneum’s final points of the quarter. West County exploded on an 18-0 run to turn what had been a close game into a blowout.

Herculaneum went nearly nine minutes without a field goal before Ramsey ended the drought with 5:40 left in the game. The basket cut the West County lead to 47-33.

West County had four players in double figures, led by Tyler Stacy with 14 points. Torey Watson finished with 13, Terry Moore added 12 and Corey Whelehon had 11. Zac Priest finished with nine points and a game-high 11 rebounds. Thomas Plager led the Blackcats with 13 points. Justin Ramsey finished with 10.

West County  6 18 17 20 - 61

Herculaneum  13 9 6 17 - 45

Scorers:

West County - Stacy 14, Watson 13, Moore 12, Whelehon 11, Priest 9, Williams 2

3-point FG - Stacy 4, Watson

Herculaneum - Plager 13, Ramsey 10, Washburn 7, Harrison 6, Martinez 4, Southern 3, Achter 2

3-point FG - Washburn, Ramsey