Madison Southern (12-20) played arguably the best team in the state of Kentucky and one of the top teams in the nation in Scott County (32-1). Scott County entered the game with only one loss but many were not picking them to win the region, instead all the chatter was about Madison Central and Lexington Christian. You can bet that Billy Hicks used that as motivation for his team entering the tournament. For Madison Southern they enter off a loss to Madison Central and without senior point guard Tre McCreath as he was ejected in the district championship game. Southern tried to appeal to have him eligible for tonight’s game but it was denied. Asked Shane Buttry before the game what we could expect from his team and was told they were going to mix it up on defense and just try to stay close for the first half. Everyone knew that this was going to be the biggest challenge the Eagles have had in a long time, but no one could have predicted what was about to happen.
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The game started quickly for the Cardinals as Glenn Covington knocked down a three pointer only 9 seconds into the game. Shawn Short answered that with a basket of his own but that was all the offense the Eagles would have for a long spell. Scott County behind some great defense and hot shooting out score Madison Southern 38-3 after a quarter of play. Southern plagued by 10 turnovers and 1-11 shooting coupled with Scott Co. shooting 16-26 and knocking down 5 three’s was all the number two team in the state needed. The second quarter Hunter Buchanan knocked in a three but that was answered by a Cardinal three, Scott County was 11-17 in the first half behind the arc. Chad Fugate with a three of his own in the quarter but Scott County, playing with a chip on their shoulder it seemed, ran out to a 80-22 lead at halftime. All State player Michael Moreno had 29 points in the half. Fugate led Southern with 6 at the break.
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Second half saw Coach Hicks sit his starters but the second and third team for the Cards were just as hot as the first team. Scott County would go on to set an 11th region tournament record for points in a game with 114 as they win 114-37.
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While it defiantly wasn’t pretty and the performance the Eagles would have liked to have had you have to credit this team and these seniors for their accomplishments over the past four seasons. These seniors, Tre McCreath, Shawn Short, Landon Stacy, and Nate Eads helped the Eagles win their first district championship in a quarter century last season over Madison Central and were a part of the that team that won a school record best 26 games. In his final high school game Shawn Short, a fiery player on the court, finished with 6 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists. Landon Stacy had 2 rebounds, Nate Eads with a rebound and a steal. Chad Fugate with 14 points and a couple of rebounds, Trent Moberly 2 points and 5 rebounds, Hunter Buchanan 3 points 2 rebounds, Britton Robinson 4 points and 2 assists, Turner Buttry a point and 3 assists, Samuel Lee with 5 points, and Jonah Wooten with 2.