Crab Orchard Trojans advance to regional semifinals

JUNCTION -- Hunter Throgmorton hadn't made a shot all night but his 3-pointer with 90 seconds left and a pair of free throws pushed the Crab Orchard Trojans to a 46-42 win over Hardin County in the opening round of the Gallatin County 1A Regional on Monday evening.
In a game that had eight lead changes and five ties, the Trojans pulled ahead at 43-41 on Throgmorton's shot from just in front of Crab Orchard's bench. Then after Hardin County's Jamison Hicks split a pair of free throws, Throgmorton was sent to the foul line and the sophomore calmly swished two shots with 25.7 seconds left. The last of his six points came when he sealed the game with the second of two foul shots with 1.8 on the clock.
Crab Orchard is now 19-10 and advances to face top-seeded Cairo in Wednesday night's first semifinal game at 6 p.m.
While the sophomore Throgmorton did his damage late, Crab Orchard freshman Quentin Meyers did the bulk of the work in the first half. Meyers scored the last points of the first quarter and opened the second period with two free throws to give the Trojans a 14-9 lead.
The Cougars went in front at 17-16 on a three-point play by Jaron Austin and were up 25-18 after a tip-in by Conrad Cowsert, but Crab Orchard's Cameron Stephens and Tony Lakotich both hit 3-pointers to trim the margin to 25-24 at the break.
And in the third quarter, Hicks converted a three-point play and Austin drilled a trey for a 31-25 lead, but again the Trojans pulled to within a point on a free throw by Meyers before the frame ended.
Free throws by Levi Vinson put Crab Orchard in front early in the fourth, only to see Hicks and Hunter Cullum score to bounce the Cougars back ahead until Throgmorton's 3-pointer gave the Trojans the final lead swing.
Meyers finished with 16 points, with 10 coming in the first half. Crab Orchard's two seniors, Stephens and Vinson, respectively added nine and eight and Throgmorton had six. Dylan Elders, a freshman, chipped in four points and Lakotich had three for the Trojans, who were just 14 of 27 from the foul line.
Hicks led all scorers with 18 points and Austin had 11 for the Cougars.