By Jack Little

Contributing Writer

The Boyle County Rebels (0-0), the reigning 12th region champs, traveled to Spencer County (1-0) to face off against the Bears on Thursday night in their season opener, but this would be a significantly different Rebel roster than the one that took the floor at Rupp Arena.

Boyle would be without senior Luke Imfeld (leading scorer last season), as well as juniors Jakei Tarter (Averaged 3 points and 5 rebounds last year) and Dalton Stone, due to football still being in season. Sophomore Owen Barnes (8 points and 4 rebounds per game last year) was also out due to injury.

Despite the absences and adversity, the Rebels got off to a flying start. Boyle went up 8-0 after forcing three straight turnovers out of the full-court press.

The timeout helped the Bears figure out their press break and they came marching back into the game to cut the lead to 5 at the end of the 1st quarter.

The Rebels re-extended their lead early in the second quarter to 12, but they couldn’t put the game away as Spencer County hit two crucial 3-pointers, including one with less than 30 seconds to go in the half to cut the lead to 6.

The third and the first part of the fourth quarter was all Spencer. The Bears came out of the gates firing and draining three-pointers. Led by sophomore Luke Erhardt with 4, Spencer hit 9 three-pointers in the game.

Boyle found themselves down 4 late in the 4th quarter, but senior William Carr knocked down a deep three-pointer, one of his four three-pointers, to cut the lead down to one.

That shot shifted the momentum in Boyle’s direction. Immediately after, the Rebels forced two straight turnovers.

Boyle had the ball with 30 seconds remaining. Senior Hagan Webb took matters into his own hands and took the ball straight to the basket and drew a foul.

On the free throw line, Webb knocked down both shots which gave the Rebels a 60-59 lead.

The Bears came back down the floor, but the Boyle pressure was too much and they were forced to take a tough, off-balance shot that bounced off the rim, then off the backboard, and then out as time expired.

Webb was calm and collected when stepping up. “I had to stay focused on my routine. I couldn’t think about anything else. The first one going in helped. The second one made me a little nervous when I hit the rim, but I felt that it was good when I let it go.”

Carr was on fire from the get-go and led the scoring with 23. “I knew without some of our main scorers that the rest of us were going to have to step up,” said Carr.

“After I scored those 8 early points, I knew I had the hot hand. From then on I was just having fun!”

Carr also spoke on his team’s success. “The team played really well. We played as a unit and pulled out a tough win.”

For Boyle, Carr was followed by Webb with 19. Senior Cruise Wilson and Junior Kason Myers both had 7. Debutants Jack Little and Collin Green rounded out the scoring with 2 each.

The Rebels play next at Somerset (1-1) on Tuesday night.

Last season, the Briar Jumpers of Somerset gave the then 6-0 Rebels their first loss of the season in a 72-68 game played at Boyle County Middle School, so the Rebels will look to right those wrongs on Tuesday.