Tell City outshoots Hornets

HAWESVILE, Ky. - Tell City hit 60.5 percent from the field and beat Hancock County 69-56 in boys basketball Friday.

Hancock County also shot well, hitting 52.2 percent from the field.

Both teams worked the ball inside for most of their shots - they combined to make only one three-point basket.

Nineteen of Hancock County's 24 field goals came from within 9 feet of the basket, including the first 13 the Hornets made.

Senior guard Garrett Helm used good penetration to make nine inside shots before he hit an 18-footer and a 13-footer late in the third quarter.

He led the Hornets with 25 points on 11 of 15 field-goal shooting and 3 of 4 free throws. But he did not score in the fourth quarter.

"We let No. 20 (Helm) get way too much early," said Tell City Coach John Hayes. "Then we put Evan Rothgerber on him and told him to not let No. 20 get anything - to clamp down on him. I thought Evan did a tremendous defensive job on him."

Several Hornets scored inside in the first half. They weren't exactly beating Tell City's full-court press but they got several shots in the lane before the Marksmen's defense was completely set.

"We weren't rotating quick enough," said Hayes. "The second line of our press came out too far and had too much ground to cover to get back."

Still because the Marksmen were also working the ball inside well at the other end, they led the entire game.

Joseph Kohnert scored two inside baskets - one on a rebound - and hit two free throws in a 9-0 run by the Marksmen in the first 2 1/2 minutes of the second quarter that stretched their lead to 11 points, 27-16.

Kohnert also had an assist on a layup by Eric Henrickson in that stretch.

Hancock County cut the Marksmen's lead to five points at the end of the third quarter and was still within six points with 5:09 left in the game.

The Marksmen answered with a 12-0 run in the next 2:02, fueled by nine points by Ryan Zuelly and three from Kohnert.

Zuelly made two steals and layups in that span and got a three-point play on one, as he made a nice spin move to the basket.

He took only one shot in the first half, which he sat out the majority of in foul trouble. But he finished with 13 points on 4 of 4 field-goal shooting and 5 of 7 free throws in the second half.

"He played a great second half," said Hayes. "He played under control."

Kohnert finished with a career-high 27 points on 8 of 11 field-goal shooting and 11 of 15 free throws. He also grabbed eight rebounds.

The Marksmen won the rebounding battle 24-20. But the 6-foot-5 Kohnert was not their leading rebounder.

That honor went to 5-9 guard Andy Chinn, who grabbed eight in the first half and finished with a career-high nine.

"Our big guys were battling so hard and getting locked up with their big guys that I think he (Chinn) got a couple being in the right place at the right time," said Hayes.

The Marksmen improved to 11-2, their best start in 29 years. The last time they were 11-2 was in 1979 when Mark Flannagan, a current assistant coach and father of a senior player, was their leading scorer.

Hancock County fell to 5-12.

Tell City will host Castle Friday at 7:30 p.m.

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Tell City won the junior varsity game 47-37 as Jesse Stowe had 14 points and six rebounds.

Jordan Rhodes added eight points for the 9-3 Marksmen and Corey Young had four assists.