Sports Editor

hazardherald0@alltel.net

After a couple of years of rebuilding their program, the Buckhorn Wildcats are back on the high school basketball scene. This past week, the Wildcats made waves in the 14th region All "A" tournament, going all the way to the semifinals.

The Wildcats opened the tournament on the road at Cordia, and pulled off a stunning upset of the home-standing Lions. After trailing most of the game, the Wildcats rallied to tie the game in the final minute, and eventually won the game on a last second shot by Brandon Miller.

Jordan Johnson and Zach Gay helped led the Wildcats to victory with 15 points each. Gay was 3 of 4 from the 3-point line.

Buckhorn (53) Jordan Johnson 15 (5 rebounds and 5 assists), Zach Gay 15 (5 rebounds), Brandon Miller 12, Jeremy Abner 5, Jake Rice 4 (5 rebounds), Kevin Davidson 2 and James Eversole 2.

Cordia (51) Zach Hurt 18, Andrew Moore 10, James Taylor 8, Josh Taylor 6, Corey Gamble 5 and Dennis Farler 4.

In their second round match up, the Wildcats picked up their offense to down the June Buchanan Crusaders by the final score of 85-73. Buckhorn was able to seal the deal from the free throw line, hitting 20 of 22 in the final quarter (27-31 for the game).

Jake Rice picked up his game in the second half, scoring 20 of his 23 points and grabbing 7 rebounds. Rice finished with a double-double (23 points and 15 rebounds) Brandon Miller also finished the game with 23 points, with 21 of his points coming in the first half.

Buckhorn (85) Jake Rice 23 (15 rebounds), Brandon Miller 23, Kevin Davidson 10 (3 assists), Jordan Johnson 9 (7 assists), Jeremy Abner 9 (6 rebounds), and Zach Gay 9 (8 rebounds)

June Buchanan (73) Kyle Hall 23, Clark Stepp 20, Ryan Conley 14, Kevin Huff 5, Garrison Collins 4, Ryan Martin 3 and Jonathan Howard 3.

Unfortunately, the Wildcats' stellar run came to an end in the semifinals as they fell to the Wolfe County Wolves by the final score of 71-50. The score is a little deceiving as the Wildcats put up a valiant effort for 28 of the 32 minutes of play. However, those four minutes were enough to doom Buckhorn.

Jordan Johnson led the Wildcats on this night, tossing in 14 points and dishing out 4 assists. Jake Rice had his second double-double of the tournament with 11 points and 11 rebounds.

Buckhorn (50) Jordan Johnson 14 (4 assists), James Eversole 7, Jake Rice 11 (11 rebounds), Kevin Davidson 10 (3 rebounds), Jeremy Abner 4, Brandon Miller 3 (4 rebounds) and Jeremy Davis 1. Zach Gay had 3 rebounds and 3 blocks.