By JON WEBB
GLASGOW — The Trojans shooting woes ended Friday night.
After several games firing in the 20 to 30 percentile range, Barren County shot 46 percent from the field to beat Hart County 65-45.
“We got some easier looks tonight, and that makes a big difference,” head coach Warren Cunningham said.
Caleb Dubree, Ben Hubbard and Luke Deckard all took advantage of those “easier looks.” Each scored in double figures, while senior guard Austin Birge added nine.
“We almost had four people in double figures tonight. That’s something we haven’t had in a while,” Cunningham said.
The Trojans had also gone awhile without a win.
The victory over the Raiders snapped a six-game losing streak and ended Barren’s run of nine losses in its last 10 games.
A win against Hart was inevitable early.
Although the Raiders kept Barren without a field goal until the 5:42 mark, the Trojans still managed to built a 17-7 lead after the first quarter thanks to outside shooting from Dubree and Birge.
Birge nailed threes on back-to-back possessions to put Barren in front 7-5 with 5:03 left in the quarter. A Dubree free throw upped the lead to three before Hart’s Cedric Vaughn responded with a pair of free throws. Dubree erased the dent with a bomb that ignited a quarter-closing 9-0 Barren run.
“Austin got us going, and got (Hart) out of their zone,” Cunningham said. “I thought those two (Dubree and Birge) played really well for us. Birge early, and Dubree throughout the game.”
Five Hart unanswered points at the onset of the second quarter cut the Trojans’ advantage to 17-12, but Birge and Dubree struck again, ratting off five unanswered of their own to return the lead to 10. The lead peaked at 12 when Tyler Hammer sank a three-pointer at the 3:40 mark. Hart was able to get closer by the end of the quarter, however, and went into the locker room trailing by nine.
Six third-quarter points from Hubbard helped Barren increase its lead to 15 by the end of the third. The senior forward added five more in the fourth to go with six from Deckard to help the Trojans lock down a 20-point win.
Dubree led the Trojans with 16 points. Hubbard pitched in 14 and Deckard 13. Birge added nine and William Dalton chipped in four.
As of Friday, the win is only Barren’s second since the new year. Before the 2010 downturn, the Trojans boasted a 7-4 record. Their only other win since Dec. 30 was a 60-56 road victory over Warren East on Jan. 12.
Rebounding, as well as the improved shooting performance played a big role in the win. The Trojans out-boarded Hart County 35-18 and ripped down 13 offensive rebounds on the night that led to 11 second-chance points.
After the game, Cunningham said rebounding would play a big role in Barren’s Saturday matchup with the Scotties.
“It will a huge key with Glasgow,” he said. “We’ll have to keep them off the offensive glass.”
Barren will travel to Russell County on Tuesday and Cumberland County on Friday before closing its season with home dates against Metcalfe County (Feb. 16) and Clinton County (Feb. 18).
