Nick Nelson 2nd Team All State

Nick Nelson of Mason County was named Second Team All-State by the Kentucky High School Baseball Coaches Association.

Nelson, the ace of the Royals' pitching staff, has signed with Xavier University.

Austin Crawford of Bracken County received Honorable Mention recognition.

Crawford will play basketball at Morehead State University.

Campbell Co. and Bracken Co. advance in 10th Region Tournament

The Campbell County Camels and the Bracken County Polar Bears posted wins in the quarterfinal round of the 10th Region Tournament tonight at the Mason County Fieldhouse and will meet in the semifinals Monday night.

Garren Bertsch scored 19 points and Cole Hegyi added 15 points in Campbell County's 55-45 win over the Clark County Cardinals in the opening game of the tournament.

Austin Crawford scored 21 points to lead Bracken County to a 52-40 victory over the Harrison County Thorobreds- the Polar Bears' first win  in the 10th Region Tournament since 1989.

Harrison County led 16-10 with Crawford on the bench with two fouls in the second quarter. Crawford returned to the game and Bracken County ended the half on an 11-0 run.

Campbell Co. (29-4)  Day 7, Bertsch 19, Hegyi 15, Clos 8, Jolly 6

Clark Co. (20-13) Williams 3, Taylor 1, Cooper 10, Graham 11, Philpot 20

Campbell Co. 10 09 14 22- 55

Clark Co.        14 10 06 15- 45

BC (17-14) Crawford 21, Engnes 9, Jones  6, Tanner Fisher 5, Tad Fisher 1, Appleman 2, Deaton 8

HC (6-26) Turley 10, Harris 6, Gilkey 10, Boyers 2, Price 8, Midden 4

BC 09 12 17 14- 52

HC 10 06 07 17- 40

Royals hang on for a 73-68 win over Bracken County for district championship

The Mason County Royals built a 13-point lead in the fourth quarter and held on for 73-68 win over the Bracken County Polar Bears tonight in the championship game of the 39th District Tournament.

Mason County led 59-46 with 5:30 left and 70-60 with 1:02 to play, but struggled at the free throw line and Bracken County closed to within three at 71-68 with 20 seconds to go.

The Royals missed two free throws with 10 seconds left. 

Austin Crawford, who scored a game-high 45 points for Bracken County, missed a three-point shot with 1.7 seconds left.

Sam Kumler sank two free throws to seal the victory.

Mason County was 13-of-23 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter.

Leevi Dunaway hit 10-of-13 free throws in the fourth quarter and 16-of-22 for the game. He had a double-double with 30 points and 10 rebounds.

Jaylen Lofton scored 16 points and Ty Fox added 14 points.

Dalton Perkins blocked five shots.

Crawford scored 22 of Bracken County's 25 fourth quarter points.

For the game, Crawford was 18-of-34 from the field (2-of-12 on three-pointers) and 7-of-12 from the free throw line. He had a game-high 11 rebounds.

MC (17-15) Dunaway 30, Kumler 6, Lofton 16, Perkins 2, Fox 14, Boyd 5

BC (16-14) Crawford 45, Engnes 5, Jones 4, Tad Fisher 6, Appleman 3, Deaton 2

MC 14 17 18 24- 73

BC  12 16 15 25- 68

Polar Bears crash the boards in the second half in a 68-53 win over Saints in district SF

The Bracken County Polar Bears outrebounded the St. Patrick Saints 27-12 in the second half in a 68-53 semifinal win in the 39th District Tournament tonight at the Mason County Fieldhouse.

There were five ties and 11 lead changes in the first half.

St. Patrick led 29-27 at the half, but the Polar Bears had 13 second chance points in the third quarter by outrebounding the Saints 15-3. 

Bracken County outscored St. Patrick 22-9 in the third quarter and opened the fourth quarter on an 8-0 run for a 57-38 lead. 

Three Bracken County players scored in double figures- Brady Jones with 19 points, Cooper Engines with 18 points and Austin Crawford with 14 points.

Ben Swolsky had a double-double for St. Patrick with 23 points and 14 rebounds.

Bracken County plays Mason County in the championship game Thursday at 8 p.m.

BC (16-13) Crawford 14, Engnes 18, Jones 19, Tan. Fisher 3, Tad Fisher 4, Appleman 5, Rigg 2, Deaton 3

SP (8-23) McKay 9, Bauer 4, B. Swolsky 23, Walton 4, J. Swolsky 2, Burton 9, Black 2

BC 14 13 22 19- 68

SP  13 16 09 15- 53

Mason Co, sweeps girls and boys DH vs. Bracken County

Mason County and Bracken County sweep a girls and boys doubleheader vs. Bracken County tonight at the Fieldhouse.

The Lady Royals jumped out to a 17-0 lead and cruised to a 69-24 victory over the Lady Bears.

The Royals outscored the Polar Bears 23-12 in the second quarter on their way to a 76-61 win.

The Lady Royals scored 30 points off the Lady Bears' 24 turnovers.

Briana McNutt led Mason County in scoring with 15 points. 

Brianna Littleton added 10 points.

Madison Kalb was the Lady Bears' top scorer with 13 points.

Austin Crawford scored a game-high 33 points for the Polar Bears.

Isaiah Garrison scored a career high 31 points for Mason County.

Sam Kumler tossed in 13 points and Jayden Steward added 11 points.

Girls

MC (3-2) Brooks 4, O'Mara 7, Reed 9, Littleton 10, Moran 3, McNutt 15, Butler 6, Frodge 7, Simms 2, Boone 6

BC (3-3) Ruf 2, Kalb 13, Jefferson 3, Florer 2, Bell 2, Wolfe 2

MC 25 21 18 05- 69

BC  05 05 05 09- 24

Boys

MC (4-3) Dunaway 9, Garrison 31, Boyd 7, Steward 11, Jackson 5, Kumler 13

BC (5-3) Crawford 33, Jones 8, Tanner Fisher 12, Applean 4, Tucker 2, Clos 2

MC 13 23 15 25-76

BC  14 12 14 21-61


(Updated to correct scoring for Littleton and Frodge)

Royals rally for a win over Bracken County

The Mason County Royals rallied from a 12-point second quarter deficit to beat the Bracken County Polar Bears 49-43 in the lower bracket semifinal game of the 39th District Tournament Tuesday night at Bracken County.

The Polar Bears led 19-7 with 4:58 remaining in the second quarter. The Royals closed the half on a 16-5 run to cut the deficit to one. Mason County outscored Bracken County 9-4 in the third quarter. 

Antwavon "Pig" Williams led Mason County in scoring with 17 points. Conner Sweeney had 16 points and eight rebounds.

Austin Crawford scored a game-high 21 points for Bracken County.

Mason County and Augusta will meet in the championship game Thursday at 8 p.m.

MC (20-9) A. Williams 17, Garrison 5, Lofton 2, Sweeney 16, D. Williams 7, Henry 2

BC (15-12) Crawford 21, Lippert 13, Jones 4, Engnes 4, Williams 1

MC 05 18 09 17- 49

BC 11 13 04 15-  43

Mason County Outlasts Bracken County 79-74

The Mason County Royals scored four points in the final six seconds to pull out a 79-74 victory over the Bracken County Polar Bears tonight in the Igloo at Bracken County.

Austin Crawford poured in 32 points for Bracken County. Antwavon "Pig" Williams scored a career-high 30 for Mason County.

Bracken County scored the first four points of the third quarter to lead 57-54. Mason County answered with an 11-0 run to go up 65-57 with 3:32 to play.

The Royals had the ball and a seven-point lead with under a minute to play, but Crawford intercepted a pass and drew a foul. The personal foul and a technical foul sent Crawford to the free throw line for four shots. He made two and scored on the next play to draw Bracken County to within three at 73-70 with 47 seconds remaining.

A Crawford basket with 10 seconds to go cut the Royals'  lead to one. But Isaiah Garrison made a layup off a Darren Williams baseball pass, and  Pig Williams stole the ball from Crawford and hit a layup just before the buzzer for the final margin.

There two ties and six lead changes in the game.

MC (5-1) A. Williams 30, Sweeney 17, D. Williams 13, Lofton 10, Garrison 8, Fox 1

BC (3-3) Crawford 32, Jones 10, Hamilton 9, Engnes 8, Williams 6, Bravard 2

MC 13 23 18 25-79
BC 12 24 17 21-74