Tonights quarterfinal matchup between Ballard and Clark County turned into a track meet... a very one-sided track meet. Ballard literally sprinted out to a 14 to 2 lead in the first six minutes of the game. After recovering themselves, Clark County went on a small run themselves, going on a 10-0 run to close out the first quarter and open scoring in the second. That would just about be the extent of the Clark County offenese in the first half, as Ballard then went on a 31 to 7, including 23 straight points, run in about seven minutes to lead 45-17 at halftime. Ballard went in cruise control the rest of the night, as coach Chris Renner went to his bench often during the second half to win 71-48. Ballard out-rebounded Clark County 39 to 27 to enable their high octane offense and get easy buckets at the other end of the court in transition. Their tough defense caused seven steals and 15 total turnovers. Ballard again had four players in double figures, led by Antiquawn Beckham's 22 points and eight rebounds. Clark County standout Preston Knowles led the Cardinals with 18 points to finish his prep career. The Cardinals were stymied by the Bruin defense all game long and were held to only 26% shooting from the field, whereas Ballard shot 55%. Ballard used their offensive strength, dribble penetration, to get 46 points in the paint, nearly enough to beat Clark County on their own. Ballard led by as many as 32 at the 2:10 mark in the third quarter before the final margin of 23 was established. That's two straight 20+ point victories for the Bruins, who seem to be having little trouble with their half of the bracket so far. We'll see about that tomorrow morning in the semi-finals where they await the winner of the Elliott County/Warren Central game.



Derek Kirchner