Somerset defeats 'Monticello High' as Briar Patch becomes part of Glory Road

Feb. 7—The Somerset Briar Jumpers and Wayne County Cardinals, well for this game the Monticello High School Trojans, squared off for the second time this season on Tuesday night. Before the night's contest, the Briar Patch was designated as a Glory Road site by the Kentucky High School Basketball Hall of Fame. The Briar Patch was opened back in 1937 and seated 1700 fans, at the time the largest in the 12th Region. The first-ever game played for Somerset was way back in 1907 between these same two teams and the Jumpers won that one 29-23. In its 86 years, the home of the Jumpers has had 31 head coaches between its boys and girls basketball programs.

Once the pregame festivities were over with, both teams jumped right into the game on the offensive side, slinging three-pointers right and left. Indred Whitaker was the guy early on, scoring in bunches in the first, before Ben Godby took that spot in the remaining three quarters. The game was close until a fourth quarter run by the Jumpers gave them a 65-57 victory over their rivals from Monticello. Head coach Ryan Young was proud of the way his players performed tonight and was well aware that this was a big win for his team.

"Really proud of our guys. They stepped up in a big way. We have guys playing a lot of minutes and battling some nicks and bruises. True team effort. Really good to get Jack Bruner back tonight. He did a lot of gritty stuff for us. Ben and Indred were huge offensively and we played some better defense in the second half. Anyime you can beat a Coach Woods led team that's a huge win," he exclaimed.

Whitaker opened the first quarter quickly with a made shot from three before Wayne County eighth grader Korbyn Edwards answered back with his own three-pointer. Freshman Seth Farmer grabbed an offensive rebound and put the ball into the basket to give the Cardinals their first lead of the contest. Whitaker scored the first eight points of the game to give Somerset an early 8-5 lead. A traditional three-point play for Godby's first points of the contest grew that lead by three more before a basket from junior Kayden Phillips broke the Jumpers' run.

Whitaker hit his third three-pointer of the quarter to give Somerset a 14-7 lead midway through the quarter. Another three from Wayne, this one from senior Mason Burchett, brought the visiting team within one point before a fourth three-pointer from Whitaker gave Somerset a 19-15 lead. Jack Bruner made his return to the court following an injury and managed to grab a steal and a quick lay-up. A buzzer-beating three from Edwards brought the Somerset lead to 21-18 after one period of play.

Four straight from Godby gave the Jumpers a 25-23 lead early in the second quarter, with a three from Burchett giving the Cardinals the lead again at 26-25. Godby ended up scoring the first nine points of the quarter for Somerset, including his first made shot from deep of the ball game, and the home team was all of a sudden in front again at 30-26. A bucket from freshman Kendall Phillips tied the game back up at 30 all. The Jumpers then closed the period on a 6-3 spree to head into the locker room up 36-33 at halftime. Whitaker hit two free throws, Landen Lonesky had his lone bucket of the contest following an offensive rebound and shortly before the end of the quarter, Godby managed to steal the ball and dunk it through the net to give Somerset momentum heading into the second half.

A basket from Godby and four straight from Aedyn Absher gave Somerset their biggest lead at 42-35 early in the third quarter. Following a made shot from Whitaker, Wayne County went on a 10-0 run to take control of the game at 47-44. Burchett was huge here, hitting two from long range, while Farmer added the other four points off of made jumpers. Eighth grader Josh Lewis claimed an offensive board and was fouled on the put back, giving him two shots from the line that he stepped up confidently and made. Another steal and slam dunk from Godby gave Somerset a lead briefly at 50-49 before a made basket from Farmer shortly before the end of the period gave the Cardinals a 51-50 lead heading into the final quarter of action.

Godby opened the fourth quarter on his own 5-0 run to flip the entire outlook of the contest and give the Jumpers a 55-51 lead, a lead they kept for the remainder of the game. Whitaker finally hit another three-point shot to give himself five total for the game and give Somerset a 58-53 lead. A made three from Kayden Phillips gave Wayne County some brief hope heading into the game's final minutes, as they trailed 60-57. However, the Cardinals didn't score another point late, with Whitaker going 2-3 from the line late, Godby making another two-pointer and Jack Bruner hitting one from the stripe. Somerset eventually claimed this game 65-57 on a historic night from the Briar Patch.

Somerset was led in scoring by a game-high 29 points from Ben Godby and 23 points from Indred Whitaker. Aedyn Absher had four points, with Jack Bruner adding three. Landen Lonesky, Josh Lewis and Josh Bruner wrapped up the scoring for Somerset with two points apiece. Mason Burchett led Wayne County with 18 points.

Somerset, now 15-9 for the season, will be in action again on Saturday as they will welcome in the Somerset Christian Cougars in their third game played against each other this season. It will also be the annual 'Dunbar High School' game for the Jumpers as they will don the retro uniforms honoring Dunbar High. Game time is scheduled for 5 p.m.

Jacob Pratt is the Sports Editor of the Commonwealth Journal and can be reached at jpratt@somerset-kentucky.com. You can follow him on Twitter @PrattTheNation