The Bell County Bobcats traveled to South Laurel on Dec. 27 – Dec. 29 to participate in the Legacy Nissan Dribble Drive Challenge tournament. They won two-of-three games in the tournament to improve to 4-6 on the season.

“I was really pleased with how hard our kids competed for three days at South Laurel,” said Bell County coach Brad Sizemore. “After struggling in the first half against Barren County in the opening game, our guys came out and responded in the second half and played some of our best basketball up to this point.

“I thought our defensive rebounding and our aggressiveness on offense was as good as it’s been all year up to this point.”

The Bobcats battled from behind in the first half to force the game into overtime, eventually winning 67-61.

Bell County was led against Barren County by Cameron Burnett with 26 points. He was followed closely by London Stephney with 25 points. Dalton Stepp and Dawson Woolum added six points each. Carter McCune and Andrew Caldwell added two points apiece.

With the victory over Barren County, the Bobcats moved into their second round match-up against St. Xavier. They fell in a close game, 61-57.

“During the St. Xavier game, I saw a lot of good things from several kids,” said Sizemore. “They were a big and strong physical team, and our kids responded well, especially in the fourth quarter.

“We got in foul trouble and had guys come off the bench that really helped us. “We had several opportunities to win the game, I was really pleased with their effort.”

Against St. Xavier, the Bobcats were led by Dawson Woolum with 20 points. He was followed by Cameron Burnett with 16 points. London Stephney added 10 points. Andrew Caldwell added six, Carter McCune added three and Dalton Stepp added two.

After falling to St. Xavier, Bell County moved into their final game of the tournament against Owen County. They played their best game of the tourney and won 73-61.

“We played a great first half in the Owen County game and got out to a solid lead,” said Sizemore. “I thought fatigue played a part in the second half, and we weren’t able to push the lead out to as much as we wanted.”

“I think our defensive pressure and decision-making with the ball is getting better each game.

“We had several guys have big games this week. London and Cam (Burnett) made the all-tournament team and played great each game. I was also pleased with how Dawson Woolum stepped up on offense this week. We need him to be one of our main scorers moving forward. Also, Dalton Stepp and Andrew Caldwell are playing really good basketball for us on both ends of the floor. I’m proud of the team.”

With the two victories and one loss in the tournament, The Bobcats moved to 4-6 on the season. They are slated to take on in-county rival Middlesboro on Friday in Middlesboro. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m.