When you think of Rivalry games in the mountains several come to mind Chapmanville vs. Logan, Shelby Valley vs. Pikeville and of course Johnson Central vs. Paintsville. On Thursday, one of the best rivalries in the Mountains took place when the Johnson Central Golden Eagles traveled across town to take on the Paintsville Tigers. On this night, it was the Golden Eagles who came away with the victory 72-63.
For the Golden Eagles it was their sensational 8th grader, Austin Slone who stepped up to lead the way. The young 8th grader had a team high 22 points on 5-14 shooting including 2-2 from behind the arch. Slone was also 6-6 from the foul line. Slone was one of 4 players in double figures for the Golden Eagles. Jacob Grimm added 14 points all while grabbing 9 rebounds. Ryan Rose, included his “double-double” terror this season while scoring 13 points and grabbing 13 rebounds against the cross town rivals. Jacob Fink aslo netted 13 points.
The Golden Eagles offense was clicking. The Eagles were 46% from the field (25-54) while shooting 55% from three point land (5-9). Other Eagles that scored were Conner Hopkins with 6 while Mason Lawson added 4 points in the victory.
The win brings the Golden Eagles record to 10-10 on the season and 1-2 in district play. Johnson Central was back in action Saturday against Mason County. The loss drops the Paintsville Tigers to 8-10 on the season and 0-3 in district play. The Tigers will travel to Floyd Central on Tuesday to take on the Jaguars.
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