By DOUG EADS
GREENSBURG — Coming into Saturday night’s game at Green County, the Somerset Briar Jumpers were mired in a mini, two-game losing slide.
Simply — with post season play only nine days away — Somerset needed a win regardless of the opponent.
And on Saturday night at Green County High School, Jeron Dunbar’s club did exactly that — pick up a much-needed victory.
Dylan Burton and Kaiya Sheron each paced Somerset with 21 points, and Kade Grundy added 16 points, helping the Briar Jumpers down the Dragons by a final score of 75-63.
Somerset earned its 14th win of the season over Green County due to two main things the Jumpers were able to accomplish in the win.
One — Somerset out-rebounded the Dragons by a 34-27 margin, which enabled Somerset to enjoy a 20-8 margin on second chance points by winning the battle of the boards.
Two — the Briar Jumpers — locked in a close game at the end of the third quarter — that saw Somerset clinging to a 54-52 lead, outscored Green County in the final frame 21-11, putting this game away at crunch time with the game on the line.
With the win, Somerset improved to 14-12 on the season and gained some much-needed momentum headed into the final week of the regular season.
On Tuesday night, Dunbar and company will host Garrard County at 7:30 p.m. in Somerset’s final game at The Briar Patch this season, and Somerset will then close out the regular season on Thursday night at 7:30 p.m., playing on the road and taking on arch-rival Danville.
Next Monday night, Somerset will begin post season play in the 47th District Basketball Tournament at Pulaski County High School, squaring off against the Casey County Rebels at 6 p.m.