LIBERTY —   In the final week of the regular season McCreary Central split their last two games winning in come from behind fashion  62-59 at Casey County on Monday but then falling 59-45 on senior night to Garrard County on Friday.

  Central led throughout most of the first half taking a 16-12 lead after the first quarter where senior Dylan Strunk scored seven points.

  In the second quarter the Raiders built the lead to as much as six on two occasions.  Ryan Strunk knocked down his third three pointer of the period with just four seconds left in the half to give Central a 33-28 half time advantage.

  Casey began to take control early in the third after Dylan Strunk picked up his third foul in the opening seconds. He would remain on the bench the rest of the period and the Rebels would score the first six points of the half to take a 36-33 lead.

  Tyson Williams had six points and Alex Barnett four in the quarter to keep Central within two points,  45-43 heading into the fourth quarter.

  Back to back baskets to open the period would give Casey their largest lead of the game at 49-43 but the Raiders would rally back with six straight points to tie the game as Dylan Strunk fed Barnett for a basket with 5:05 to go.  

  A Casey turnover would end up giving McCreary back the lead when Noah Duncan hit the back end of two free throws to make it 50-49.

  A basket by Casey put the Rebels back up by one but Dylan Strunk drove the baseline for a basket and then put back a miss by Duncan to give the Raiders a 54-51 advantage with 3:41 to play.

  McCreary would hold on to the lead the rest of the way eventually building the lead to five after Barnett put back in a missed layup attempt by Strunk who had come up with a steal at midcourt.

  Casey would resort to the three point shot to get back into the game and it nearly paid off as they connected twice in the final :28 seconds which gave them a shot at tying the game on their final possession.  Dylan Strunk was fouled and went to the line after each of the made trey’s and he sank all four attempts to keep the Raiders in the lead.

  Casey took possession after the final charity toss with eleven seconds on the clock but was only able to get up an off balance attempt that barely drew iron.  A scramble for the rebound kept the ball out of either teams hands until the clock had expired.

  Dylan Strunk’s 17 points led McCreary who also got 16 from Tyson Williams and 14 by Alex Barnett.

  On Friday after the seniors had been honored the Raiders and Garrard County began the final regular season game for each team.

  Garrard got out to a 15-10 lead but three pointers by seniors Brad Corder and Dylan Strunk in the final minute of the first quarter put the Raiders up 16-15 at the break.

  The Lions scored early in the second to regain the lead but another three by Corder put the Raiders back on top.

  An 8-3 run by Garrard put them back in the lead but McCreary would once again forge back in front with a basket’s by Tyler and  Dylan Strunk.

  Garrard again held the lead in the final seconds of the half with the Raiders trying to hold for the last shot.  A loose ball scramble ended up with the ball in Ryan Strunk’s hands as time ran down.  The junior guard fired from three point range and found the net to tie the game 29-29 heading to the half.

  After a slow start that saw the teams combine for only three points in the first four minutes of the third quarter McCreary was able to move ahead 34-31 with baskets by Williams and Dylan Strunk.  Garrard would get back on track however in the final two and a half minutes with back to back three pointers, a pair of free throws and a short jumper to take a 41-34 lead at the end of the period.

  The Lions scored again to start the fourth and finish off a 12-0 run and extend their lead to nine at 43-34.

  McCreary’s attempts to battle back would get them no closer than six points after Corder hit two of three free throws to make the score 46-40 with 5:53 remaining.  The Lions pushed the lead out to ten but a free throw by Noah Duncan followed by a put back by Dylan Strunk of Duncan’s miss on the following free throw got McCreary back to within seven, 50-43 at the 4:08 mark.

  The Raider scoring would dissappear after that though until just over three minutes later on a basket by Alex Barnett.  By that time though Garrard had reeled off another eight points to take their largest lead of the game at 58-43.

  Tyson Williams led McCreary with 13 points after scoring seven in the first period.  He came into the contest just seven points shy of the 1,000 mark for his career.  A rebound and put back while drawing a foul at the 3:54 mark of the first quarter got him to 999 points and the free throw that followed got him to the milestone.

 Senior Dylan Strunk ended with 11 points and senior Brad Corder scored 9.  Fellow senior Carlos Goins started the game but failed to score.