George Rogers Clark traveled to Mount Olivet to take on the Robertson County Black Devils Thursday night in the first meeting between the two schools.

The Black Devils came out hot, opening up a 9-5 lead midway through the first quarter, but the Cardinals fought back to retake the lead.

Senior guard KJ Rucker led the surge for the Cards’ offense, knocking down 3-pointers early to help GRC spark an 8-0 run to take the lead.

Rucker’s performance continued into the second quarter. After scoring eight points in the first quarter, he dropped in another quick eight points in the first two minutes of the second quarter, pushing the Cardinals’ lead to double digits.

Robertson County, led by Justin Becker, wouldn’t go away easily though. Becker scored 22 points by halftime and helped lead a Black Devils 7-2 run late in the second to close the gap to 41-38 by halftime.

The third quarter saw Robertson County tie the game twice, but GRC was able to respond each time. After the score was even at 46, GRC went on a 14-4 run to push their lead back to double digits.

The Cardinals would add to their lead in the fourth quarter, coming out hot and putting the game out of reach with an 11-2 run to begin the quarter.

GRC would hold on to beat one of the 10th Region’s top teams 84-67.

3-point shooting was a key for the Cardinals in their win as they had three players make four or more shots and shoot over 50 percent from deep. Jerone Morton went 4-7, Rucker went 5-9 and Jared Wellman went 4-8.

The Cards are back in action Saturday at 7 p.m. as they take on East Jessamine in the Tim Short Automotive Classic at Letcher Norton Gymnasium.

Rucker – 23 points

Wellman – 22 points

Morton – 20 points

Bush – 10 points (17 rebounds)

Mundy-Lloyd – 5 points

Webb – 2 points

Smothers – 2 points