During the Josh Cook era of George Rogers Clark basketball, the Cardinals have gone undefeated against Harrison County.

Entering Saturday’s contest with the Thorobreds, Cook had picked up two close wins along with one blowout.

The 2020 Cardinals looked to be on their way to add another blowout victory by jumping out to a big lead early.

After leading 27-16 by the end of the first quarter, the Cards went on to extend their lead to 59-24 by halftime.

Clark County’s 59 first-half points were the second-most this season, trailing only their game against Floyd Central when they outscored the Jaguars 62-30 in the first half.

Every point scored in the first half came from their starting lineup, and 57 of the 59 came from Jerone Morton (14), Jared Wellman (17), KJ Rucker (15) and Lincoln Bush (11).

“They’re gelling pretty good right now,” Cook said. “I feel like we’ve found a great rhythm.”

But Harrison County wasn’t ready to throw in the towel at halftime.

The Thorobreds outscored the Cardinals 22-16 in the third quarter and flipped the game’s momentum completely by the beginning of the fourth quarter.

A 13-2 run to begin the period had the Cardinals’ lead down to seven points with four minutes to play, but the Cardinals regained control of the game down the stretch.

GRC’s defense stepped up, allowing only four points over the game’s final four minutes to hold on and beat their 10th Region opponent 89-74.

“That was our fifth game in nine days. I think we showed some signs of fatigue in the second half, but we also got a little bit of a humbling experience too,” Cook said. “We stopped being the more aggressive team. When we play for 32 minutes, you need to be the most aggressive team the whole time. And you’re really not supposed to play by the score and I think our guys kind of relaxed a little.”

Clark County will hit the floor again tonight as they travel to Woodford County to take on the Yellow Jackets (9-7). The game is scheduled to tip at 7:30 p.m.

SCORING

KJ Rucker — 23 points

Jerone Morton — 23 points

Jared Wellman — 17 points

Lincoln Bush — 15 points (14 rebounds)

Jeremiah Mundy-Lloyd — 7 points

John Gwynne — 2 points

Sammy Hernandez — 2 points