By DREW GRANTHUM/Sports Writer

COLUMBIANA — The scoring came early and often, courtesy of the Shelby County Wildcats in a 61-24 demolition of county rival Vincent Jan. 9.

The game started at 2-2, but the Wildcats quickly raced out to a 14-2 lead courtesy of huge shots by Justus Martin. Martin went on a seven point scoring run by himself, including a big 3-pointer that helped the Wildcats open up the early lead. Emmanuel Hall and C.T. Youngblood added a basket and a three, respectively to complete the run.

Vincent then went on an 6-5 run as Elton Datcher, Jace Greene and Wesley King all got on the board for the Yellow Jackets. The scoring run brought Vincent to within 11 at 19-8 at the end of the first quarter.

Brandon Green put his stamp on the second quarter, scoring the first three points for Shelby County on free throws to put the ‘Cats up 22-8.

Jace Greene got Vincent going with a three, and a Datcher basket made the score 22-13. Unfortunately for the Jackets, it was all the scoring they could muster in the quarter, as the Wildcats closed out with a 6-0 run to take a 30-13 halftime lead.

Coming out of the half Shelby County picked up right where it left off, increasing the tempo of its offense and getting the home crowd into the game.  Shelby County’s Green opened up with a basket, and Vincent’s Arshon Willis replied with a 3-pointer to bring the score to 32-16.

The duo of Youngblood and Green then took over, as the two combined for the next seventeen points. Fueled by a fast break offense and a defense that forced turnovers and took advantage of them, the Wildcats rode Green and Youngblood to a 50-18 lead at the end of the third quarter.

By the fourth quarter, younger players from both squads were put in to get game time experience. David Watkins sank two free throws to start the quarter, while Vincent’s Cornell Bonner and Chuck Bolles sank back-to-back 3-pointers. A 6-0 SCHS run courtesy of Samuel Suarez and Quinterius Montgomery brought the 61-24 win to a close.

Shelby County head coach Torry Brown said he was proud of his team’s effort.

“Vincent is a big rival of ours, so we just wanted to come out with a lot of energy,” he said. “Tonight we were fortunate to make some shots. Our guys did a good job after we made a basket of finding their guys as quick as possible. We were just trying to make them work for four quarters.”

Green finished with 14 points, Martin had 13 points and Hall posted nine points and 11 rebounds in the win.