The Adair County Indians' quest for a repeat trip to Rupp Arena and the Sweet Sixteen came to an end yesterday afternoon in Hart County as Central Hardin pulled off a 63-58 upset in the Fifth Region semi-finals.
The Bruins came out on fire to open the game – hitting 10 of 11 including five of five from beyond the three-point arc in the first quarter – to build a double-digit lead, then held off a fourth-quarter comeback by the Indians to advance to tonight’s regional final against the winner of last night’s Bardstown-Elizabethtown match-up.
Senior forward Kalen Kimberland, who single-handedly kept the Indians in the game in the first half by scoring 22 of his game high 30 points – hit two buckets to stake Adair to a 4-2 lead, but a three-pointer by the Bruins' Troy Harding put his team ahead 5-4, and they never trailed again.
Two more quick three-pointers put Central Hardin up 11-4, and they gradually increased the margin. A three by Chris Nichols gave the Bruins a 19-8 lead, and a two pointer late in the quarter gave them their biggest lead of the half, at 23-11 before they settled for a 25-14 lead at the end of the first eight minutes of play.
While the Bruins shooting cooled off somewhat in the second period, they still maintained an eight-to-ten point margin for most of the second quarter until Kimberland stole the ball, scored, was fouled and hit the free throw with a second to go to pull the Tribe to within five, at 36-31 at the half.
Central Hardin scored the first three baskets of the second half, with David Linder’s three-pointer pushing the lead back out to 12, at 43-31, with only a couple of minutes gone.
Another three-point basket gave the Bruins their largest lead of the game, 48-34, with about three minutes left in the quarter, but a three-point play by Kimberland, threes by Darren Ballou and Nick Fudge, and a Ballou two-pointer closed the gap to 51-45 heading into the final eight minutes of play.
A three-pointer by Fudge to start the fourth quarter cut the lead to 51-48, but the Bruins quickly pushed the lead back to eight, and were ahead 58-50 with four and a half minutes to go before the Indians mounted a frantic comeback.
A bucket by Kimberland cut the margin to 58-52, then senior Corey Helm canned back-to-back threes to tie the contest at 58-58 with 2:31 left.
However, Nichols countered with a driving layup to put Central Hardin back on top 50-48 at the 1:45 mark, and Adair County failed to score again.
With the Indians misfiring, Central Hardin hit three of four free throws down the stretch to seal the win.
Kimberland’s 30-point led the Indians, who finished the season with a record of 27-6. Ballou and Fudge had nine points each, while Helm scored eight in his final game and Kyle Sandusky had two. Ballou led the Indians on the boards  with 10.
Linder led Central Hardin with 22 points, while Nichols added 17.
For the game, Adair County shot only 43% from the field, 35% in the second half, and hit only six of 14 free throw attempts. Central Hardin shot 52 percent for the contest, including 8 for 15 from three-point range.
“Central Hardin played awfully well,” Indians coach Mark Fudge said. “They came out on fire, and did all the things they needed to do to win.
“Our kids gave it everything they had, just like they have all season,” he continued. “But, it was one of those games tonight where we got beat by a team better than us on that night.”

Photo:Kalen Kimberland ended the first-half as the point leader with 22 points but the Adair County Indians were unable to knock-off Central Hardin High School in the semi-final game of the Boys 5th Regional Tournament yesterday. (Photo by Lawrence Harris)