The Cougar eighth-graders put three players into double figures Thursday night as they extended their unbeaten string to 39 games this season with a 63-47 win over visiting Butler County Thursday evening.

Grayson County has been playing the past couple of weeks without star guard/forward Rance Whobrey, who suffered a torn meniscus January 15 at Ohio County. He underwent surgery on Wednesday and will be lost for the season.

The Cougars put 11 players into the scoring column. Trey Tinsley hit three three-pointers on the night and finished with a team-high 19 points. Braxton Williams scored 14 points, including a pair of threes, while Ryne Tinsley had 10 points.

The Cougars got off to a roaring start, scoring the first 11 points of the game, but the Bears (12-11) proved they would not be pushovers by going on a 10-3 run to close to within four, 14-10 with 42 seconds left in the first period. The Cougars led by seven, 17-10 heading into the second quarter.

Grayson County hit four three-pointers in a 17-2 run opening the second period to increase the lead to 22 points, 34-12 at the 3:07 mark, but again, the Bears refused to fold their tent. They put together a 9-0 run to cut the deficit to 13 points, 34-21 with 1:33 left and they maintained that margin at the half, 38-25.

Bear point guard Elijah Flener opened the third quarter scoring by hitting a running jumper, then followed with a three at the 4:43 mark, and suddenly the Cougar lead was down to eight points, 38-30.

But Grayson County responded with an 11-2 run that pushed the lead back to 17 points, 49-32 with 54 seconds left in the period. Flener closed out the scoring with a three-pointer with 39 seconds left and it was 49-35 heading into the final period of play.

The Cougars then put the game away by scoring the first eight points of the fourth quarter to push the lead back to 22 points, 57-35 with 3:51 left to play.

Flener hit three threes on the night to finish with a game-high 21 points. Trevor Jenkins joined Flener in double figures with 10 points.

Ethan Saltsman finished the night with seven points and shared the team lead in rebounds with Grant Akridge with nine each. Blake Decker scored three points, while Dustin Crain, Dakota Watkins, Nathan Clemons and Presley Cilyok all had two.

Akridge and Ty Davis completed the Cougar scoring with one apiece.