There’s a reason that Barbour County has 10 state and area basketball championship banners hanging in its gym. The Jaguars have one of the best basketball programs in the state.

Pike County found this out the hard way on Monday night as the Jaguars ran the Bulldogs off the floor in a 66-25 blowout to claim the Class 3A Area 4 title.

Through the first quarter and a half, it was a relatively close game. The Bulldogs weathered some hot shooting from the Jaguars in the first quarter, and a three by Deshon Cowling at the buzzer had Pike County only trailing 11-17 at the end of one.

Midway through the second quarter, Kamari Jackson drained a jumper to bring the Bulldogs within five at 13-18.

Then, everything fell apart for the Bulldogs. The Jaguars scored the games next 20 points, and what was a close contest turned in to a rout. By the time, Jackson hit a layup in the third quarter to stop the Barbour County run, the Bulldogs were already out of the game.

Barbour County outscored the Bulldogs 48-12 over the last two quarters en route to a 66-25 win.

Jackson led the way for the Bulldogs with 15 of Pike County’s 25 points.

Pike County head coach Doug Holland said his team was just outplayed on Monday night. “My hat goes off to Barbour County,” Holland said. “They have a great team. That’s two games in a row where they have outplayed us in every phase of the game.”

Even with the loss, the Bulldogs advance to the next round of the playoffs where they will play the winner of Monday night’s Daleville v. Geneva game. Holland said his team had a lot of work to do. “We need to work on everything,” Holland said. “We need to continue to work on our defense especially.”

The Bulldogs will travel to either Daleville or Geneva on Friday night for sub-regional play.