This Morning's Boys' Basketball Scores

Two more teams were eliminated this morning, so only two remain:

State Tournament Semi-Finals (Rupp Arena, Lexington):
Lou. Trinity 56, Pulaski Southwestern 47
Scott Co. 56, Oldham Co. 43

The last few years have been very pleasant for those of us who root for the provincial teams in Kentucky high school basketball. No team from Louisville has won the title since Jeffersontown in 2006. No team from the 11th Region has won it since Scott County in 2007. No private school has won it since Lexington Catholic in 2002. The last two winners were from the 15th and 2d regions. In fact, the last four state title games were the stuff of a provincial's dream:

2008: Mason Co. 57, Covington Holmes 48
2009: Covington Holmes 67, Lou. Central 63 (2 OT)
2010: Shelby Valley 73, Lou. Ballard 61
2011: Christian Co. 65, Rowan Co. 63 (2 OT)

So we were due for the Empire to strike back, and this year it has. Here's how Trinity got to the state title game -- starting with the Seventh Region Tournament:

Lou. Trinity 63, Lou. Male 44
Lou. Trinity 58, Lou. Ballard 55
Lou. Trinity 67, Lou. St. Xavier 46
Lou. Trinity 52, Bullitt East 32
Lou. Trinity 62, George Rogers Clark 39
Lou. Trinity 56, Pulaski Southwestern 47

Here's how Scott County got there:

Scott Co. 77, Lex. Lafayette 62
Scott Co. 73, Franklin Co. 39
Scott Co. 78, Woodford Co. 43
Scott Co. 59, Marshall Co. 43
Scott Co. 61, John Hardin 40
Scott Co. 56, Oldham Co. 43

That's 12 games and 11 easy wins. It's fair to say that Louisville Ballard is the only team in the Commonwealth that can seriously claim to be on the same level as these two.

Given recent history, it would be silly to use this one season as evidence that the elites are ruining the state tournament. Rather, we should recognize that this is one of those years when there really were two teams that were a step above the rest. And that's OK. The Mountains got the 2010 championship; and the title went to the West in 2011. We'll try again next year. But in the meantime we will not complain. Of course it's hard to beat teams from Louisville and the Bluegrass -- that's the whole point; it's supposed to be hard. That's the dynamic that's driven the tournament since the 1920's, and we don't want it to change.

Final Note: After following the state playoffs so closely -- and enjoying them so much, even in a two-team season like this one -- it's a shame that the final has to be played in the shadow of UK's game with Iowa State. But I don't suppose the Trinity and Scott County fans will be too distracted:

State Tournament Final (Rupp Arena, Lexington):
Lou. Trinity (33-3) v. Scott Co. (33-4)