Here are the scores from yesterday's semi-finals in the Boys' State Basketball Championship:
(7) Lex. Dunbar 55, Newport Cent. Catholic 47
Lou. Doss 70, S. Laurel 63
That sets up today's Final:
(7) Lex. Dunbar (32-6) v. Lou. Doss (30-5)
So far, each team has won six elimination games in a row. Here's Dunbar, who had to beat four top 10 teams to get this far:
03/03: (7) Lex. Dunbar 72, Madison Southern 62
03/05: (7) Lex. Dunbar 70, (8) Lex. Henry Clay 62
03/07: (7) Lex. Dunbar 51, (3) Scott Co. 39
03/16: (7) Lex. Dunbar 58, (2) Mercer Co. 55
03/18: (7) Lex. Dunbar 57, (5) Bowling Green 51
03/19: (7) Lex. Dunbar 55, Newport Cent. Catholic 47
Lex. Dunbar has an interesting history. For many years, there was a Dunbar High School in Fayette County that was an African-American school during the era of segregation. That Dunbar High School was the only historically black high school to reach the finals of the State Tournament. In 1961, Dunbar was beaten in the final by Ashland. In 1963, Dunbar was beaten in the final by Lou. Seneca. In 1965, Dunbar was shut down, and its students were sent to the historically white schools in Fayette County: Henry Clay, Lafayette, Bryan Station, and Tates Creek. But an agreement was made that the next high school in Fayette County would be named after Paul Laurence Dunbar, the African-American poet for whom the original Dunbar High School had been named.
That school opened in 1990, and was named Paul Laurence Dunbar, instead of just "Dunbar." This new "Lex. Dunbar" reached the final of the state tournament in 1993 (losing to Marion County) and 1994 (losing to Lou. Fairdale). So the two iterations of Lex. Dunbar are 0-4 in the State Finals.
Here is Doss's path to the final, which has been considerably easier than Dunbar's:
03/01: Lou. Doss 63, Lou. Valley 57
03/03: Lou. Doss 57, Lou. Fern Creek 44
03/07: Lou. Doss 58, (10) Bullitt East 54
03/17: Lou. Doss 66, Lawrence Co. 57
03/18: Lou. Doss 69, Taylor Co. 58
03/19: Lou. Doss 70, S. Laurel 63
Doss opened in 1967, back when Jefferson County and Louisville had separate school systems (they merged in the 1970's). Doss was originally part of the Jefferson County system, and was built near U.S. 31W in the southwest part of the County. It was named after Harry Doss, a former member of the Jefferson County Board of Education. In 1980, Doss made it all the way to the final of the State Tournament, but lost to Owensboro 57 to 56. This is Doss's second appearance in the State Final.
This is the first time since 2001 that the State Final has featured teams from Jefferson County and Fayette County. In that game, Lex. Lafayette beat Lou. Male 54-49 for the crown. In fact, Lex. Dunbar is the first public school from Fayette County to reach the state final since that 2001 game. (During those 15 years, Lexington Catholic and Scott County reached the state final four times.) Lou. Doss is trying to become the first public school from Jefferson County to win the title since Jeffersontown in 2006.
Taveion Hollingsworth, Dunbar's outstanding guard, came out hot, making his first five shots. Doss, on the other hand, can't do much with the ball, and was only 5-21 in the first half. So Dunbar is up 28-13 at the half, and Doss will have to play much better to get back into this game.
ReplyDeleteI think this year's tournament (including the regionals) has been very enjoyable. But other than the Dunbar/Mercer County game, we haven't had that many classics in the Sweet 16.
ReplyDeleteBut even a bad State Tournament is more enjoyable than almost any other sporting event, and I would be quite pleased to see Hollingsworth and Dunbar go all the way. They really deserve it.
ReplyDelete5:38 left in the 3d quarter:
ReplyDeleteDunbar 30, Doss 18
4:03 left in 3d Quarter:
ReplyDeleteDunbar 32, Doss 20
Tom Leach, the UK Radio Announcer, and one of the best announcers in the country, is at the State Tournament final. Good for him!
ReplyDelete2:50 left in 3d Quarter:
ReplyDeleteDunbar 35, Doss 20
Tom Leach says that he's sad about UK's loss to IU, but he loves watching teams with good guards, like this year's UK team.
ReplyDeleteHere's Hollingsworth's performance in the tournament:
ReplyDelete1. Against Mercer County, he had 32 points on 12-24 shooting
2. Against Bowling Green, he had 16 points on 7-16 shooting
3. Against NCC, he had 18 points on 7-11 shooting
4. So far today, he has 17 points on 6-9 shooting
In the four tournament games, he is 15-20 from the line (75.0 percent) and 32-60 from the field (53.3 percent). He has been the big story of this tournament.
At the end of the third quarter, Hollingsworth puts in another one of those Givens-type jumpers from near the free throw line. He is 5-8 from 2-point range, 2-2 from 3-point range, and 3-4 from the line. That gives him 19 points so far.
ReplyDeleteWith one quarter to go, Dunbar leads 43-25.
6:01 left:
ReplyDeleteDunbar 46, Doss 32
5:26 left in the game:
ReplyDeleteDunbar 48, Doss 35
Doss trying desperately to come back with a full court press.
4:10 left:
ReplyDeleteDunbar 53, Doss 37
3:35 left:
ReplyDeleteDunbar 53, Doss 39
Good for Dunbar!
ReplyDelete1:15 left:
ReplyDeleteDunbar 59, Doss 47
Four Doss players have fouled out as the Dragons keep trying to stop the clock. Dunbar is 23-34 from the line.
33.7 seconds left:
ReplyDeleteDunbar 61, Doss 51
The last team from the 6th Region to win the State title was Fairdale in 1994. That streak will not be broken today.
ReplyDeleteFinal Score:
ReplyDeleteDunbar 61, Doss 52
Hollingsworth finishes with 20 points.