Romance died at the state tournament yesterday. There were four quarter-finals, each of which featured a relatively normal public high school against an athletic powerhouse. In each case, the powerhouse prevailed:
(6) Lou. Trinity 74, (1) Hopkinsville 56
(3) Scott Co. 64, Johnson Cent. 55
Bowling Green 64, McCracken Co. 58
(4) Cov. Catholic 61, Bardstown 54
So we're not getting an underdog titlist this year. Instead, the champion will come from one of these four teams, who are playing in today's semi-finals (all times Central):
5:30 P.M.: (6) Lou. Trinity v. (3) Scott Co.
7 P.M.: Bowling Green v. (4) Cov. Catholic
At least we won't have the 7th and 11th region champions meeting in the final for the third year in a row. Instead, they meet today in the semi-finals.
After the first quarter, Scott County leads Trinity 14-11.
ReplyDeleteWith 2:54 left in the first half, Trinity leads 24-22.
ReplyDeleteTrinity's got this. The Shamrocks lead 31-26 at the half.
ReplyDeleteThe Cardinals are fighting back. The game is tied at 38 with 2:52 left in the third quarter.
ReplyDeleteAll tied at 43 with 8 minutes to go.
ReplyDeleteTrinity leads 50-49 with 3:58 left in the game.
ReplyDeleteScott Co. leads 51-50 with 2:34 left. Trinity ball.
ReplyDeleteRaymond Spalding of Trinity gets an old-fashioned three-point play, and the Shamrocks lead 53-51 with 1:51 to go.
ReplyDeleteScott County holds the ball for almost a minute, and then Trent Gilbert (who has 28 points today) hits a three-pointer to give the Cardinals a 54-53 lead with 59 seconds to go.
ReplyDeleteThat Trent Gilbert has been something else in this tournament.
DeleteWith 39 seconds left, Michael Stafford of Trinity is fouled. But he misses both free throws! Scott County gets the rebound and Gilbert is fouled. Timeout Trinity with 36 seconds to go.
ReplyDeleteGilbert makes both free throws. Scott County leads 56-53 with 36 seconds left.
ReplyDeleteTrinity comes down the floor and shoots a three. It misses! Scott County gets the rebound and Gilbert is going back to the line with 18 seconds to go.
ReplyDeleteGilbert makes both free throws. Scott County leads 58-53 with 18 seconds left.
ReplyDeleteTrinity misses a layup and Scott County is going back to the line with a five-point lead and only 8 seconds remaining.
ReplyDeleteGilbert makes two more free throws, and the Cardinals lead 60-53.
ReplyDeleteWow ... Gilbert. Pretty stunning they could get the ball into his hands so frequently to be the one who got fouled.
DeleteTrinity comes down and hits a 3. Scott County leads 60-56 with 2 seconds to go.
ReplyDeleteGilbert is fouled and makes two more free throws to give Scott County a 62-56 lead. He has been devastating down the stretch.
ReplyDeleteIndeed.
DeleteAnd that's the ball game. Scott County wins 62-56 . For the first time since 2011, the Seventh Region will not be represented in the title game. The 11th Region, on the other hand, will be there for the third year in a row.
ReplyDeleteI did expect Trinity to win this game, especially given their lead at the half. But I didn't account for Trent Gilbert, who played one of the greatest games in the history of the state tournament. Look at this line:
ReplyDelete4-10 from 2-point range
6-9 from 3-point range
10-10 from the line
36 points, 3 rebounds.
No other player for Scott County had more than six points.
Jason Frakes reports that Louisville fans are complaining about the officiating. I don't know about the officiating, but to me it's ridiculous that fans of Trinity would ever complain about unfairness when it comes to athletic competitions.
ReplyDeleteFor the record, each team shot 13 free throws.
ReplyDeleteWith 2:47 left in the first quarter, Cov Cath leads Bowling Green 11-9.
ReplyDeleteI'm rooting for my peeps in Purple here.
DeleteAnd then Cov Cath closes out the quarter with an 11-2 blitz. After one, Cov Cath 22, Bowling Green 11.
ReplyDeleteCovington Catholic now leads 28-13 with 5:42 left in the first half.
ReplyDeleteCov Cath is rolling -- the Colonels lead Bowling Green 44-25 at the half.
ReplyDeleteOh, man.
DeleteGood for Bowling Green. Down by 63-46 with only 8 minutes to go, they have continued to fight. Cov Cath's lead is now only 72-66 with 1:40 left.
ReplyDeleteNacarius Fant has 31 points for BGHS in this game.
ReplyDeleteHe's quite an athlete. I'm glad he's playing football for WKU in the fall.
Delete#BROHMSQUAD!
DeleteCov Cath is going to win, however. They lead 76-68 with 40 seconds left.
ReplyDeleteCov Cath wins 81-68. They will take on Scott County tomorrow afternoon for the 97th Kentucky State Basketball Championship. Both teams have very much earned their spots.
ReplyDeleteWell, I was for Trinity and Bowling Green today, but, whatever, like you said, this tournament ended mostly yesterday for me.
ReplyDeleteYou were for Trinity?
Deletesure. bunch of wku buddies who went to trinity. i don't know anyone who went to scottco.
Delete