NEW CASTLE, Ky.
South Oldham moved closer to a second consecutive Eighth Region basketball title when Kyle Young’s 30 points sparked a 63-62 victory over Collins in a semfinal Monday night in Henry County’s gym.
Young scored 17 points in the first quarter when he knocked down 2 of his 6 three-point shots, but it was his field goal in overtime that gave the Dragons a 63-57 lead and led to the win.
“I was getting the ball from Jonathan Blair early when I was open and I was knocking them down tonight,” Young said.
The Dragons’ foe in tonight’s final at 7 will be Simon Kenton, which rallied from a 57-55 deficit with 2 minutes left in the game with Oldham County to claim a 59-57 win on two free throws by Brennan Kuntz.
The regional champion will play in the KHSAA Boys Sweet 16 state tournament in Lexington’s Rupp Arena starting March 19. The Eighth Region victor will take on the Second Region winner at noon that day.
Coach Steven Simpson’s Dragons got off to a hot start and led 17-7 and 23-13 before Collins started clicking. South Oldham, which lost to Collins 60-42 on Dec. 9, trailed 38-34 halftime.South Oldham 63, Collins 62 —
“We came out on fire and ready to play,” Simpson said. “Someone said if we hit 10 3’s we’d win the game. We hit 11.”
Two 3’s by Drew Greenwood gave South Oldham a 48-45 lead and one by Young made it 53-49, but Collins tied it at 57-57 on two free throws by Lawson Page with 1:35 left. Michael Griffin, who missed his team’s final shot from near midcourt, hit a 3 to start the overtime.
“It helps when you get the first basket in overtime” Simpson said.
A free throw by Griffin made it 61-57, and another 3 from Young upped the lead to 63-57. Collins, which got 24 points from Ralphael Stone, closed to 63-62 on two foul shots by Page with 1:41 left. South Oldham lost the ball twice after that, but Collins couldn’t capitzalize.
The Colonels trailed 44-31 near the end of the third quarter before Hayden Hawes, who ended up with 20 points, got on a roll. Hawes scored his team’s final six points of the third period and first five to begin the fourth quarter.Simon Kenton 60, Oldham County 57 —
Down 55-48, Oldham County went on a 9-0 spurt, getting a 3-point play from Hawes and baskets by Austin Perkins, Hawes and Conner Hicks. That put the Colonels ahead 57-55, but Simon Kenton tied it when Taylor Morrison stole the ball at midcourt and passed it to Noah Robinson for a layup with 0:34.9 to play.
Kuntz’s two free throws broke the 57-57 tie with 0:25.9 left and Kuntz added another foul shot with 0:03.6 to go. Hawes’ long shot from past midcourt hit high on the backboard.
“That energy and aggressiveness we had at the end was needed from the get-go,” Oldham County coach Coy Zerhusen said.
