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02-23-2012, 06:12 PM
BEDFORD, KY. — Favored to win its second straight Eighth Region championship, the Oldham County High School boys’ basketball team found itself on the brink of an early elimination Wednesday night.
The Colonels trailed rival North Oldham 23-18 at halftime in their 29th District Tournament semifinal, and senior guard Parker Simpson was concerned.
“I grabbed all my guys and said, ‘I have one half left in this season. Play hard for me,’ ” Simpson said. “We realized that if we didn’t finish out this half that we were done.”
The Colonels listened to Simpson and finished with a flurry, closing the game with a 20-3 run to beat the Mustangs 42-31 at Trimble County.
Oldham County (25-5), No. 16 in The Courier-Journal’s Litkenhous Ratings, extended its winning streak to 12 and advanced to face No. 20 South Oldham (20-8) in Friday’s 8 p.m. final. Both teams have clinched spots in next week’s Eighth Region Tournament at Henry County.
Simpson (12 points) was one of three Oldham County seniors to shine, joining Tyler Wesley (nine points, seven rebounds, two blocks) and Kerry Smith (eight points, five steals, four assists).
Devon Rowan scored 14 points and Jacob Clark 12 to lead the Mustangs (19-11), but top scorer David Levitch (19.4 ppg) was held to three points.
Mustangs coach David Henley said his team’s 12 second-half turnovers were the difference.
“That’s been our Achilles’ heel the whole year, turning the ball over,” Henley said. “You can’t beat a good team when you have 12 turnovers in the second half.”
North Oldham matched its biggest lead of the game, 28-22, on Rowan’s three-point play with 3:40 left in the third quarter, but Oldham County dominated from there.
Simpson’s jumper gave the Colonels the lead for good, 31-30, with 7:00 left in the fourth quarter. Simpson nailed another tough jumper to make it 35-30 with 3:03 left.
“I felt confident,” Simpson said. “I make those jumpers all the time in practice, but sometimes I don’t shoot them in games. I realized I needed to score for our team to win.”
Meanwhile, Levitch’s free throw — which made it 37-31 with 2:12 left — was the Mustangs’ only point of the fourth quarter.
Holland credited his team’s aggressiveness on defense with frustrating North Oldham’s deliberate offense.
“I think in the first half we played scared,” he said. “We feared going home, and we didn’t get up and get after them. … In the second half we decided we were going to pick up (full-court). We ran our 1-3-1, and I thought it bothered them a little bit.
“It was just about changing the tempo of the game in our favor.”
North Oldham 12 11 7 1 - 31
Oldham County 14 4 11 13 - 42
North Oldham (19-11) - Clark 12, Levitch 3, Shams 2, Rowan 14.
Oldham County (25-5) - Smith 8, Gruber 5, Simpson 12, Wesley 9, Flores 6, Masters 2.
3-point goals - Clark; Gruber, Simpson, Wesley.
http://saxo.highschoolsports.net/article...mi?Avis=B2
The Colonels trailed rival North Oldham 23-18 at halftime in their 29th District Tournament semifinal, and senior guard Parker Simpson was concerned.
“I grabbed all my guys and said, ‘I have one half left in this season. Play hard for me,’ ” Simpson said. “We realized that if we didn’t finish out this half that we were done.”
The Colonels listened to Simpson and finished with a flurry, closing the game with a 20-3 run to beat the Mustangs 42-31 at Trimble County.
Oldham County (25-5), No. 16 in The Courier-Journal’s Litkenhous Ratings, extended its winning streak to 12 and advanced to face No. 20 South Oldham (20-8) in Friday’s 8 p.m. final. Both teams have clinched spots in next week’s Eighth Region Tournament at Henry County.
Simpson (12 points) was one of three Oldham County seniors to shine, joining Tyler Wesley (nine points, seven rebounds, two blocks) and Kerry Smith (eight points, five steals, four assists).
Devon Rowan scored 14 points and Jacob Clark 12 to lead the Mustangs (19-11), but top scorer David Levitch (19.4 ppg) was held to three points.
Mustangs coach David Henley said his team’s 12 second-half turnovers were the difference.
“That’s been our Achilles’ heel the whole year, turning the ball over,” Henley said. “You can’t beat a good team when you have 12 turnovers in the second half.”
North Oldham matched its biggest lead of the game, 28-22, on Rowan’s three-point play with 3:40 left in the third quarter, but Oldham County dominated from there.
Simpson’s jumper gave the Colonels the lead for good, 31-30, with 7:00 left in the fourth quarter. Simpson nailed another tough jumper to make it 35-30 with 3:03 left.
“I felt confident,” Simpson said. “I make those jumpers all the time in practice, but sometimes I don’t shoot them in games. I realized I needed to score for our team to win.”
Meanwhile, Levitch’s free throw — which made it 37-31 with 2:12 left — was the Mustangs’ only point of the fourth quarter.
Holland credited his team’s aggressiveness on defense with frustrating North Oldham’s deliberate offense.
“I think in the first half we played scared,” he said. “We feared going home, and we didn’t get up and get after them. … In the second half we decided we were going to pick up (full-court). We ran our 1-3-1, and I thought it bothered them a little bit.
“It was just about changing the tempo of the game in our favor.”
North Oldham 12 11 7 1 - 31
Oldham County 14 4 11 13 - 42
North Oldham (19-11) - Clark 12, Levitch 3, Shams 2, Rowan 14.
Oldham County (25-5) - Smith 8, Gruber 5, Simpson 12, Wesley 9, Flores 6, Masters 2.
3-point goals - Clark; Gruber, Simpson, Wesley.
http://saxo.highschoolsports.net/article...mi?Avis=B2
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