[Stardust]

Defending Seventh Region champion Eastern showed district rival Ballard, and the rest of the region, that it is still a force to be reckoned with.

The Eagles — No. 18 in The Courier-Journal’s Litkenhous Ratings — shocked No. 4 Ballard 79-76 in the 28th District Tournament final at Eastern Friday.

Tyrell Corlew scored 38 points for the Eagles (17-13), who avenged an 85-65 loss to Ballard on Feb. 10 on the same court.

That means Eastern automatically will play a district runner-up in the first round of next week’s Seventh Region Tournament at Bellarmine University. Ballard (23-8) will draw a champion from another district for its first-round foe.

“To be honest, this is not a big deal for Ballard,” Eastern coach Jason Couch said. “Ballard is one of the best four or five teams in the state. We’ve been up and down all year. This is huge for us.”

Corlew scored 22 points in the first half, which ended 44-44. He wound up hitting 12 of 18 shots, including 5 of 11 three-point tries, and all nine of his free throws. Percy Blade added 15 points and 11 rebounds.

Blade’s two free throws put Eastern up 74-72 with 1:11 left. Jocari Beattie’s foul shot at the 0:43 mark made it a three-point game, but Ballard closed within 75-74 on two foul shots by Quentin Snider at 0:34.7.

Corlew’s two free throws put Eastern up 77-74 with 23.8 seconds remaining. Ballard’s Lavonne Holland missed a shot, and Blade was fouled on the rebound and made two free throws. Snider’s follow shot at 0:02 ended the scoring.

Snider finished with 22 points.

http://saxo.highschoolsports.net/article...le?Avis=B2