[Stardust]

Bullitt East High School junior Trey Rakes has made a load of big-time shots during his first three seasons with the Chargers, but nothing compared with the one he made Tuesday.

With 3.5 seconds left in a tie game, Rakes drove the length of the floor with a Pleasure Ridge Park defender on his left side and fired in a shot from about 35 feet as Bullitt East stunned the Panthers 47-44 to capture the Class Act Sixth Region Tournament final before a packed house at Knights Hall.

“It’s something you always dream of when you are a little kid,” Rakes said. “You always dream of it in your bed when you are going to sleep, and now it’s reality.

“It’s just huge, huge.”

Rakes let fly from just in front of the Bullitt East bench. The ball went into the basket a split-second after the red light on the backboard came on to end the game.

The 5-foot-10 junior raced to midcourt and joined a pile of Chargers celebrating the school’s back-to-back regional titles.

“We put it in Trey’s hands, and he made a good shot,” coach Troy Barr said. “I thought he had the speed to get down the floor and make something happen. I knew he was going to have to throw up something like that.

“I feel sorry for the PRP kids. I hate to win or lose a game like that, but it went in and here we go. Trey Rakes is so important to us it’s unbelievable.”

Rakes’ shot capped a frantic final few minutes that included three lead changes and a huge charge drawn by junior Chris Embry. PRP star Max Clemons drove the left side of the lane and was called for the offensive foul with 3.5 seconds left.

After a Bullitt East timeout, Rakes did his thing.

“Those kids are winners,” PRP coach Dale Mabrey said of the Chargers. “They feed off each other and know where to get the ball when they need a basket.”

The victory sends Bullitt East (27-4) into its third Sweet 16. The Chargers will face top-ranked Trinity next Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. in Rupp Arena.

The Chargers also beat PRP (26-7) in last year’s regional final.

“Think about this: Has anybody beaten PRP in back-to-back regional finals?” Barr asked. “I doubt it. I doubt very seriously, and that’s why I thought this was going to be extremely hard. I am just so proud of our kids.”

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