[Stardust]

SOMERSET — The last hurdle was just too tall.
Boyle County came so far to reach the regional finals, only to find an obstacle it could not overcome in Southwestern.
The Warriors had too many ways to beat the Rebels, and they displayed them all in a 76-69 victory in the boys 12th Region Tournament championship at Pulaski County.
It marked the end of the road for a Boyle team that was trying to cap a remarkable turnaround with a trip to the Boys Sweet Sixteen, something that seemed out of its reach a few weeks ago.
The Rebels sliced a 15-point deficit to three before yielding in the fourth quarter to Southwestern, which captured the first regional title since the school opened in 1993.
“We had a couple of possessions where shots didn’t go down, and it seemed like we just couldn’t get over the hump. Of course, they’re an awfully good team,” Boyle coach Steve Adams said. “But I am so proud of our guys. They did not quit, they continued to battle, stayed in the game plan we had. I feel real good about our guys.”
The entire season was a battle for Boyle, first when they were trying to right themselves after a horrific 2-7 start and then when they were trying to put themselves in position to compete in the postseason after losing 13 of their first 17 games.
“All season we’ve had to fight. We came from 4-13 to coming back and winning a district championship and knocking off East Jessamine (in the semifinals), and we had our chances tonight and we fought, but it just didn’t go the way we wanted,” said forward Kyle Rice, one of six Boyle seniors.
It looked for a moment as if it might. Boyle (13-16) was at its best in the third quarter, when it hit six of nine shots from the field — including three of four 3-point attempts — and outscored Southwestern 15-7 over a span of 4 minutes, 22 seconds.
The Rebels, who had trailed 30-15 with less than 3 minutes remaining in the first half, pulled within 43-40 on Brett Jones’ 3-pointer with 1:33 left in the third quarter.
“We felt like the game was in our hands,” Boyle guard Micah Satterly said.
However, a turnover and a missed layup kept them from doing further damage in the third quarter. They blocked back-to-back shots in the opening seconds of the fourth period, then missed a 3-point try that would have made it 45-43. Instead, another turnover off the rebound led to a dunk by Southwestern’s Isaiah Collier that gave the Warriors a 47-40 lead.
The teams then traded baskets for about 4 minutes before David Kapinga singlehandedly put the game away. The Southwestern guard hit a 3 with 3:16 to go that made it 55-46, and he went on to score 11 points in just 1:43. The last six of those came at the free-throw line, where Kapinga was 7 for 9 and the Warriors were 19 for 21 in the fourth quarter.
Kapinga scored 12 points in the fourth quarter and finished with 19, and Justin Edwards scored a game-high 25 for Southwestern (27-8).
With six of their top eight players standing 6-foot-3 or taller, the Warriors had a size advantage over Boyle.
“And our guys were smart enough to use it. We got some good stuff (inside), and our guards got them the ball, and that was our plan all along,” Southwestern coach Steve Wright said.
Southwestern also did some damage from the outside, going 4 for 9 from 3-point range in the first half, when it was 13 for 24 overall from the field.
Wright, who won eight regional titles and one state championship at Laurel County/South Laurel before moving to Southwestern this season, said he wanted to make sure the Warriors were ready for the Rebels.
“Boyle County had a lot of confidence,” Wright said. “Somebody at school today said, ‘We’ll, that’s not who you thought you’d be playing, and that’s probably good, isn’t it?’ and my response to that was, ‘I’m sure East Jessamine thought that last night.’ We’re not falling for that. I knew they would be well-prepared, and they were, but we’d answered the bell all year.”
The lead changed hands four times after Boyle went up 5-0 before Southwestern outscored the Rebels 21-5 over a span of 7:36 to take a 30-15 lead with 2:49 remaining in the first half.
Michael Arnett went 10 for 14 from the field and led Boyle with 23 points and 17 rebounds. Rice added 16 points for the Rebels, and Satterly scored 13.
The Rebels outshot the Warriors 48.9 percent to 46.7 after going 14 for 26 in the second half, but they said they struggled with Southwestern’s defensive switches.
“I think their defenses confused us at times and got us out of rhythm. They did a good job of switching up defenses and pressuring us in ways that we hadn’t (seen) in the tournament,” Boyle forward Zach Hester said.
The Rebels knew they weren’t expected to make the regional finals for the first time since 2007 — when the current seniors were seventh-graders — but they said that didn’t make losing any easier.
“It’s the worst feeling in the world,” Rice said.
“The only thing that ever could help that feeling is that we were able to do this all together. We’ve played with each other for a long time, since middle school, and we’ve had success and failure, and we’ve overcome obstacles and adversity,” Hester added.
Adams said he couldn’t be happier with the way his players fought throughout the season and in their final game.
“That’s what high-character guys do,” he said. “They just continue to play, just giving everything that we had, and when we walk off the court, our heads are held high and we feel good about what we did.”

http://www.centralkynews.com/amnews/spor...9573.story