South Oldham Wins 18th Game, 63-55, Over Louisville Central

Crestwood, KY - The 2003-4 South Oldham Dragons became the second-winningest team in SOHS history on Thursday, leading wire-to-wire on senior night to claim a 63-55 victory over the Yellowjackets of Central.

With senior Brad Cofer leading the way with 30 points, the Dragons jumped on top 7-0 and never looked back. SOHS ultimately built a 17-point margin at 39-22 before withstanding a fourth quarter rally by the Jackets.

With all four seniors starting - normal starters Cofer and Alex McCoy, along with reserves Nick Phelps and Chad Sanders - the Dragons executed their game plan perfectly in the opening period. Playing a 2-3 zone that denied Central any interior passing or cutting lanes, SOHS forced the visitors from the sixth region to repeatedly hoist shots from the perimeter. It quickly became apparent that this was not Central's forte, and the Dragons took advantage of the Central misfires, grabbing the long rebounds and pushing the ball up the floor for open looks before the Jackets could set their defense.

With Cofer hitting his first three shots - including two threes - South jumped to a 10-2 lead. They stretched the margin to nine at 15-6 on a Cofer layup before settling for a 15-8 lead after one quarter.

The lead was ten at 22-12 when SOHS cashed in for six points on one possession. After Cofer came up with a loose ball on the defensive end, he found Nick Phelps under the basket with a long pass. Phelps was literally wrapped up by a Central defender as he went up for the layup, but the senior still managed to muscle the ball high off the glass into the basket.

The foul was ruled intentional, and Phelps hit one of two free throws, and SOHS was then awarded the ball out of bounds. Michael Scott then completed the trip with a three pointer off the left wing to give the Dragons a 28-12 lead with three and half minutes remaining in the half.

The Dragons took a 35-20 lead into the locker room.

SOHS took its largest lead of the night at 39-22 on a Chad Sanders layup early in the third quarter, before Central began to chip away.

It was 41-25 when Leroy Nobles rebounded a missed shot and put it in to key a 9-0 Central run that pulled the Jackets to within seven.

With the Dragons struggling on the offensive end of the floor, and getting completely shut off the offensive glass, Cofer took command. The senior scored the Dragons' next 12 points, including the final eight SOHS points of the third quarter. When Lamar Sistrunk pulled the Jackets to within eight at 46-38 with nine seconds to play in the period, Cofer coolly brought the ball upcourt in the waning seconds of the quarter and drilled a 25 foot three-pointer at the buzzer to give SOHS a 49-38 lead heading into the final frame.

Both teams struggled to get consistent offense in the first half of the final quarter, but Central aggressively pushed the ball inside and generated free throw opportunities. With the Yellowjackets hitting 6 of 9 charity tosses, the visitors steadily narrowed the margin until Guante Ferguson hit two free throws to pull Central to within four at 54-50 with 3:15 to play.

A three pointer by Scott off the left wing proved to be the winning points, giving SOHS a 57-50 lead with just over two minutes to play, but the Dragons weren't able to rest easy until the final half minute. Central's Ken Duvall hit one of two free throws with 1:05 to play that pulled the Jackets to within two possessions at 59-53, but Scott and Alex McCoy combined to hit four of six free throws over the final 49 seconds to hold Central at bay.

South's 18th win of the season made the 2003-4 Dragons the second-winningest team in SOHS history, behind only the original SOHS squad (1989-90), which won 22 games. This year's edition of the Dragons could eclipse that record by winning the district and region crowns, a course that requires SOHS to win five games.

SOHS improved to 18-9 on the season. Central, which had won 6 of its previous 9 games, fell to 8-14.

South Oldham - 15 20 14 14 - 63

Central - 8 12 18 17 - 55

SOHS (18-9) Cofer 30, Scott 16, McCoy 7, Sanders 4, Phelps 3, Watson 2, Lee 1

Central (8-14) Nobles 14, Sistrunk 12, Page 9, Ferguson 6, White 5, Riley 5, Bowens 3, Duvall 1