SWEEP TWO GAMES FROM ANDERSON COUNTY
Buckner – The Colonels and Lady Colonels of Oldham County High School each overcame slow starts, but both rallied to win over 8th Region rival Anderson County.
BOYS – Oldham County 49, Anderson County 36 – This game featured the Eighth Region’s two longest-tenured coaches: Gary Forrest of Oldham County and Glen Drury of Anderson County. Both coaches had made their mark over the years with disciplined teams that played great defense. Oldham was picked as one of the top three teams in the Region; Anderson had already upset one of the big three (a 59-55 win over then-#15 Shelby County). It promised to be a big matchup.
The Colonels came out flat in this one, hitting only 2 of 12 first-quarter shots. Leading scorer Eric Johnson quickly picked up two fouls and headed to the bench early in the first half, and the Colonels trailed, 8-4, after a low-scoring first period.
With the two teams playing tough defense, points came slowly in the second period, too, but things did pick up a little. Back to back buckets by Alan Cotton tied the score at 8 to begin the quarter. A short time later, Oldham’s Hank Garrett hit the Colonels’ only three-point basket of the night to give Oldham a brief lead at 13-12, but Anderson County outscored the Colonels, 9-4, to take a 21-17 lead into the locker room.
Throughout the first half, senior guard Chris Hamilton tormented the Colonels. Averaging 15 points per game, the acrobatic Hamilton scored 12 first-half points on a series of driving layups and jumpers. He split double-teams, and generally made Oldham’s defenders look silly in what is usually a formidable man-to-man defense.
Hamilton started the second half the way he played the first, and scored the first two baskets of the half to give Anderson County its biggest lead at 25-17. But the Colonels switched to a 1-3-1 zone defense and ripped off an 11-0. Eric Johnson scored six points during the rally, and the zone defense completely befuddled the Bearcats, who at one point turned the ball over on four straight possessions without a shot. Hamilton temporarily halted the bloodletting with a free throw to trim the Oldham County lead to 2 at 28-26, but Ryan Heimke, Daniel Viehmann, and Donta Smith all scored on baskets before Brandon Raeuchle scored for Anderson County to end the period with Oldham leading, 34-28.
The two teams – or, more accurately, Chris Hamilton and the Colonels – swapped baskets to begin the final period. With the game still up in the air at 38-32, though, the Colonels began to pull away at the line, hitting 9 of 10 free throws to pull out to a 13 point lead, 47-34 heading into the final minute. Baskets by the Bearcats’ Hamilton and the Colonels’ Travis Liedtke wrapped up the scoring.
In the end, solid free throw shooting in the second half (10/12) and the 1-3-1 zone defense paved the way for Oldham’s victory. That and the fact that seven Colonels scored, whereas only five Bearcats scored points, with Hamilton the only Anderson County player to score over 5 points.
Oldham County improved to 11-3 on the season; Anderson fell to 8-6.
UNOFFICIAL SCORING:
Oldham County – Eric Johnson 14, Donta Smith 13, Viehmann 6, Garrett 5, Cotton 5,
Liedtke 3, Heimke 3, Nathaniel Johnson 0, Marcus Smith 0
Anderson County – Hamilton 23, Sutherland 5, Raeuchle 4, Hunter
2, McKee 2
GIRLS –
Oldham County 50, Anderson County 34 – The 9th-ranked Lady Colonels won easily over the Lady Bearcats despite a sub-par performance.
With only one senior on their roster, the Lady Bearcats were young. Their roster featured only two juniors, along with with nine sophomores and two freshmen. One freshman – Santana McKee – started and led the team in scoring (16 ppg) and rebounding (7 rpg). The second-leading scorer – guard Kristen Phillips – was a sophomore and averaged 13 ppg.
Despite their youth, Anderson County came into the contest with an 8-4 record.
Like their male counterparts, the Lady Bearcats broke on top early, taking a 4-0 lead on baskets by senior center Melissa Embry – the only senior on the Anderson County roster – and leading scorer Santana McKee, a freshman averaging 16 points per contest.
After Oldham trimmed the lead to one at 4-3, Embry scored to give Anderson a 6-3 lead. The Lady Colonels press then proceeded to turn the next four minutes into a nightmare of larceny. They swiped passes, stole the ball from guards attempting to bring it into frontcourt, and basically played keep-away from Anderson County for the next four minutes. Sarah Gibson alone accounted for four steals during a first quarter in which Oldham forced (unofficially) eight turnovers.
While Anderson was having trouble hanging onto the ball, Oldham County was putting up 25 shots. Unfortunately for the Lady Colonels, they hit only five (20%) during the first period. The free throw line wasn’t providing much relief, either, as the Lady Colonels missed eight of their first ten free throws. Even Miss Basketball candidate Brandi Miller suffered through a nightmarish quarter, hitting only one of eight shots.
Still, Oldham County scored eleven unanswered points, with junior guard Rebecca Husband putting the finishing touches on the run with two threes to push the lead to eight at 14-6. Anderson finally answered after four minutes of silence with a disputed three pointer by McKee that the officials ruled came before the buzzer. An exceedingly questionable ruling, it still allowed Anderson to pull to within five after one quarter of play.
Oldham County quickly went to work putting the game away in the second quarter, scoring the period’s first ten points to take a 15 point lead at 24-9 with 3:20 to go in the first half. With McKee on the bench with two fouls, the Lady Bearcats didn’t seem to have a "go-to" person and their offense stalled. Tammy Neuhror finally prevented a second-period shutout for Anderson County with a basket with just 1:37 to go in the period, but Oldham County finished the half on a 6-0 run to take a 30-11 lead into the locker room.
McKee opened the third period with a bucket to trim the lead to 30-13, but Oldham County limited the Lady Bearcats to their third straight quarter with fewer than ten points (Anderson County scored nine in the first quarter and two in the second) by holding them to seven third quarter points. Meanwhile, Brandi Miller was finally getting untracked, and she hit four of seven shots in the period, culminating in a steal and layup to give Oldham County their biggest lead of the night at 43-16 late in the quarter.
But a funny thing happened on the way to the rout…
Oldham County suddenly turned sloppy in the final period, and Anderson refused to go quietly. After Husband’s basket gave Oldham its final 27 point lead at 45-18, the Lady Bearcats began a slow, but steady comeback. The Lady Colonels may have already sealed their twelveth victory, but the Lady Bearcats outscored Oldham, 13-2, over the next three minutes or so to cut the margin to 16 at 47-31.
After a field goal by Eryn Jacobson of Oldham pushed the lead to 49-31, Tammy Neuhror made one of two free throws for Anderson, then rebounded her own missed free throw and scored on a putback to pull the Lady Bearcats to within 15 at 49-34 with 48.7 seconds left.
Strangely, the Lady Bearcats fouled twice in the final three seconds, resulting in Sara Hadley hitting one of two free throws with 1.6 seconds left to account for the final margin.
Oldham County improves to 12-3; Anderson County falls to 8-5.
UNOFFICIAL SCORING:
Oldham County – Miller 14, Hadley 11, Husband 8, S. Gibson 6, Jacobson 5, H. Gibson 2, Hedges 2, Koebel 2, Johnson 0, Irwin 0, Cotton 0, Kamer 0
Anderson County – McKee 15, T. Neurohr 5, Embry 4, Phillips 3,
Kays 3, K. Neurohr 2, Bolton 2
NEXT BROADCASTS on WYKY 105.7 FM:
Friday, 1/19/2001 – Oldham County @ North Bullitt (boys & girls)
5:30 pm pregame, 6:00 tipoff OCHS @ North Bullitt (boys)
OCHS @ North Bullitt (girls) immediately following the boys game
Saturday, 1/20/2001 – Kentucky Preps Plus Classic (girls)
8:00 pregame, 8:30 pm tipoff Oldham County vs. Jackson County (TN)
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