Bedford, KY – It was an all-Oldham County final in the 31^st District at Trimble County High School. For Oldham County, a chance to exorcise the demons still around after last season’s disappointing loss in the District semi-finals to Carroll County. South already had a victory of sorts; win or lose, they were guaranteed a berth in the Region for the first time since 1998, when Oldham beat the Dragons in the District final, 51-50.

The regular season contest had gone to Oldham County by 14 in Crestwood. Eric Johnson and Donta Smith scored 29 and 20 points, respectively, to lead the Colonels to the win. South’s Kennedy scored 33 in a losing cause. But that was two months ago. Oldham, 23-4 on the season and ranked 18th, came into this game heavily favored over the 13-14 Dragons. They quickly showed why they are considered one of the top teams in the Eighth Region.

The Colonels took barely three seconds to take the lead. Ryan Heimke got the opening tap to Eric Johnson, who showed some nifty footwork and dribbling skills as he took the ball to the hole for an easy two. Little did anyone know that Oldham had taken the lead for good.

Just seconds later, Hank Garrett stole the ball from Travis Foley at mid-court, and fed Eric Johnson for his second basket, a dunk, to make it 4-0. The lead stretched to 6-0 as Nathaniel Johnson, defending the passer on the ensuing inbounds play after Johnson’s dunk, caught the ball and scored uncontested.

South got their first shot off with 6:22 showing in the first period. Matt Kennedy scored on a driving layup, was fouled, and hit the free throw to cut the lead to 6-3. But the Colonels’ defense continued to confound the Dragons, and just 2:56 in to the contest, Oldham County had a 12-3 lead, prompting South Oldham coach Steve Simpson to call time out.

The time out barely slowed Oldham. A basket by Travis Liedtke and two free throws by Eric Johnson, pushed the margin into double digits at 16-3, before Kennedy answered with a three to briefly slow the onslaught. The Colonels then reeled off seven unanswered points, with an Alan Cotton three and a Donta Smith dunk keeping the Oldham supporters on their feet.

Down 24-6, Kennedy again stepped up for South, hitting his second three of the night with 42 seconds left in the period. After Cotton drained two free throws to push the lead to 26-9, Travis Foley crossed the timeline on the run and nailed a 25 foot buzzer-beating jump shot to make it 26-12 after one period.

Oldham did practically everything right in a jaw-dropping first quarter. Donta Smith and Eric Johnson slammed down dunks. Cotton had a three. The Colonels hit five of seven free throws. And practically everyone had a steal or two. On the rare occasions the Dragons got the ball into frontcourt, the Colonels’ pressure on the ball constantly kept the Dragon players with their backs to the basket. And while six Oldham players scored in the first period, only two Dragons hit the stats book.

If first-year coach Steve Simpson has instilled anything into his squad, however, it’s a no-quit attitude. The Dragons have trailed often this season – several times by double digits – and they have repeatedly made big rallies, even against strong teams. They overcame a second-half 18 point deficit to beat Grayson County, and a 13 point deficit in the second half to beat Anderson County. Shoot, they still had three quarters to play in this game…

The two teams played even-steven the first few moments of the second period, and midway through the quarter, the Colonels’ lead was 13 at 34-21. That’s when South got on a roll, outscoring Oldham, 11-2, over a two-minute stretch that pulled the Dragons to within four at 36-32. Matt Kennedy had his third three pointer and six points during the run.

But Oldham County regrouped, and scored five of the final six points of the half to take an eight point lead into the locker room at 41-33.

South continued to press the issue in the early moments of the third, and the Dragons pulled to within six at 43-37 on a Matt Kennedy basket. And then the wheels came off the Dragon express.

The run started innocently enough, when Eric Johnson – who was just voted the Eighth Region Player of the Year by the region’s coaches – hit one of two free throws. Six minutes, six South Oldham turnovers, and two Dragon time outs later, the score was 53-37 after the Colonels had scored ten straight points. Junior Donta Smith accounted for five points during the run, and he and Eric Johnson each scored on dunks.

South finally ended the drought with a three pointer by Foley with 2:15 to go in the third. Three pointers by Brandon Losik and Matt Kennedy helped the Dragons crawl back to within eleven at 57-46 with 33 seconds left in the quarter, but a three from Cotton made itr 60-46 as the teams headed to the final period.

The Colonels went to a very deliberate offense in the fourth period, and time slowly became a factor. With just 3:17 to go, Oldham had matched their largest lead at 18, 68-50 after a Travis Liedtke basket. Kennedy – who led all scorers with 29 points – hit his fifth three of the night, followed by two free throws to pull the Dragons to within 13 at 68-55. And with 2:22 left, the Dragons had an opportunity to get back in the game when Troy Shultz went to the line for one and the bonus.

But Shultz missed the first shot, Oldham rebounded, and South did not score again. The Colonels hit five of six free throws to put the game away, equalling their largest margin with the final score of 73-55.

For the game, only three Dragon starters scored, and only two subs scored. Kennedy’s 29 points represented over half of the Dragons’ offensive production, and no other South player reached double figures. The Dragons turned the ball over 26 times and shot just 37.5%. Oldham County, on the other hand, hit 52.0% of their shots and committed only 14 turnovers. Four Colonels reached double figures, led by Donta Smith’s 23 points, Eric Johnson’s 19, Liedtke’s 11, and Alan Cotton’s 10.

The Colonels’ bench outscored South’s, 46-10, and they scored 28 points off turnovers. And in perhaps the most important stat, the Colonels hit more free throws (19) than South attempted (14). They did this despite the fact that both teams were whistled for 19 fouls. For the game, Oldham hit 19 of 26 free throws for 73.1%.

Donta Smith had an amazing line: 23 points, 12 rebounds, 3 assists, and 4 blocked shots. Kennedy led South with 29 points and 4 rebounds, but he also had 7 turnovers. Steven Hay led all rebounders with 14 for South.

The Dragon guards had a nightmarish night handling the ball. Besides Kennedy’s 7 turnovers, Foley committed 7, and Cofer committed 6.

Scoring:

Oldham County – D. Smith 23, E. Johnson 19, Liedtke 11, Cotton 10, N. Johnson 4, Viehmann 4, Jacobsen 2

South Oldham – Kennedy 29, Hay 8, Foley 8, Beisner 7, Losik 3

REGION 8 COVERAGE:

Stay tuned to WYKY 105.7 FM and WTHQ 101.7 FM for complete coverage of each and every game in the Eighth Region tournaments, beginning next Monday, live from New Castle. The pregame show will start at 6:30 pm on Monday, followed by live coverage of the tip at 7 pm.

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