New Castle, KY – The Oldham County Colonels and the Shelby County Rockets advanced to the boys’ Eighth Region final Friday night with two hard-fought victories over gritty opponents.

The Rockets won the first game by upsetting(?) the 8th ranked Scott County Cardinals, 74-69, ending a three-year reign by the Cardinals as Regional champions. The victory meant a new team would wear the crown this year, and by the time Oldham County had disposed of Bullitt Central, 67-55, the contenders were down to the two teams that had divvied up the role of runner-up for three straight seasons.

Shelby Co. 74, Scott Co. 69 – The 19th-ranked Rockets jumped on top by 11 in the first period, and maintained a lead of 9 – 13 points throughout the first half. They pushed it to 61-44 by the end of three, and ultimately led by as many as 19. Midway through the fourth, the Rockets still held a 17-point lead, and the Cardinals simply seemed to have no answers as the Rockets repeatedly drove to the hoop andeither scored on layups or got fouled and shot free throws.

But champions don’t go away easily, and the Cardinals came storming back as the Rockets suddenly began to play "not to lose." Exploiting Shelby’s tentative play, Scott roared back to pull to within 3 at 72-69 with under a half minute to play. When Shelby County turned the ball over for the thirteenth time in the second half, Scott had the opportunity to tie, but Coy Zerhusen’s three was either a) an air ball that went out of bounds, b) blocked by a Shelby player out of bounds, or c) a missed shot that Zerhusen was fouled on. From the stands, it appeared that the shot was blocked and that their may have been a foul.
But neither was called, and the ball was ruled out of bounds to Shelby County. The Rockets then sealed the game with two free throws. Shelby County was led by Brian Silverhorn’s 18 points, and improved to 26-5; Scott ended their season at 23-7.

Oldham County 67, Bullitt Central 55 – The 20th-ranked Colonels didn’t figure to have as easy a time of it as they had when they won, 73-53, in Shepherdsville earlier in the season. The Cougars, however, may have exceeded all expectations.

With 6’7" junior center Tod Spencer leading the way, the Cougars took the ball aggressively to the basket to start the game, and took an early 4-0 lead. Oldham County did not lead until late in the period, when Alan Cotton hit a three-pointer to give the Colonels a brief 10-8 lead. Point guard Chad Stivers then tied the game at 10 for BC with 2:49 to go in the period.

Matt McCubbins then came off the bench for Bullitt Central, and scored the last six points of the period for the Cougars. His last-second tip-in of a missed shot game BC a two point advantage after one period of play, 16-14.

For the night, the Cougars repeatedly hammered the ball inside to their talented big men. In the first period, Tod Spencer and 6’5" senior Matt McCubbins scored 14 of 16 BC points from point blank range. In the first half, the Cougars were 13 of 16 from inside the arc, but 0 for 5 beyond it.

Defensively, the Cougars employed a 2-3 zone half-court defense that slowed the Colonel attack. With the usually dependable shooting of Oldham County missing – the Colonels hit only 4 of 18 threes on the night – the Cougars were able to keep the tempo of the game to their likeing.

Bullitt Central equalled their biggest lead of the night at 18-14 when Stivers scored to open the quarter. Eric Johnson, however, was about to take matters into his own hands.

The 6’2" senior, named the 8th Region Player of the Year, scored the Colonels’ first six points of the period on a three pointer, a free throw, and a basket, and ultimately tied the game at 20. Spencer briefly put BC back on top, 22-20, but Oldham ran off six unanswered points on baskets from Travis Liedtke, Donta Smith, and Eric Johnson. It was the longest "run" of the night for either team, although Oldham County duplicated it in the third. When Johnson scored with 2:11 left, the Cougars called time out.

Coming out of the time out, BC scored twice, and Spencer’s basket with 1:21 left in the half tied the score at 26. It was the sixth and final tie of the night.

An Alan Cotton three pushed the Colonels ahead for good at 29-26, and Oldham ultimately headed to the locker room ahead by two points at 30-28.

The lead fluctuated between two and six points throughout much of the third period, but when Donta Smith scored and was fouled with 3:51 left, then hit the free throw, the lead grew to nine at 41-32. Barely a minute later, two free throws from Liedtke gave Oldham County its first double-digit lead of the night at 47-36 with 2:46 remaining in the third.

The Colonels ultimately led by as much as 13 before settling for a 12-point lead at 53-41 after three quarters of play. After scoring just seven first-half points on 3 of 8 shooting, Donta scored 15 points in the third period on 5 of 6 shooting from the floor and 5 of 6 shooting from the line. His 15 third-quarter points alone outscored BC, 15-13.

Oldham County would ultimately lead by 15 at 59-44, midway through the fourth period before an 11-4 Cougar run pulled Bullitt Central to within 8 at 63-55 with 1:25 to go. But Oldham County scored the final four points of the game to account for the final score.

Oldham County improved to 26-4 on the season; Bullitt Central ended its season at 20-10.

NOTES: One of the state’s top-shooting teams in field goal, three-point, and free-throw percentages, the Colonels shot just 39.3% from the floor, 22.2% from beyond the arc, and 68.2% from the line. All three percentages will likely need to improve in order to beat the Rockets.

Travis Liedtke hit all three of his field goal attempts in the second half and all four free throws; he finished 4 of 7 from the floor and 4 of 4 from the line for 12 points.

Donta Smith scored 20 second-half points on 7 of 10 shooting and hit 6 of 8 foul shots.

Oldham County turned the ball over only four times.

Oldham County - 14 16 23 14 - 67

Bullitt Central - 16 12 13 14 - 55

Oldham Co. – D. Smith 27, E. Johnson 15, Liedtke 12, Cotton 6, N. Johnson 4, Viehmann 3

Bullitt Central – Spencer 19, Stivers 12, Rheaume 10, McCubbins 8, Troutman 3, Rowe 3

SATURDAY, MARCH 10, 2001:
Eighth Region Boys’ Championship

#19 Shelby County (26-5) vs. #20 Oldham County (26-4)

Pregame 7 pm on WTHQ 101.7 FM and WYKY 105.7 FM; tip-off at 7:30 pm
 
 

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