Shelbyville, KY – Three ranked teams hit the hardwood as the boys and girls teams of Oldham and Shelby Counties squared off before a packed house at the Shelby County gym. With as many Oldham fans as Shelby fans in the stands, the Rockets and Lady Rockets managed to both gain victories over their counterparts from Buckner – the boys in a stunning, come-from-behind squeaker.

Girls: Shelby County 54, Oldham County 36 – At 12-9, the Oldham County Lady Colonels weren’t really supposed to be a major threat to the Lady Rockets, ranked in the top 20 and sporting a 17-3 record. Especially not in the Lady Rockets’ own gym.

But things didn’t start out so easy for Shelby, despite the deceptive final score. In fact, Shelby was outscored, 34-33, by Oldham in quarters 1, 3, and 4 – but the second quarter was a disaster.

After Shelby jumped on top, 4-0, on a pair of Toni Slaughter buckets, Oldham quickly responded. Eryn Jacobson hit a three, was fouled, and completed the four-point play to tie the game at four. It was tied at eight when Jacobson hit another three to push Oldham on top, 11-8 with just over a minute to go in the period.

But when Jacobson was slapped with her second foul of the night late in the quarter, Oldham’s wheels began to come off. A Slaughter free throw and a basket by Anna Watts tied the game at eleven as the period came to a close. The game appeared to be anyone’s for the taking, but with Jacobson on the bench, the second quarter became a nightmare for Oldham.

The Lady Rockets started the second period with three quick buckets from Dawn Schlotterback, Charlotte Marshall, and Slaughter to build the lead to 17-11. Rebecca Husband scored for Oldham to briefly stop the bleeding and pull the Lady Colonels back to within four, but – amazingly – that would be the only Oldham points of the second period. The Lady Rockets, meanwhile, ripped off fifteen unanswered points to close out the period, ultimately outscoring Oldham, 21-2, in the second and staking themselves to a stunning 32-13 halftime advantage.

In all, since trailing at 11-8, the Lady Rockets had gone on a 24-2 run over 9:12.

Slaughter made it a 26-2 run by starting the third period with a bucket. Meanwhile, Oldham’s first four trips ended in three turnovers and a missed shot. Finally, Husband scored Oldham’s first points of the second half at the 4:10 mark of the third period. Her bucket started a 7-0 Oldham run, culminating with a three from Jessica Holroyd. But Shelby regrouped to lead by 16 at 40-24 after three periods.

Oldham continued to be forced to depend on Husband on offense. After scoring seven points in the first period, Jacobson had been forced to sit through almost all of the second. She returned to play most of the second half, but did not score again, missing all three of her second half shots. Holroyd came off the bench to score five second half points, but it was Husband who was forced to shoulder most of the load, scoring 14 of Oldham’s 23 second half points, including ten of Oldham’s final fourteen points.

The Lady Colonels made their last mini-run to start the fourth. Baskets by Husband and Jackie Koebel pulled Oldham to within twelve at 40-28 – the closest Oldham had been since 25-13. But Shelby quickly pushed the lead back to 16 on baskets by Tanisha Johnson and Marshall, and Oldham could get no closer than fourteen the rest of the way.

Oldham falls to 12-10 on the season; Shelby improves to 18-3.

Notes: Oldham shot just 15 of 45 for the game for 33.3%, and was only 3 of 17 from beyond the arc for 17.6%. Husband, normally a solid perimeter shooter, missed all eight of her three point opportunities.

Strange, but true: Oldham went to the line three times in the first period, hitting all three shots. They did not shoot another free throw all night.

Oldham County 11 2 11 12 - 36

Shelby County 11 21 8 14 - 54

Oldham Co. – Husband 20, Jacobson 7, Holroyd 5, Koebel 2, A. Johnson 2

Shelby Co. – Slaughter 23, T. Johnson 11, Marshall 6, Watts 5, Kerchner 4, Schlotterback 2, Hayes 1
 

BOYS – Shelby County 81, Oldham County 80 – Two hot teams clashed in an epic Oldham-Shelby contest. Both teams came in riding winning streaks; Oldham had won nine in a row; Shelby six. Both teams came in highly-regarded: Oldham was ranked #11 in the AP poll; Shelby #15. And both teams figured prominently in the state statistics: Oldham was #1 in scoring defense, allowing just 44.6 points per game. Shelby was #3 in scoring, averaging 82.4 points per game.

In short, it was the "unstoppable force" meeting the "immovable object". And – after dominating three quarters of the ballgame – the "object" blinked.

Much of the pre-game hype revolved around the two top-rated players in the region – Oldham’s Donta Smith and Shelby’s Brian Silverhorn. But it was Oldham County’s junior forward Brock Neal who stole the show early, scoring ten first quarter points on five of six shooting to propel the Colonels to the early lead.

Down 8-6 after a Silverhorn three-pointer from the corner, Oldham County exploded for a 20-9 run to close out the period, with Neal scoring half of Oldham’s points and Donta scoring eight points, including two dunks. The Colonels repeatedly beat the Shelby full-court pressure with ease, getting layups and dunks as they threw over the press, and on the defensive end, the Colonels ruled boards, granting the Rockets no second-chance points.

The Rockets rallied in the first half of the second period, with Robert Daniels scoring six of his team-high 25 points. (Daniels shared game scoring honors with Donta Smith). When Zane Williams scored at the 3:53 mark of the first half, Shelby was within five at 32-27, and Oldham coach Gary Forrest called time out.

When Oldham came out of the huddle, they blitzed the Rockets with an 8-0 run to jump out to a double digit lead at 40-27. Donta and Travis Liedtke wrapped up the run with fast break dunks. Tory Lancaster hit a free throw for Shelby to end the first half scoring, but Oldham led by an even dozen at the break, 40-28.

The Colonels slowly tightened the screws in the third period. The first couple of minutes of the third were slow ones offensively, and a Shelby crept to within ten on a Daniels basket. But over a two minute span, Oldham got some big scores: Matt Jacobson hit two threes and Neal got an old-fashioned three point play. With 1:08 to go in the period, Oldham had stretched out to their biggest lead at 59-40, and Robert Daniels was playing with four fouls for Shelby.

Facing a huge deficit, Shelby coach Champ Ligon opted to keep Daniels in; the senior scored the final three points of the period to pull Shelby to within 16 at 59-43 as the quarter ended.

A Daniels basket and free throw, followed by a basket from Zane Williams, pulled Shelby to within 11 at 59-48 to start the fourth. Matt Jacobson answered with a bucket for Oldham, but Silverhorn’s third three of the night made it a ten point contest at 61-51 with 6:47 to play. But Oldham appeared to have the answers. A dunk by Donta, followed by two free throws from Jacobson and another Donta Smith dunk propelled Oldham back to a 16 point advantage at 67-51 with just over five minutes to play. The Colonels seemed to have enough gas left to make it to the finish line.

They very nearly did, but the Rockets dominated the final five minutes. For 27 minutes, this was Oldham’s game; dominated by the Colonels in almost every category. For the final five, the home team took control.

With 5:13 left, Brock Neal fouled out. Daniels started the rally innocently enough by nailing the two free throws. After two more Daniels free throws, Matt Jacobson fouled out at the 4:48 mark, and again, Daniels hit two free throws.

The 6-0 "free throw run" by Daniels had pulled Shelby to within ten, and Juanie Jackson reduced the margin to under ten points when he stole the ball and raced in for a layup, making it 67-59, Oldham County.

Brad Koenig finally got Oldham back on the board with a running jumper from the left side, but the Colonels missed a chance to push the lead back to twelve when Jerriott Huddleston missed two free throws at the 3:46 mark.

What followed may have been the most crucial sequence of the game. Zane Williams – again bedeviling Oldham County with his quickness – scored, was fouled, and hit the free throw to pull Shelby to within seven at 69-62. On the ensuing play, Daniels stole the ball and scored on a layup. Gary Forrest called time out. With 3:10 to play, Oldham led just 69-64, the Colonels were out of time outs, and Jacobson and Neal were on the bench. The Colonels needed someone to step up.

That someone turned out to be John McCarthy, a sub who had just entered the game for his first substantial action of the contest. He drove the lane and scored on his first shot of the game, to make the score 71-64. That fired the Oldham crowd up again, and got the Colonels going on their last "mini-run" of the night, a 5-2 run that gave the Colonels a 74-66 edge with 2:27 remaining.

But Silverhorn – who no longer had to worry about a taller Oldham player being in his face all the time – nailed a three over the shorter Oldham guards to pull the Rockets to within five. Two missed free throws by Oldham gave Shelby the ball back, and then Liedtke fouled out with 1:34 to go. Juanie Jackson missed both free throws, but Daniels rebounded and scored, and suddenly the Oldham lead was just three at 74-71.

Shelby was also in foul trouble, though, and Daniels finally fouled out at the 1:09 mark, joining Zane Williams, who had fouled out just seconds before. McCarthy connected on both charity tosses, and when Shelby threw the ball out of bounds with 1:05 to play, and fouled Brad Koenig just three seconds later, Oldham was in a position to begin putting the game away.

But Koenig missed both free throws and Kevin Natalie buried a fall-away three-pointer from the left wing to make it a one possession game at 76-74 with :50 left. It was the closest the Rockets had been since 12-11. It was also Natalie’s only basket of the night.

Natalie fouled out on Oldham’s next possession – three players from each squad fouled out: Oldham County’s Liedtke, Jacobson, and Neal, and Shelby’s Zane Williams, Daniels, and Natalie – but Donta Smith could connect on just one free throw, leaving the margin at just three points.

The Rockets’ Juanie Jackson scored to pull Shelby to within one at 77-76 with :27 seconds left, and Shelby immediately sent Smith to the line again with :25 seconds to go. Again, Donta hit one of two, and Shelby headed downcourt trailing just 78-76.

That’s when Silverhorn hit one of the biggest shots of the night – a deep, 22-foot three-pointer that found nothing but net, and gave Shelby their first lead since 8-6 at 79-78 with fifteen seconds left.

Shelby, always pressing, fouled Donta at midcourt on the ensuing possession. This time, Donta hit both free throws, briefly regaining the lead at 80-79 with 9 seconds left, but Oldham had left Shelby a fraction of a second too much time.

The Rockets brought the ball in bounds to Silverhorn, who drew the lane. Failing to draw the foul, the senior threw up an off-balance shot from short range that glanced off the rim to the left. Shane Masters of Shelby County grabbed the rebound and hustled up his own off-balance shot. The ball fell to the floor and was batted around as everyone tried to gain possession. Finally, it rolled over to Juanie Jackson, who – with all the other players still bent over, trying to pick up the ball – pulled up for a textbook jumper from five feet. It swished through the net as the buzzer sounded.

NOTES: Seven Oldham County opponents failed to score 38 points in an entire game, but the Rockets scored 38 points in the fourth quarter en route to their victory.

Oldham’s winning streak stops at nine. Had the Colonels won over Shelby and beaten Franklin County on Tuesday, they would have reached twenty wins faster than any Gary Forrest-coached team.

The Colonels continue to be jinxed at the line, hitting just 19 of 33 shots for 57.6%.

After committing just nine turnovers in the first three quarters (unofficially), Oldham turned the ball over seven times in the fourth period.

Oldham County - 26 14 19 21 - 80

Shelby County - 17 11 15 38 - 81

Oldham Co. – D. Smith 25, Jacobson 20, Neal 17, Liedtke 11, McCarthy 4, Koenig 3

Shelby Co. – Daniels 25, Silverhorn 18, Williams 15, Jackson 9, Masters 4, Jones 4, Natalie 3, Lancaster 1, Team 2

Next SportsZone Broadcast:

South Oldham vs. Woodford County, Tuesday, 2/5/02, pregame at 7:05 WTSZ 105.7 FM

South Oldham defeated Anderson County, 55-54, on a Travis Foley basket at the buzzer.

Future Broadcasts:

Oldham County vs. Grant County, Friday, 2/15/02, pregame at 7:05 WTSZ 105.7 FM

Oldham County vs. Meade County, Friday, 2/22/02, pregame at 7:05 WTSZ 105.7 FM