New Castle, KY (Henry County HS) – For the second straight year, the Oldham County Colonels reign as the kings of the boys’ 8^th Region. The 18^th –ranked Colonels improved to 28-2 on the season with a hard-fought, emotional 61-54 victory over the Shelby County Rockets in a rematch of last year’s finale.

For the second straight night, Oldham faced a top ten team. On Friday night, Oldham knocked off #4 Scott County; in the finals, it was #7 Shelby County.

Unlike last year, however, the Rockets refused to cave in during this slugfest. In 2001, Oldham County blitzed to a double-digit halftime lead and never looked back in posting a 102-82 win in the championship game. This game was more like two heavyweight fighters trading punches. Oldham and Shelby each had three major runs during the game – but Oldham managed a fourth and final run with the game on the line in the final 1:40, with the Colonels leading by just a point at 55-54.

Both teams came in with chips on their shoulders; the Rockets remembered last season’s spanking in the regional final by Oldham. Shelby also carried the burden of having been to three consecutive regional finals and losing all three (two to Scott County and one to Oldham). All three had been routs.

Oldham came in still burning from the memory of the 81-80 loss to Shelby on February 1, 2002, in Shelbyville. The Colonels had led, 59-40, in the final minute of the third period, only to see Shelby County score 40 fourth-quarter points to win on a final, buzzer-beating shot by Juanie Jackson.

The Colonels were hurting, however. Starting center Travis Liedtke arrived with his right (shooting) hand bandaged heavily. The injury, suffered during the Scott County win in the semifinals, kept him from being a scoring threat, but the big center still made his presence known on defense and on the boards.

The Rockets jumped out to an early 7-4 lead, but Oldham got the first run of the night, a 12-2 run to close out the quarter. During the run, Brock Neal was practically unstoppable as his teammates repeatedly found him for open looks underneath. By the end of the first period, Neal had picked apart the Shelby interior defense for 10 points on 5 of 6 shooting. A dunk by Donta Smith made it 16-9, Oldham County to close out the period.

Jarriott Huddleston and Matt Jacobson sandwiched baskets around a free throw by Juanie Jackson to begin the second period, and Oldham led, 20-10 when Shelby County called time out with 6:54 to go in the first half. It would be the only double-digit lead of the night for either team.

Shelby exploded out of the timeout, scoring nine unanswered points to pull to within one. Robert Daniels and Zane Williams, two senior forwards, produced all nine points during the run. But Oldham regrouped, and over the next two minutes scored eight unanswered points of their own to push the lead back to nine at 28-19, with just over three minutes to play in the half.

Oldham County went the final three minutes without a field goal, however, and Shelby outscored the Colonels, 11-4, to pull to within two at 32-30 at halftime.

At the break, Oldham had some good news. The Colonels were, for the most part, not in any serious foul trouble, and they were ahead. But the two point lead was fragile, the Colonels had turned the ball over (unofficially) 10 times against the Shelby County defense, and the Colonels had hit just 4 of 9 free throws. Ironically, the Colonels were struggling against the Rockets’ half-court defense, not their vaunted full-court defense.

Both coaches were playing it "close to the vest." Perhaps noting how the Scott County Cardinals shot themselves out of contention against the Colonels in the semi-finals, Shelby coach Champ Ligon kept his three-point shooters somewhat muzzled. When they did take the shots, the Rockets were largely ineffective, hitting just two from beyond the arc. Both coaches were also reluctant to go deep on the bench. Oldham coach Gary Forrest played just two subs, Brad Koenig and Ben Winters, both seniors. Although Ligon played four subs, only two – Kevin Natalie and Matt Shemo – played a substantial amount of time. Ligon was so dependent on his starters that he had both Brian Silverhorn and Zane Williams playing late in the half, despite the fact Silverhorn had two fouls and Williams three.

Shelby seemed to grab the upper hand in the first half of the third period. About the only good news during the first four minutes of the period for Oldham was when Zane Williams was tagged with his fourth foul with 6:35 to go in the period.

Oldham, meanwhile, was struggling, scoring just four points in the first four minutes of the period. Brian Silverhorn, meanwhile, was on a tear, hitting a three and three free throws. At the 3:53 mark, Shelby had the lead at 38-36, their biggest lead since 7-4.

A senior stepped up for the Colonels to rally the team. Senior reserve guard Brad Koenig pulled up to drain a rare three-pointer, propelling the Colonels back on top, 39-38. After Brock Neal blocked a Shelby shot, Donta Smith scored to make it 41-38. After another Neal block, Koenig scored again to make it 43-38. For the night, Koenig, a sub who rarely scores much, scored seven points on three of four shooting. This followed his 10 point performance against Scott County, when he hit five of ten shots. Moments later, a Jerriott Huddleston basket prompted a Shelby time out. The Colonels led 45-38 with 2:12 to go in the period. The Rockets would never lead again.

It was a Shelby sub who answered the call. Kevin Natalie, a 5’8" junior guard, took the ball on drives to the basket four straight times, scoring on each. By the time Natalie was finished, the Rockets had pulled to within one at 47-46.

A three point play by Donta Smith momentarily stopped the bleeding, before baskets by Silverhorn and Williams tied the game for the final time at 50 with just over four and a half minutes to go.

Over the final four and half minutes, the Colonels took control. In particular, Matt Jacobson and Donta Smith. Those two combined for the Colonels’ final eleven points. Silverhorn scored Shelby’s final four points, but got little support from the rest of his team.

With about two and a half minutes to go, Silverhorn pulled Shelby to within one at 55-54, and the Rockets got a big break when Robert Daniels blocked a Brock Neal shot with 1:39 to play. But half a minute later, Donta Smith was back at the line, and his two free throws gave Oldham a little breathing room at 57-54 with 59.6 seconds left. Shelby hurried down court and Natalie launched a hurried three with 46.4 seconds showing; the ball bounced off the rim and over the backboard to Oldham County.

The Rockets quickly fouled Matt Jacobson on the inbounds play, and the 6’5" junior hit one of two free throws to make it a two-possession game at 58-54 with 42.3 seconds left.

Again, Shelby failed to get the ball into the hands of their leader, Silverhorn, and Juanie Jackson launched a three from the right wing that missed. Travis Liedtke rebounded and handed off to Huddleston, who was fouled.

Huddleston, however, missed both free throws, and with 18.6 seconds left, Shelby was still alive when the Rockets rebounded.

But a missed shot was rebounded by Donta Smith in the corner, who was fouled immediately by Zane Williams with 7.4 seconds remaining. Williams, who fouled out on the play, tried to wrest the ball from Smith, who pulled it away emphatically. Williams then practically cemented Shelby’s fate when he chased Smith halfway down the court, screaming at him. The result was the calling of two technical fouls on Williams.

Donta Smith hit only one of four free throws, but then Matt Jacobson cashed in on the last two to round out the scoring.

NOTES: Robert Daniels, one of Shelby’s two leading scorers at over 20 points per game, had eight points at the half, but failed to score in the second half against Oldham’s defense. Daniels had scored 25 points against the Colonels on 2/1/02… Although the game was very physical, only Zane Williams fouled out. On 2/1/02, six players fouled out of the ballgame… Although he scored a team-high 17 points, Donta Smith struggled from the field, hitting just 4 of 14 shots. The rest of the Colonels hit 18 of 30 shots for a sizzling 60%.

Four Oldham County players made the all-tournament team: Travis Liedtke, Donta Smith, Brock Neal, and Jerriott Huddleston. Of the five starters, only Matt Jacobson, who averaged over 14 points in each of the tournament games, failed to make the team, although he undeniably deserved a spot.

Oldham County improves to 28-2 and will play the 15^th Region Champions, the Shelby Valley Wildcats (25-6), on Thursday, 3/14/02, at 1 pm in Rupp Arena. Radio coverage of the game will be carried live on Sportszone 105.7 FM with Mike Montgomery and Jeff Griffin. In the event the University of Kentucky Wildcats are playing at the same time in the NCAA tournament, the game will be carried live on Sportszone AM 1600. Sportszone 105.7 FM will cover the Colonels as far as they go in the Sweet 16.

Shelby County finshes their season 24-8.

Oldham County – Smith 17, Neal 14, Jacobson 13, Huddleston 8, Koenig 7, Liedtke 2

Shelby County - Silverhorn 18, Williams 11, Natalie 11, Daniels 8, Jones 4, Jackson 1, Shemo 1

Next on SPORTSZONE:

Monday, 3/11/02 Girls 8^th Region Tournament coverage LIVE AM 1600

SEMI-FINAL ROUND

Tuesday, 3/12/02 Girls’ 8^th Region Tournament Final LIVE AM 1600

7 pm.