Sixth and Seventh Region Results

Knights Hall at Bellarmine University was packed yesterday for the four semifinal games in the sixth and seventh region. The action started out with a bang, as Central defeated Fairdale on a buzzer beater and it ended with two clutch free throws and a missed attempt at the buzzer, as J-Town rallied back to defeat Ballard.

It was a great atmosphere the entire night and the Chick-Fil-A Cow put on a show for the crowd. During halftime of the last three games he connected on half-court shots, including a backwards, over-the-back shot the drew nothing but nylon during the Eastern-Trinity break.

The finals are tonight as Central takes on Shawnee for the Sixth Region Championship and Eastern and J-Town battle it out for the seventh.

Below are recaps from Jody Demling and Jason Frakes of the Courier-Journal.

Central 71, Fairdale 69
Three-hundred and sixty-three days after a last-second shot to win the Sixth Region Tournament, Central High School did it to Fairdale again.

Desmond Brown tracked down a loose ball in the right corner and dished to Tim Patterson for a layup at the buzzer as the Yellowjackets won 71-69 to advance to the regional title game at Bellarmine.

The ending was eerily similar to last year’s regional final, when then-senior LeeVaughn Morris rebounded his miss with 1.4 seconds left to win it.

“Déjà vu,” Central coach Doug Bibby said. “It was an incredible game that ended with a heck of a play. It’s all about these kids. They never quit.”

The game saw several swings and a shooting clinic by Central’s Alex Morrison, who made 9 of 12 three-pointers.

But no shot was as big as the one from Patterson, a 6-foot-5 junior best known as the state’s top football prospect in the Class of 2010.

“I thought (Brown) was going to shoot,” Patterson said. “I didn’t know how much time I had. I knew I had missed a few layups, but I had to make that one.”

Fairdale (19-11) tied it at 69 on a layup by Jake Fahringer with 17.1 seconds left. He missed a free throw, and Central called time out.

Bibby’s play never materialized, and Wann Robinson’s shot caromed off the rim, just out of Patterson’s reach. Brown tracked it down in the corner.

“For a minute I thought about shooting,” Brown said. “But then I looked and saw Tim was wide-open, so I just passed it in.”

Patterson shot 3 of 10 for the game, with all of his misses coming from in close, but barely had the ball in his hands before he released it with 0.2 seconds left.

“When he got it, I was like, ‘Oh no,’ ” Bibby said. “He had missed some, but Tim’s got a nice touch around the basket. He put it up high off the glass.”

Fairdale led 38-31 at halftime, but Morrison pulled the Yellowjackets back with four three-pointers in the third quarter, including a 28-foot bomb between two defenders as time expired to put Central up 59-56.

“I was feeling it,” Morrison said.

Marchell Williams scored the first seven points of the fourth quarter for Central as Fairdale fell behind 65-59 before pulling even at 65.

Williams’ free throw made it 66-65, but Quintrel Morris scored a putback for Fairdale before Morrison nailed a three-pointer with 26.1 seconds left, setting the stage for the final flurry.

“Two teams laying it all on the line,” Fairdale coach Gregg Longacre said. “We came out and got a lead, and they got hot. … It was a great game; you just hate to lose.”

Morrison led Central (15-14) with 27 points, and Morris had 30 points and 11 rebounds for Fairdale. Central was 25 of 63 from the field, including 13 of 19 three-pointers.

The Yellowjackets will play Shawnee (16-14) in the title game tonight at 6.

Shawnee 80, PRP 69
Asked what it meant to help the Shawnee High School boys’ basketball team reach a regional final for the first time in 33 years, senior Danny Mason reached into his gym bag and pulled out a T-shirt. Written on the back: “WE BELIEVE.”

“That’s been our motto all season,” Mason said. “We came in from football season, and we’ve been making history all year. … We knew we had a good team coming back, and we just wanted to play with unselfishness and play as a team.”

The Golden Eagles showed how strong a team last night, knocking off perennial power Pleasure Ridge Park 80-69 in a semifinal of the Class Act Federal Credit Union Sixth Region Tournament at Bellarmine University’s Knights Hall.

Devon Thomson scored 23 points and Corey Jackson added 22 as the Golden Eagles (16-14) advanced to face district rival Central (15-14) in tonight’s 6 o’clock regional final.

It will be Shawnee’s first trip to a regional final since taking the Sixth Region crown in 1976.

“It’s huge for the program, for Shawnee, for the whole community,” Golden Eagles coach Montrelle Irvin said. “We’re just playing with pride this year. Our seniors don’t want to go home.”

Brandon Schoenhoff had 24 points, eight rebounds and four steals to lead the Panthers (23-8), No. 19 in The Courier-Journal’s Litkenhous Ratings.

“We knew it was going to be a struggle,” said PRP coach Dale Mabrey, whose team committed 22 turnovers. “They’re very, very quick. … We were just a step off in everything we did. It just wasn’t our night.”

Shawnee took control from the opening tip, bolting to an 11-2 lead and never trailing. The Panthers pulled even at 11, but a 22-7 run gave the Golden Eagles a 38-20 lead with 1:54 left in the half.

Irvin said the key was keeping the game at a quick pace.

“We wanted to make it a track meet,” he said. “I knew our speed would negate their speed. We had to get the game going fast, fast, fast. I thought we could hurt them with our pressure and speed.”
The Panthers battled back in the second half, pulling within two points on three occasions. The final came on a Markell Carter basket that made it 65-63 with 2:51 left.

But a Thompson basket made it 67-63, and Shawnee then converted back-to-back PRP turnovers into layups for a 71-63 bulge with 1:32 left. Schoenhoff’s three-pointer made it 71-66 with 59 seconds remaining, but PRP never got closer.

“We knew it was PRP and that we would have to play hard,” Jackson said. “They’re a good team, so we had to bring our ‘A’ game.”
Tonight’s regional final will be a rematch of the 23rd District championship game that Shawnee – playing without Mason — won 85-84 in triple overtime.

That victory was part of what has been a surprising postseason run after Shawnee lost four of its final six regular-season games.

“We just came together as a team,” Irvin said. “They had a meeting late February and really came together. We didn’t want to peak early or in the middle of the season. We wanted to peak at the right time.”

Eastern 63, Trinity 48
For 31/2 quarters, the Trinity High School basketball team executed the game plan of coach Mike Szabo to a tee — slow the pace and take good shots.

The Shamrocks trailed Eastern only 49-45 before the Eagles’ athleticism took over and propelled Eastern into the Class Act Federal Credit Union Seventh Region Tournament final.

Eastern ended the game on a 14-3 run, holding the Shamrocks scoreless on seven consecutive possessions, to win 63-48 in the semifinals last night before about 2,500 fans at Bellarmine University’s Knights Hall.

“Once our shots started falling, I thought a little of the tightness left us,” Eastern coach Jason Couch said. “I said on Sunday (at the regional draw), if you win this region you are going to have to win three tough games.

“Sometimes it’s all about matchups and the way things play out. Give Trinity and Coach Szabo credit; they play so hard and execute everything. We just kept playing.”

Eastern (29-2), No. 5 in The Courier-Journal’s Litkenhous Ratings, will meet Jeffersontown, which beat Ballard 64-63, in tonight’s 8 o’clock final.

Chris Dowe had 14 points, including seven free throws in the decisive run, to lead Eastern. Lyonell Gaines added 12 points and Delquan Thomas had 10 for the Eagles, who hit 22 of 49 shots and forced Trinity into 24 turnovers.

“A real good gut check,” Dowe said of the game. “I’m glad we had it tonight and not tomorrow or in the state tournament, if we can get there. The first half, they were more intense. Coach kept us in the locker room at halftime so long yelling that we didn’t even get to warm up. But we were better (in the second half).”

Despite junior standout Josh Sewell playing only four minutes of the first half with foul trouble, Trinity (22-8) led much of the way.

The Shamrocks led 23-22 at halftime and 40-39 late in the third quarter. But Jon Davis scored to give Eastern a 41-40 lead after three quarters, and the Eagles outscored the Rocks 22-8 in the final period.

“We did a nice job on defense and rebounding,” Couch said. “In the postseason, you are not always going to be hitting, and those things are key. We finally hit some shots, and that made it a little easier.”

Melvyn Little scored for Trinity with 4:05 left in the game to make it 49-45, but the Shamrocks had four turnovers and three misses on their next seven trips. Meanwhile, Dowe hit four free throws, Thomas added two and Gaines hit a bucket to stretch the lead to 57-45 and out of reach for Trinity.

“The kids did a great job for 31/2 quarters; we really did everything we wanted to do,” Szabo said. “But then we didn’t do a good job. We had several empty possessions. But I’m proud of the guys for the way they stepped up.”

Little led Trinity with 19 points.

Jeffersontown 64, Ballard 63
Thomas Jackson got fouled, gave a smile to the sideline and sank two free throws to send the Jeffersontown High School boys’ basketball team to another regional final.

Jackson’s charity shots with 5.2 seconds left capped a game-ending 11-2 run that lifted the Chargers to a 64-63 victory over Ballard last night in a semifinal of the Class Act Federal Credit Union Seventh Region Tournament at Bellarmine University’s Knights Hall.

“When (Jackson) got fouled and went down, we made eye contact for a split second,” Chargers coach Jeff Morrow said. “He pumped his fist and looked at me and smiled, and after he did that I felt really good.”

Jackson scored a game-high 22 points and Jordan Reves added 19 as J’town (27-4), No. 4 in The Courier-Journal’s Litkenhous Ratings, advanced to the Seventh Region final for the fifth straight year. J’town, the regional champ in 2006 and ’08, will face No. 5 Eastern (29-2) in tonight’s championship game at 8.

Eastern’s only two losses this season have been to the Chargers.

“It will be another war,” Morrow said. “(Eastern coach) Jason Couch loves his team. I love this team. … We just have to show up with our work clothes on and go to work again.”

Keisten Jones had 23 points, five rebounds and four blocks to lead No. 3 Ballard (25-7). Wesley Cox added 16 points for the Bruins, who went 0 for 4 from the free-throw line in the final 61 seconds and 10 of 20 for the game.

“Those were points we needed,” said Bruins coach Chris Renner, whose team had defeated J’town twice during the regular season. “Bottom line: You hit free throws, you win the ballgame.”

Cox hit four three-pointers and scored all 16 of his points in the third quarter, helping the Bruins take a 52-46 lead after trailing 34-29 at halftime. Ballard pushed the lead to 61-53 on an Ian Chiles basket with 3:24 left, but it was all Chargers from there.

Jackson sank two free throws to pull J’town to 63-61 with 1:32 left, and Aaron Cosby sank 1 of 2 to make it 63-62 at the 0:41.9 mark.

In the meantime, Ballard was missing free throws and committing turnovers.

Courtesy of the Louisville Courier-Journal