Kentucky’s NCAA Tournament comes to end as the Wildcats fall to Tennessee in the Sweet 16….
The most prolific 3-point shooting team in Kentucky history, South Oldham High School couldn’t find its range Saturday morning. The Dragons shot 22.9% from 3-point range (8 of 35) and dropped a 73-51 decision to Bowling Green in the semifinals of the UK HealthCare Sweet 16 at Rupp Arena.
In the state semifinals for the first time in its history, South Oldham finished 31-6. “What a great season this was for South Oldham,” coach Steve Simpson said. “Today’s game is not going to take anything away from how I feel about these guys. … This was disappointing today, but the 31 victories and the memory of playing on Saturday is what we’ll remember going forward.”
Bowling Green (31-6) — with five seniors in its starting lineup – reached the state final for the third time and will face Great Crossing in Saturday’s 7:30 p.m. title match.
Purples coach D.G. Sherrill stated, “We do not care; we will play the UK next.” “We are playing for the state championship. We will be the finest versions of ourselves and give it our all when we return tonight. They are going to have to beat us, even if we lose by 20. Tonight, we are coming to play basketball.
Bowling Green was led by 26 points from Fairdale transfer Joe Hurt. Hurt contributed three rebounds, two assists, two steals,
“All of our players can score, so it was just my (day Saturday),” Hurt said. “I feel like I did pretty well. My teammates were giving me the ball for wide-open shots.” Bowling Green hit 7 of 11 3-point attempts in the first half on its way to a 37-26 halftime lead. The Purples entered the game shooting a state-best 46.1% from 3-point range and finished 8 of 14 from behind the arc.
“They shoot it well, but we do, too,” Sherrill said. “We haven’t had a game where we just busted loose and hit 3s, but, ‘Shoot game shots. You’re in the final four.’ … When we were hitting those 3s, we bounced a little bit. We’re not afraid for any of our guys to take those shots.” South Oldham set state records in 3-pointers made (461) and attempted (1,187) this season but missed its first seven tries Saturday and found itself in an early 19-8 hole.
At 5:29 in the third quarter, South Oldham was within 40-34 after a 3-pointer by Julian Miles, but Bowling Green rallied with a 10-2 run to take a 50-36 lead. “In every timeout, we kept saying, ‘We just need one South Oldham run,'” Simpson recalled. “It simply never came to pass.”
Senior guard Jake Fithian said his team’s fatigue showed while playing its third game in four days. “We just had to grind it out,” Fithian said. “Bowling Green is a good team, and they took advantage of us being tired.” Miles scored 18 points to lead the Dragons, who will lose four of their five starters to graduation. Miles finished his career as South Oldham’s all-time leading scorer with 2,107 points.
