Scott had been a rather efficient offensive team for the majority of the season.
Defensively they had turned things up too, allowing 57 points to open up postseason play to Bishop Brossart, 50 points to Campbell County in the district championship and come Thursday night at The Fieldhouse, 48 to Harrison County in their last three games.
Problem is, they put up 35 in a 48-35 loss to the Thorobreds in the 10th Region tournament quarterfinals in Maysville.
“We held a really good varsity basketball team to 48 points, but couldn’t get the ball to go down. We picked the last two games of the year to have our worst offensive output of the year. At the end of the day, their length, their strength and their overall abilities hampered that. We practiced for three days, taking the ball to the rim, trying to challenge Furnish. You can tell them, but something’s got to be done.” Scott coach Steve Fromeyer said.
The win puts Harrison County in the region semifinals for the first time since 2015.
While Kaydon Custard had a monster 18-point, 10 rebound performance, JD Kendall (14 points) and Mason Smiley (10 points) also had big games.
“It’s a big win for us. We worked hard all season long and played a tough schedule this year. It means a lot. Having seniors like JD Kendall and Will Furnish who have been through the program since eighth grade, it’s like year after year, you want to go further each time. I’m proud of our guys. We had three good days of practice and it paid off for us in this game.” Harrison County coach Terence Brooks said.
The ‘Breds led nearly the whole game, but Scott was within reach for the majority.
One of Scott’s two leads came early when Jon Evans hit a triple to give the Eagles a three point lead. Harrison County bounced back quickly with a run ended by a three from JD Kendall.
The result? A 14-9 first quarter lead that the Thorobreds would not give up for the rest of the game.
The second quarter was at a different pace as things came to a near stall with Harrison holding possession for the majority.
Kaydon Custard paced the ‘Breds with 11 points as their lead was at 21-15.
Brayden Howell scored his first points of the game for Scott with two attempts from the free throw line right out of intermission. He hit two more, cutting the margin to four.
Custard, who’s name had been called all night, answered. He scored a few easy baskets, but from then on, for the final three minutes of the quarter, both teams were held scoreless, Harrison leading 31-23 headed to the fourth.
Xarek Sarakatsannis rattles in a three, followed by a three from Dylan Giffen to open up the fourth.
To add on to the Eagles momentum, Custard picked up his third foul.
Mason Smiley then stepped up for the Thorobreds, getting an three-point play that gave his team the momentum down the stretch, the lead extending to 42-30 with 4:13 to go.
“I thought we shot the ball well. In the first half we were a little passive. They came out and put a lot of pressure on us and we weren’t looking for our shots. We were running from their pressure, but the second half, we settled down, executed our offense, got the ball where it needed to go and got some penetration through the open gaps.” Brooks said.
The lead would get up to as much as 17, ending Scott’s season at 14-19.
Scott entered with some optimism, finishing 11-8 down the stretch and losing a tight contest to the ‘Breds, 62-56 back on Jan. 6. That game was played without senior Nolan Hunter, the team’s second leading rebounder and an injury that sidelined him for over half the season.
They lose four seniors, two of them starters, Nolan Hunter, and Brayden Howell.
“Those are kids that played up as freshmen, so they’ve practiced and played with us everyday since their freshmen year. They’re great kids. Nolan has had a tough year, breaking his foot three minutes into the first game. We didn’t get him back until January 20th. That’s hard. That’s only five, six weeks to get where you are supposed to be. A kid in the last few years that has given us pretty good offensive output. That hinders that with timing.” Coach Fromeyer said.
Howell was the team’s second leading scorer during the season.
“Brayden came into the program when I took the job. I watched that kid play basketball camp and he’s just a gritty kid that plays really hard. That’s tough to replace. He’s had a hurt ankle that he actually hurt yesterday in practice. He’s got two torn ligaments. Two full tears and one partial tear but played the last year and a half. He’s a tough kid, a great kid.” Fromeyer added.
Harrison County improved to 27-6 and moves on to a matchup with the defending state champions, George Rogers Clark. Mason County and Campbell County kick things off in Monday’s semifinals at 6 p.m. GRC-Harrison is expected to tip at 7:45 p.m.
HARRISON COUNTY – 14-7-10-17 – 48
SCOTT – 7-8-8-12 – 35
HARRISON COUNTY (48) – Custard 18, Kendall 14, Smiley 10, Wilson 4, Furnish 2
SCOTT (35) – Hunter 10, Giffen 7, Evans 5, Sarakatsannis 5, Griffin 4, Howell 4