Simon Kenton bent, but they never broke.
The Pioneers walked into Walton-Verona’s gym Friday night and walked out with a 56-51 victory over the Bearcats, claiming their fourth straight 32nd District championship in front of a near-capacity crowd and roaring student sections.
A district championship on the line and a rivalry game?
With everything at stake, no lead was ever safe.
Walton-Verona trailed 41-31 going into the final eight minutes and with two and a half minutes remaining, the Bearcats had pulled off a 17-7 run to tie the game.
Simon Kenton steadied themselves, reclaimed the lead with just under two minutes left, knocked down clutch free throws and made enough defensive stops to secure the title.
At the beginning of the season, with several players in new roles, a night like this might not have seemed guaranteed. Yet those same players carried the team through the most intense moments.
“Just where we started the year with kids,” Simon Kenton head coach Trent Steiner said. “We started a kid who had never played point guard at the varsity level and a kid who was playing his first year of varsity basketball. I’m happy for those kids to be successful. It’s gratifying to see kids that people don’t expect to be successful, succeed.”
Each player had their moment.
Whether it was junior and tournament MVP Bray Bilton, who scored a team-high 20 points; Aiden Thomas, who gave the team a 50-48 lead after Walton-Verona tied it; or Eddie Marx, a returning starter with experience in past district titles, knocking down clutch free throws, everyone contributed.
Bilton summed it up simply.
“We’re a bunch of dawgs,” he said.
Just as Simon Kenton refused to fold, so did Walton-Verona.
Before tying it at 48, the Bearcats’ last lead had been 15-12, with around five minutes remaining in the first half. Even after trailing by as much as 11, they fought their way back to tie the game late in the fourth quarter.
But a turnover, followed by clutch free throws, ended their comeback.
“We had that turnover with two minutes and 30 seconds,” Walton-Verona head coach Mike Hester said. “I should’ve called a timeout and set something up, so that’ll probably haunt me for a bit. At the end of the day, our kids played the way we wanted to play, did what they were supposed to. We talked about having no regrets, and we have nothing to be upset about.”
The game started as expected, with the first quarter ending tied at 10 apiece. Bilton scored 11 points in the second quarter to give Simon Kenton a 25-19 lead at the half.
“I was just like, ‘go kill,’” Bilton said. “I was refusing screens, getting to the basket, and finishing strong.”
Even after building a lead in the third quarter, and the Pioneers’ advantage evaporating late, the final stretch came down to free throws. In the fourth quarter, Simon Kenton attempted 18 free throws, with the last six points coming from the stripe, including four from Eddie Marx, who finished with 16 points and earned All-Tournament honors.
Even the crowd played a role.
“It’s awesome. I like it when they’re yelling at me while I’m shooting free throws,” Marx said. “My mindset was to lock in, focus on my mechanics, and make them.”
And he did make them.
Will Scobee joined Bilton and Marx on the All-Tournament team for the Pioneers, while Walton-Verona’s Wyatt Shearer, who had a game-high 22 points and Adam Gutman earned honors. Cole Dryden added 10 points.
Simon Kenton (16-10) will be the one-seed in the 8th Region tournament and will face one of the other three district runner-ups: Gallatin County, Spencer County, or South Oldham.
As a district runner-up, Walton-Verona (17-15) could draw any of the other three district winners: Henry County, Woodford County, or North Oldham.
PIONEERS 56, BEARCATS 51
SIMON KENTON — 10-15-16-15 — 56
WALTON-VERONA — 10-9-12-20 — 51
Scoring
Simon Kenton (56) — Bilton 20, Marx 16, Scobee 6, Bounds 5, Lindenschmidt 4, Heeger 2, Thomas 2, Hardcorn 1
Walton-Verona (51) — W. Shearer 22, Dryden 10, Gutman 8, D. Shearer 4, Thornberry 4, Portwood 2, Searp 1
Game Stats
3-Pointers: Simon Kenton 2, Walton-Verona 7
Free Throws: Simon Kenton 18/30, Walton-Verona 8/13
Fouls: Simon Kenton 16, Walton-Verona 20
Records: Simon Kenton 16-10, Walton-Verona 17-15