The Simon Kenton Pioneers (21-10) did everything possible to earn the top seed in the rugged 32nd District Tournament, winning all three district seed games knowing the postseason would take place on their home Joe Stark Memorial Gymnasium.
But when the postseason came around, the Pioneers did not just want to make it back to the 8th Region Tournament. They also wanted to claim their third district championship in four years after missing out on the region tournament last year with a semifinal loss at Walton-Verona. Simon Kenton took care of the Grant County Braves (25-7), 57-49 on Friday to do just that.
Grant County focused on Simon Kenton’s two leading scorers in junior guard Travis Krohman and senior 7-foot-3-inch center Gabe Dynes, who came into the game averaging 15.9 and 12.5 points per game respectively. Krohman finished with 10 points to go with two steals and Dynes scored six points, but grabbed 10 rebounds and blocked eight shots anchoring Simon Kenton’s 2-3 zone defense.
“It was kind of our strength against their strength,” said Trent Steiner, Simon Kenton head coach. “They’re really, really good. I think in the interior of our zone, Gabe does a good job. What doesn’t get credit is our wings. Our wings do such a good job getting their hands on balls. We had 31 deflections. It was just a well-fought game by both teams.”
But sophomore point guard Jay Bilton and senior guard Isaac Gabbard picked up the scoring slack with 22 and 13 points respectively. Bilton had six assists and Gabbard recorded three steals.
“Jay Bilton played great,” Steiner said. “(Grant County senior guard Daniel) Fox was doing a good job guarding Travis. Isaac made some shots. Our kids love to compete. They love each other. They did a great job.”
Senior small forward Dylan Hammond and junior guard Spencer Breeden led the Braves scoring 16 and 15 points respectively. They are averaging 26 and 13.7 points per game respectively.
Simon Kenton led 28-24 at halftime and 42-39 entering the third quarter. The Pioneers outscored the Braves, 15-10 in the fourth quarter.
The Braves had 15 turnovers and six steals compared to nine steals and 13 turnovers for the Pioneers. Simon Kenton outscored Grant County, 11-2 in those points off turnovers.
The Pioneers hit 51 percent of their shots including 53 percent of their three-point shots and 73 percent of their free throws to go with 21 rebounds, 14 assists, 10 blocked shots and 14 fouls. The Braves made 40 percent of their shots including 50 percent from three-point range and 76 percent of their free throws to go with 23 rebounds, seven assists, one blocked shot and 17 fouls.
The 8th Region Tournament at Henry County starts Wednesday. Simon Kenton will take on 29th District runner-up Oldham County, 30th District runner-up Collins or 31st District runner-up Owen County.
34th District Championship
Lloyd Memorial 60, St. Henry 58
The Juggernauts (18-9) held off the host Crusaders (14-13) to win their first district championship since 2017.
Lloyd Memorial put four players in double figures. Senior guard Jeremiah Israel led the way with 22 points and sophomore guard Isaiah Sebastian scored 12. Sophomore guard Elijah Collins made three triples on his way to 11 points and sophomore forward EJ Walker scored 10.
“Our perimeter defense was really good,” said Mike Walker, Lloyd Memorial head coach. “We pressured them enough to where they couldn’t get enough entry passes to (senior center Braden) Fetters, who is a great inside presence. Then we shared the basketball really well. Starting out, we got into a little foul trouble so we had to play some of our bench players longer than we wanted to. We also showed resilience. St. Henry went on three long runs. We just kept fighting, controlling the game and tempo.”
The Juggernauts made 22 of 42 shots for 52 percent and 12 of 17 free throws for 71 percent. The Crusaders hit 24 of 52 shots and 6 of 8 free throws for 75 percent. Both teams made 4 of 12 three-point shots for 33 percent.
“I feel like when we just play, we can get out and run,” EJ Walker said. “With our offense in transition, we can kick it out and hit threes. We started the game getting a bunch of defensive stops getting out on fastbreak. We score much easier when we play good defense.”
The Crusaders saw three players score in double figures. Senior guard Jack Grayson made two triples on his way to 20 points. Senior forward/guard Matt Resing scored 12 with senior guard Rhet Ravenscraft scoring 11.
Lloyd Memorial will take on either Highlands, Conner or Beechwood in the 9th Region quarterfinals. St. Henry takes on Covington Catholic, Newport or Cooper.