The last time Walton-Verona won in the 8th Region tournament, they were headed to Rupp Arena.
That was in 2019, but the wait is no more, the Bearcats a 52-46 winner over Owen County on Thursday night at Henry County in the quarterfinals.
Down 11-0 to start the game, the Bearcats clawed back with their defense, holding the Rebels to a two-point third quarter and pulling away from there.
“I think we had those region jitters there to start out,” Walton-Verona head coach
Mike Hester said. “A lot of these guys haven’t played here in two years, so this was
new. I was proud of the way we responded. Once they punched us in the mouth, we
realized it was time to play some basketball.”
Despite Bearcats leading scorer Aaron Gutman going to the bench early on in foul trouble, they responded with a 12-2 run that cut the score to 13-12 at the end of the first quarter.
Julian Dixon was the X-factor, giving Walton-Verona a boost they needed, especially
in the fourth quarter, where he scored nine of his 19 points.
“I’m always nervous before a big game, but once it set in, I was good to go,” Dixon
said. “When one of our best scorers on the team is out, I stepped up with some
buckets on offense and locked in on defense.”
Owen County’s 6-foot-9 center Brax Ward came in averaging a double-double in
points and rebound and was dominant in the first half with 13 of the Rebels’ 21 points.
In the third quarter, he was held to just two, Owen’s only two.
“I didn’t realize that we held him to that,” Hester said. “In the first half he gave us
problems. He was burying us deep. In the second half, we started to front the post
and I think that slowed him down a little bit. We were able to get to that help side,
and also make it harder for them to throw it over the top.”
Ward finished with 19 points. Micah Shelton was right behind him with 15 points for
Owen County.
Walton-Verona didn’t take their first lead until the final seconds of the first half
when Landon Bach drilled a corner three, putting the Bearcats up 22-21 at the break.
The lead blossomed to 34-23 after three, Owen County shooting 10% in the frame.
“We went one of ten in that quarter,” Rebel head coach Devin Duvall said. “We got
really good looks offensively, but also, we had two looks go all the way down and
come out. We just couldn’t make a shot in that stretch and had some breakdowns
defensively. It gave them enough cushion that they needed.”
Owen County cut the lead to single digits in the fourth quarter, getting it to 47-42
with a minute left in the game, but four clutch free throws from Julian Dixon was
enough to put the game away.
“It was the down the stretch, so I had got the jitters out,” Dixon said, “It was just some
easy free throws.”
To go along with Dixon’s 19, Aaron Gutman had 13 and Zach Smith put up eight.
Owen County’s season ends at 19-13.
The Bearcats season continues, moving to 23-10 and a semifinal matchup with Spencer County on Monday at 8 p.m. The Bears gave the Bearcats their worst loss of the season, 76-43 on Feb. 9.
The win Thursday gave Hester a big sigh of relief.
“We’ve been here three times since I’ve been here and this was our first win,”
Hester said. “It’s good to get the monkey off the back, but we’re not done, we’re not
settled. We want to continue to play and we’re looking forward to Monday night.”
BEARCATS 52, REBELS 46
OWEN COUNTY — 13-8-2-23 — 46
WALTON-VERONA — 12-10-12-18 — 52
Scoring
Owen County (46) — Ward 19, Shelton 15, Beckham 7, Mefford 3,
Lewis 2
Walton-Verona (52) — Dixon 19, Gutman 13, Smith 8, Bach 6,
Montgomery 6
Game Stats
3-Pointers: Owen County 5, Walton-Verona 6
Free Throws: Owen County 3/3, Walton-Verona 14/22
Fouls: Owen County 16, Walton-Verona 10
Records: Owen County 19-13, Walton-Verona 23-10