It’s gone from 64 to 32 minutes.
That’s all that’s between Simon Kenton and the KHSAA Boys’ Basketball Sweet 16 State
Tournament after the Pioneers stunned North Oldham in the 8th Region tournament semifinals 75-63, in overtime.
Simon Kenton trailed 40-24 with five minutes to go in the third quarter, but weren’t
quite ready to call it quits on the season. From that time on, they outscored the
Mustangs, 51-23 at Henry County.
“Like we talked about after last game against Woodford County, it’s the resilience
with these guys,” Simon Kenton head coach Trent Steiner said. “They have
intestinal fortitude and an awful lot of it. We’re pretty doggone tough mentally.”
The Pioneers and North Oldham traded the lead late in the fourth quarter, but an extra
four minutes were needed to settle the contest.
In overtime, Simon Kenton outscored the Mustangs 19-7, shooting 17-for-21 from the
free throw line.
From the third quarter on, the Pioneers’ Jay Bilton scored 20 of his 23 points. Bilton had 18 of the Pioneers final 31 points to get the game to overtime.
“Shots weren’t falling in the first half, I just had to keep being aggressive,” Bilton
said. “I knew what I had to do and went out and did it. “
In the fourth quarter and overtime, Travis Krohman was also a key factor,
contributing 16 of his 22 points in that stretch. He wasn’t ready to go home.
“We’ve put in a lot of work and effort,” Krohman said. “There’s not a group of guys
that deserve this more. It was our one. We didn’t back down even though we knew
people were doubting us. We wanted it more.”
Despite North Oldham drilling 10 triples and having a double-digit lead, the
Mustangs lost control of the game at the worst time.
They were up 17-11 at the end of the first quarter, 33-22 at halftime, and 44-38 at the
end of the third quarter. The Mustangs finally lost the lead 49-47, with four minutes
to go in the game.
“We just took our foot off the gas,” North Oldham head coach David Levitch said.
“We were up 16 and then it was just one thing after another. We had 15 turnovers
against a team that doesn’t even full-court press, we just beat ourselves. We’ve been
resilient all season, it’s like we just froze.”
The Mustangs had three players in double digits, led by Grant Neal with 27 points.
Ryan Howard and Gray Schmittel had 10 points apiece. Jack Fischer was right
behind them with nine.
As one of the favorites all season to win the 8th Region Tournament, North
Oldham’s season comes to an end at 26-6.
The magical run continues for Simon Kenton, who moves to 18-15. They will take on
Spencer County, Tuesday night at 7 p.m., who defeated Walton-Verona, 62-61 in the
other semifinal game.
Along with Bilton and Krohman, Jordan Bach had ten points, and Bode Stone had
eight.
Coach Trent Steiner knows he’s just one step closer.
“I said 64 minutes the other night, well now it’s 32 minutes,” Steiner said. “One
second at a time, one minute at a time, one play at time. That’s all it is.”
PIONEERS 75, MUSTANGS 63 (OT)
NORTH OLDHAM — 17-16-11-12-7 — 63
SIMON KENTON — 11-11-16 -18 – 19 — 75
Scoring
North Oldham (63) — Neal 27, Howard 10, Schmittel 10, Fischer 9, McRoberts 4, Cargould 3
Simon Kenton (75) — Bilton 23, Krohman 22, Bach 10, Stone 8, Brown 4, Polly 4, Taylor 4
Game Stats
3-Pointers: North Oldham 10, Simon Kenton 8
Free Throws: North Oldham 3/4, Simon Kenton 23/30
Fouls: North Oldham 20, Simon Kenton 10
Records: North Oldham 26-6, Simon Kenton 18-15