It was a packed house at Scheben Gymnasium on the campus of Lloyd Memorial High School Tuesday night.
Many were there to see the Juggernauts senior sensation EJ Walker break the program’s all-time scoring record that has stood for 25 years. Others were there to witness a marquee 9th Region matchup between the Juggernauts and Cooper.
Walker’s first points of the night were going to break the record, he did so with a dunk in the opening stages of the game. Lloyd was playing well, leading 51-42 headed into the fourth. Then a gritty Tim Sullivan led Jaguars team showed some guts, outscored Lloyd 21-8 in the fourth and came away with a 63-59 victory.
“There was a timeout there where guys were more worried about the contact we were getting at the rim or this or that and we weren’t guarding like we needed to guard,” Jaguars coach Tim Sullivan said. “We challenged them, told them to take a deep breath and defend like Cooper defends.”
The Jaguars (6-4) somewhat spoiled a special night for Walker and family and the Juggernauts faithful. They also showed while they haven’t been able to play in region much (Tuesday just the second game against a region foe), they’re still certainly a contender to cut the nets down at Truist Arena in March.
“Our schedule has prepared us for this. Out of our 10 games we’ve played, we’ve played four or five of the top 20 teams in the state,” Sullivan said. “We’ve played some big boys and that’s prepared us to play on this big stage in the 9th Region.”
Walker’s record-setting night
Walker broke Ryan Wilson’s record, a 2000 grad of Lloyd. Wilson finished his high school career with 1,588 points, the amount Walker had entering Tuesday’s contest. To break the record, Walker took an inbounds pass on the wing, drove baseline and flushed it home.
“I just wanted to do it in a bigger way than just a layup so that was pretty cool,” Walker said.
Walker’s career for varsity basketball started in eighth grade. He posted 55 points that season in 18 games as a promising up and comer. Things continued to steadily incline for Walker as his freshman season came with 300 points. As a sophomore, 409 points.
“Playing up in seventh grade is when I started to realize and just kept working and got to this point,” Walker said. “I just try to focus on making the right plays and winning and sometimes scoring is just the right play. Glad that I got it, but we got to get back and get better and win.”
PHOTOS: Cooper-Lloyd Memorial slideshow provided by Charles Bolton
Then things really started to get real. College offers left and right, standing out on the AAU circuit and a junior season with 558 points. With over 30 offers on the table, Walker made the decision to commit to the University of South Carolina the summer leading into his senior year.
With the commitment and now the scoring record out of the way, Walker can focus on getting the Juggernauts back on track here in the second half of the season. After Lloyd started the season 7-1, they’ve gone 4-3 since, two of those losses to teams (Covington Catholic and Cooper) they’re going to see again in March and will have to beat if they want to make it to Rupp Arena.
“I just want to win. We got lackadaisical on both sides of the ball, started turning it over and got lazy on defense. We just have to be more disciplined,” Walker said.
How it went down
Lloyd (11-4) led for the majority of the first three quarters. They took a 12-9 lead after one and 33-30 at the break. Walker had eight first half points, but the play from Anthony Blaackar is what kept them ahead. He stayed on the attack and continuously got to the rim. Blaackar had 15 at the half, including the Juggernauts final 11 before the break, his 3-pointer at the halftime horn giving them the 3-point edge.
The Juggernauts started to separate in the third, taking a nine-point lead into the fourth and outscoring the Jaguars 18-12 in the frame.
Then Cooper really dug down defensively.
“That’s the end that gets the other end going,” Sullivan said. “It’s not the other way around. I thought the last 12 minutes of the game, it was one of the better 12-minute stretches of how we guard in my coaching career.”
They held the Juggernauts to one field goal in the first seven and a half minutes of the fourth and went on a 15-4 run to take a 57-55 lead with 2:50 to play on two Jaidan Combs free throws. They wouldn’t relinquish the lead from there as they forced four straight Lloyd turnovers and knocked down 6-of-8 free throws in the final three minutes to preserve the victory.
No. 1 vs No. 2
On a night that featured the top two players in northern Kentucky according to the preseason voting released by the Northern Kentucky Boys Basketball Coaches (NKBBC), it was No. 1 (Andy Johnson) getting the best of No. 2 (Walker).
Johnson’s full arsenal was on display, finishing with 30 points and did so in a variety of ways. He was 13-of-16 from the free throw line, knocked down a couple of 3-pointers, hit his pull-up jumpers and attacked the rim.
“I credit my teammates for opening me up, they got me open and I did what I needed to do,” Johnson said. “Great team win, arsenal was definitely fire there tonight for sure.”
Walker showed a strong first half with eight points, but failed to register a point in the second half.
“He’s a monster. You just try to make him work for everything,” Sullivan said. “Our No. 1 key was five guard as one and over those last 12 minutes we guarded as one group. We don’t have anyone that can stop him, but the ball pressure and backside was great. We got underneath him a lot and I thought that really bothered him.”
Johnson was complemented by Isaac Brown with 10 points, Jaidan Combs adding eight, Roman Combs with seven and Chris Rodriguez with six.
“I just tell those guys to shoot the open shot. I trust those guys,” Johnson said. “I get mad at them if they don’t shoot.”
Cooper gets back it on Friday against 33rd District rival Ryle at home.
Blaackar led Lloyd with 27. Isaiah Sebastian chipped in nine and Jayden Humphrey also added eight.
Lloyd returns to action on Saturday at Great Crossing, currently the No. 2 team in the state.