One team walked out of Fort Thomas with a victory, the other thought they surely didn’t give it away.
In a back-and-forth battle at Highlands High School, Lloyd Memorial’s Isiah Golsby sank two free throws with seven seconds left to give the Juggernauts a 69-68 victory over the Bluebirds.
Highlands had a 3-point lead and the ball with 22 seconds remaining, but a flagrant foul was called on Tayden Lorenzen as he had the ball and was whistled for an elbow on Lloyd’s Jason Kabeya. The initial call was an offensive foul, but after officials talked it over, upgraded it to a flagrant foul, giving Kabeya two free throws and the Juggernauts possession afterward.
“They said Tayden threw an elbow deliberately,” Bluebirds coach Kevin Listerman said. “I would never know a player when you’re up three with 14 seconds to go that’s going to throw an elbow into the defender that’s running at you, but it’s what happens when you let the officials make decisions instead of making plays.”
After Kabeya sank two free throws and possesion, Golsby got in the lane and was fouled on a shot attempt with Lloyd trailing 68-67. He calmly sank both.
“You just think it’s like everyday free throws,” Golsby said. “You just got to make two free throws and don’t put more pressure on yourself than needed. I know I can make two free throws. I shoot a high clip free throw line, so whether it’s 0-0 or a tie game late, you just got to make them.”
The Bluebirds had one last chance needing to go the distance of the court, Vinny Listerman taking the ball down the floor and his jumper coming off the back of the iron and unsuccessful.
The win gives Lloyd another marquee region victory, improving to 10-2 in region play with wins over Highlands, Holy Cross, Beechwood and Ryle (and a loss), the other loss in region play was to Conner.
“We like to stay under the radar,” Juggernauts coach Mike Walker said. “We’ve had some good wins, I think a lot of people counted us out this year because of what we lost. We’ve developed and I think we’re right there in the mix.”
But the Juggernauts aren’t worried about that, they know the matchup ahead on Thursday is their most important of the season to date, at Dixie Heights for the No. 1 seed in the 34th District tournament.
“We didn’t play a game today. That’s our motto right now,” Walker said. “Enjoy the win. It’s always a good win to come here in Highlands. I think it’s one of the toughest places to win at in the region. Now we got to move forward to our next opponent, which is a big one on Thursday.”
What was an otherwise tightly played contest on Monday, Highlands felt they did everything they needed to win. They led 23-15 early, but Lloyd bounced back in the second and third quarters to get within 35-34 at the break and the Juggernauts leading 50-49 after three quarters.
Lloyd led by as much as six in the fourth, but Highlands battled back to reclaim the lead at 66-65 with just under two minutes to play on a Nathan Rickard layup. Tayden Lorenzen added two free throws with under a minute to play and the Bluebirds got a stop on the other end.
With the ball out of bounds, Lorenzen received an inbounds pass and with Kabeya running at him, tried to clear room, but his elbow hit Kabeya’s face.
“We did everything we were supposed to do to win it,” Listerman said. “We showed toughness, we got stops, got the ball where we wanted it, got the rebound we needed. We didn’t win. You got the ball in your hands with 14 seconds to go up three in the bonus, you feel pretty good. We didn’t throw it away. The other team didn’t do anything to get it. But that’s just a tough pill to swallow and we’ll move on.”
Lloyd was led by Anthony Blaackar’s 25 points, a game removed from setting the single-game scoring record for the program, tallying 51 points in a win over Mason County on Saturday.
“I mean, I trust all my guys, so it’s not only me,” Blaackar said. “It takes a village to win. It takes all of us. You just got to trust your teammates and good things happen, obviously.”
Golsby added 15, Kabeya with 12 and Billy Lewis adding 10.
“I’m proud of the Billy Lewis’s, the Colton Barger’s and the Isaiah Coleman’s,” Walker said. “Those role guys that did the small things that don’t show up on stat sheets helped get this win. That’s been that way all season.”
Highlands was led by Listerman’s 17 points as the Bluebirds had five in double figures. Rickard adding 11, Lorenzen, Owen Ebert and Finn Bouldin scoring 10 points apiece.
The Bluebirds get right back at it Tuesday with a road tilt at Conner.
“We’ve responded very well off losses this season,” Listerman said. “We expect that with a senior group. Have a back-to-back and have to pick ourselves up after an emotional game. We just got to continue to try to get better. There were a couple of situations where we didn’t handle things the right way and Lloyd’s good enough, especially on the offensive end, to make you pay. And that’s what they did.”
MORE PHOTOS: Slideshow provided by Charles Bolton
JUGGERNAUTS 69, BLUEBIRDS 68
LLOYD MEMORIAL — 15-19-16-19 — 69
HIGHLANDS — 23-12-14-19 — 68
Scoring
Lloyd (69) — Blaackar 25, Golsby 15, Kabeya 12, Lewis 10, Coleman 5, Barger 2
Highlands (68) — Listerman 17, Rickard 11, Lorenzen 10, Ebert 10, Bouldin 10, Wimzie 5, Messmer 3, Harris 2
Records: Lloyd Memorial 17-4, Highlands 21-3