Scott doesn’t have the size advantage most nights they take the floor.
But when they met Mason County in the boys 10th Region tournament quarterfinals, not only did they have a bit of a size advantage, but the physical part of the game as well.
The Eagles (16-14) took full advantage and ran away with a 84-57 victory at the Mason County Fieldhouse Wednesday night.
“Sometimes you just got to use your size and we don’t get that a lot,” Eagles coach Steve Fromeyer said.
Johnie Boyd had a career-high 29 points to go with 12 rebounds, cleaning up on the offensive glass with five rebounds on that end for multiple second chance points.
“Just getting in positioning,” Boyd said. “Was just a matter of going up to get the ball. The career high is cool, but the win feels better obviously.”
The name of Scott’s game was to get inside and keep doing so, holding a 30-16 edge in points on the paint on the night. They jumped out to a 8-0 lead and never looked back. They led 23-11 after one and 41-24 going into halftime. Boyd had 16 at the break to go with seven rebounds.
“When his motor is up, man, oh man, he’s just great. And he’s got such a nice touch around the rim,” Fromeyer said. “Honestly, he always has had that. So when he gets the ball in and around the rim, it doesn’t matter on if it’s a transition rim run, like it was happening tonight or offensive rebound stick backs, that’s his game. That’s what he’s really good at and it’s good for him to be able to have that success, especially here, right in this building and in this tournament to kind of build on that.”
Mason County’s resistance was very little as the Eagles shot 52% from the field on the night. Ben Brown added 19 points with seven assists, the second of four Eagles in double figures as Jordan Clemons had 16 points and five rebounds, Justin Hardy adding 10 points.
After trading baskets out of halftime for a while, Scott opened up a 27-point lead at 67-40 headed into the fourth. They got the game to a running clock with a 83-48 lead with 3:55 to play on a Hardy layup.
Now comes a mammoth challenge, taking on a top 10 team in the state in George Rogers Clark on Monday in the semifinals. The Cardinals disposed of Pendleton County, 84-42 in the nightcap.
“It did not matter who we were going to play in the semifinals. We were either going to get Clark County or we were going to get Montgomery County,” Fromeyer said. “It’s house money, the way I look at it. Josh’s (Cook) team is very good. Their size will bother us. Their length will bother us. I don’t care, find a way to just execute your stuff. Play really nice defense and here’s the thing…for a good amout of time it’s always a dog fight but they always have this stretch where it’s a 12-0 or 18-0 run and blew the game open. They are what they are, we are what we are and we’re going to fight, it’s the region semifinals.”
The win was Scott’s first in the regional tournament since 2019.
“It’s good for the kids in your program to see that, feel that, get that excitement,” Fromeyer said. ” We got six seniors that are wholly invested in everything that we do. So I’m totally about them enjoying every bit of this experience as much as they can. We have a bunch of younger kids. There won’t be no fear, I can promise you that.”
Monday’s contest is scheduled for 6 p.m., back in Maysville. GRC and Scott did not meet this season. The Cardinals hold a six-game winning streak in the series, Scott’s last win over GRC coming in 2015.
Mason County was led by Ben Brookbank’s 21 points. Trazon Lang added 10 as they finished their season 7-20. They’ll graduate four seniors, two of them being Brookbank and Lang.
PHOTOS: Slideshow provided by Charles Bolton
EAGLES 84, ROYALS 57
SCOTT — 23-18-26-17 — 84
MASON COUNTY — 11-13-16-17 — 57
Scoring
Scott (84) — Boyd 28, Brown 19, Jordan Clemons 16, Hardy 10, Dodd 5, Jonathan Clemons 3, Casnellie 2, Murphy 1
Mason County (57) — Brookbank 21, Lang 10, Merz 6, Gil-Coleman 6, Fox 4, Hughes 3, Lykins 3, Pfeffer 2, Anderson 2
Game Stats
Field Goals: Scott 33/63, Mason County 25/62
3-Pointers: Scott 4/13, Mason County 1/8
Free Throws: Scott 14/19, Mason County 6/11
Rebounds: Scott 40, Mason County 33
Assists: Scott 13, Mason County 4
Steals: Scott 14, Mason County 7
Turnovers: Scott 10, Mason County 15
Blocked Shots: Scott 3, Mason County 3
Fouls: Scott 17, Mason County 12
Records: Scott 16-14, Mason County 7-20