Ballard, Ensworth (TN) Come Up Big at Second Chance Shootout
The snow couldn’t stop three of the top high school basketball teams in Kentucky (and one from Tennessee) from duking it out at the Second Chance Shootout at Lexington Catholic on Saturday afternoon.
Tennessee’s No. 17 team, according to MaxPreps, Ensworth took down No. 6 Lexington Catholic 72-62 on their home court. No. 2 Ballard followed that performance up with a 97-83 bashing of No. 4 North Laurel directly after.
Here’s what went down:
Ensworth (TN) def. No. 6 Lexington Catholic 72-62
Vanderbilt commit Malik Dia scored 28 points on 8-17 shooting. He also grabbed seven rebounds against the Knights on their home court. The Tigers jumped out to a hot start and led LexCath 17-9 after one quarter and 37-22 at halftime.
LexCath was held 0-7 from three-point range and shot just 36 percent (8-22) from the floor.
The Knights found momentum in the third quarter, however, as they outscored Tennessee’s 17th ranked team 17-13 coming out of the break. They even outscored the Tigers 23-22 in the final period but the halftime deficit was too large to overcome.
LexCath has now dropped three of their last four games after an 11-1 start to the 2021-22 season. The Knights saw three players score in double figures. Two of those losses have come against top-five KHSAA opponents in Ballard and North Laurel.
Seven-footer Reece Potter dropped 24 points, eight rebounds and four blocks for LexCath while John Reinhart and Jack Gohmann combined for 31 points.
The Knights will try to rebound Tuesday night against the 2-13 Lafayette Generals, who have now won two of their last three games.
No. 2 Ballard def. No. 4 North Laurel 97-83
Despite five Jaguars scoring in double figures Saturday against Ballard, the Bruins came out on top 97-83 thanks to Gabe Sisk’s 30 points, seven rebounds and five assists.
Sisk shot 10-18 from the floor and was complemented by the six-foot-nine big man in Maker Bar, who notched a double-double with 28 points and 12 boards.
Ballard caught fire to begin the game, leading 14-4 midway through the first quarter, but North Laurel closed the gap and cut the lead to three by the end of the first. The Bruins would go on to outscore North Laurel 27-22 for the remainder of the half and took a 51-43 lead at the break after the Jaguars cut the deficit to as little as two points.
Reed Sheppard led his team back to within five at the end of the third quarter, but Ballard’s depth, length and skill overpowered the Jaguars in the final quarter 20-11 to finish off the 14-point thrashing.
North Laurel trailed for nearly the entirety of the game, but saw the most production out of their entire lineup by far this season.
Sheppard was held to 17 points, seven assists and six rebounds, which gave his teammates the chance to step up. Clay Sizemore (18), Chase Dawson (17), Ryan Davidson (13) and Brody Brock (10) all scored in double figures in their losing effort.
North Laurel has another tough matchup against No. 14 Madison Central Monday night. Ballard will also take the court Monday—their opponent is TBD as they host their game in the Republic Bank Louisville Invitational Tournament.
Discuss This Article
Comments have moved.
Join the conversation and talk about this article and all things Kentucky Sports in the new KSR Message Board.
KSBoard