Frederick Douglass dunks all over Martin County in first-ever Sweet 16 win
It’s tough to have more fun on a basketball court than the Frederick Douglass Broncos did to begin its state tournament run.
On Thursday night during an opening round game of the 2023 UK Healthcare Boys’ Sweet 16 Tournament at Rupp Arena, No. 2 Frederick Douglass proved its top-two ranking against the Martin County Cardinals as the Broncos cruised a 73-53 victory. Douglass came out slow but quickly turned the energy up to 10 in the form of highlight blocks and gravity-defying finishes. The win was the program’s first-ever in the Sweet 16.
If you take away the second quarter, Martin County only lost this game by one point. In fact, the Cardinals won both the third and fourth quarters. But we played a full 32 minutes at Rupp Arena, and a game-deciding second quarter saw Frederick Douglass dunk all over the competition, outscoring the Cardinals 30-11.
“I just thought we played extremely well defensively,” Douglass head coach Wes Scarberry said postgame. “That’s kinda our key coming into this Sweet 16, just continue to do that like we have all year long. I think you saw that in the second quarter especially. We were able to switch defenses a lot.”
With the nerves of playing in the Sweet 16 clearly playing a factor, both sides came out shaky. The Broncos and Cardinals started the night a combined 5-16 from the floor as Martin County held an early 6-5 lead. But Frederick Douglass would soon show the crowd why it came into this tournament ranked No. 2 in the state.
A 10-0 run to close the first quarter, fueled by back-to-back-to-back drives to the basket from sophomore Aveion Chenualt, opened up the game for Frederick Douglass. The Broncos were forcing turnover after turnover, resulting in several easy buckets right at the rim. Douglass eventually went ahead 15-9 after the first eight minutes of action.
Chenualt got the Broncos rolling in the second quarter with a crowd-rousing dunk, which would become a theme throughout the rest of the period. Frederick Douglass soon ballooned its lead to double figures and it was off to the races from there. A high-flying block from sophomore Armelo Boone led to a fastbreak slam for Chenualt, who kept finding impressive ways to use his athleticism to his advantage.
“They are phenomenal athletes,” Martin County head coach Jason James said of the Broncos. “They’re just super fast, they’re strong. That Boone kid is terrific, especially at his age he’s just gonna get better and better. They’re just really athletic. We can’t simulate it. We’re the fastest team in our area and we looked slow with them.“
The Broncos might not have the size of a typical state title competitor, but they sure do have elite athleticism.
Things would only get worse for Martin County, which began to lose focus as the Douglass press continued to heat up. The Cardinals turned the ball over 10 times in the opening half as the Broncos put this game to bed before the intermission. A 20-point lead for Frederick Douglass with two minutes left until halftime grew into a 45-20 edge once we finally reached the break.
When one team is tossing lobs off the backboard during a state tournament game, the outcome typically isn’t in doubt…
“I drew that up in the media timeout,” Scarberry joked.
Out of the locker room, it didn’t take long for Frederick Douglass to add to its already sizable lead. The Broncos pushed its advantage out to 30 points not even three minutes into the third quarter. Martin County would show some signs of life, cutting into the Douglass lead to make it *just* a 24-point game entering the final period.
The Cardinals kept fighting despite the lopsided score, at one point cutting the count to 63-42 in favor of Frederick Douglass. But the Broncos were simply too much to handle. The lead was pushed back out to 29 points as the reserves from both sides began to check-in. When it was all said and done, Douglass settled on the 20-point win.
To do it in an arena where these players have grown up right down the road from, the feeling was especially memorable.
“It feels special to play in here because ever since I was younger, I’ve always came to all the Kentucky games and watched all the Kentucky players and all their success,” Chenualt said. “So it felt great coming out here to actually play on the floor.”
Martin County might not have looked up to the task against a well-oiled Douglass machine, but don’t count them out moving forward. The Cardinals will bring back four starters next season, along with multiple role players from the bench. Martin County was ahead of schedule in 2022-23 and was just excited to be at Rupp Arena this time around. In 2023-24, they’ll be looking to make a run.
“This year, we were kinda ahead of what we thought we could be,” Coach James added. “We’re young. The nucleus is there. I told them next year when they come down here we’re not gonna be happy to be here kind of thing. We’re coming here to win a game or two.”
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