George Rogers Clark's swarming defense knocks Oldham County out of Sweet 16 in first round

The George Rogers Clark (aka Clark County) Cardinals, ranked #16 in the KSR Prep Rankings, defeated the #9 Oldham County Colonels 54-47 in the first round of the Sweet 16 at Rupp Arena on Wednesday evening.

GRC raced out a 10-2 lead, forcing Oldham County to call a timeout with 3:14 remaining in the first quarter. Aden Slone had 5 points in the early Cardinal flurry.  He added another 3-pointer moments later to help the Cardinals post a 13-7 lead at the end of the first quarter.  He had eight first-quarter points and assisted on the Cardinals’ two other buckets.

Jerone Morton drained two 3-pointers from the right corner early in the second quarter and added a transition layup to push the GRC lead to 21-10. At the under 3:00 minute 2nd quarter media timeout, GRC held a 10 point lead.

Aden Slone added another layup and then Morton finished the half off in style with a slam by Morton right before the buzzer to take a 31-22 lead into the locker room.

Check out this jam by ⁦@MortonJerone⁩ right before the halftime buzzer to put #16 GRC ⁦@WinCity_BBall⁩ up 31 -22 over #9 Oldham County ⁦@BluegrassBball⁩ ⁦@KySportsRadio⁩ pic.twitter.com/G9b2R8I2YK

— Troy Howell (@teeroyhowell) April 1, 2021

Morton (12 points, 5-for-7 shooting) and Slone (12 points, 4-for-5 shooting) combined for more halftime points than the entire Oldham County team. Those two guys set the tone for a first-half that saw the Cardinals come out as the aggressor while Oldham County lacked both energy and offensive flow. The Cardinals forced nine first-half Oldham County turnovers.

GRC continued their swarming defense and high energy in the second half, forcing even more Oldham County turnovers.  They made sure that nothing came in easy for the Colonels, making them work for every point. Stanley Smothers capped off a nice 3rd quarter with a layup at the buzzer to extend the Cardinal’s lead to 41-28.

GRC continues to hit shots at the buzzer. Here is a 3rd qtr one from Stanley Smothers to put ⁦@WinCity_BBall⁩ up 41-28 on Oldham – end 3Q pic.twitter.com/BwYCiwaq1x

— Troy Howell (@teeroyhowell) April 1, 2021

A Smother’s and-1 midway through the 4th quarter gave the Cardinals a 48-37 lead. Oldham County had chances to get back in the game but it seemed like every time they were trying to make a run they would either miss a 3-pointer or cough up the ball on a turnover.

They had a tip-in that would have cut the lead to 48-41, but it was ruled goaltending. It was just that kind of night for the Colonels, who were never able to dig out of the early hole. Tyler Slone eventually did cut the Cardinals’ lead to 48-41, but the GRC defense came up with a huge stop that led to two Morton free throws to extend the league to 50-41 with two minutes remaining.

Sam Campbell did hit a couple of 3-pointers in the final minute to cut the margin to 51-47, but a Morton free throw and Jared Wellman layup put the game on ice.

Oldham County was led by Tyler Slone (15 points, seven rebounds, three blocks) and Campbell (16 points, three assists). Xander Wagner-Rose stuffed the stat sheet with four points, 11 boards, five assists, three blocks, and two steals. They out-rebounded the Cardinals 33-24, despite GRC coming in as the state’s top rebounding team.

“Our guys they fought,” Oldham County coach Coy Zerhusen said. “We went down swinging.”

The Colonels’ season comes to an end with a 14-5 record. Many of their top players are seniors and some were freshman reserves on the 2018 squad that made it to the Sweet 16 semifinals.

Morton led GRC with 19 points on 7-for-12 shooting. Aden Slone finished with 12 points, four rebounds, and four assists. Jared Wellman added 10 points, seven boards, and three blocks.  The Cardinals shot 50% from the floor and held the Colonels to only 37% shooting.

George Rogers Clark moves on to the quarterfinals where they will meet the #1 ranked Elizabethtown Panthers on Friday at 11:00 A.M. The Panthers will come in as the favorite but both teams like to get up-and-down and it should be an entertaining shootout.  George Rogers Clark is the 4th highest-scoring team in the state and E-Town is 6th.

Media timeout. @WinCity_BBall leads 27-17 and @MortonJerone is starting to feel his rhythm. Has a couple of drives like this and a 3 2:52 2Q pic.twitter.com/5RC5Y4PRdJ

— Jared Peck (@HLpreps) April 1, 2021