McCracken County ends Bullitt East’s Cinderella run in opening round of the Sweet 16

Photo courtesy of Les Nicholson

As they have all year, the McCracken County Mustangs, ranked #23 in the KSR Prep Rankings, relied on their defense to pick up a 68-56 victory over the Bullitt East Chargers. The Mustangs forced eight first turnovers and won the first-half points off turnovers battle 10-0.

Bullitt East rushed out to a 4-0 lead, but a Noah Dumas bucket capped an 8-0 Mustang run to force a Charger timeout only three minutes in. Dumas, who averages 15.4 points, added a 3-pointer and forced Bullitt East into a 5-second violation to help McCracken County open up a 15-11 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Ian Hart’s 3-pointer from the corner pushed the McCracken lead to 20-15. An Adam Pruitt 3-ball pulled Bullitt East to within 22-20, but Max Blackwell drained back-to-back 3-pointers late in the 2nd half to keep the Mustangs in control. Blackwell, who came in averaging only 3.3 points, scored eight points in the first half. He finished the game with 13 points. Dumas added a bucket at the horn to give McCracken County a 35-22 halftime lead.

Max Blackwell had 8 points, including 2 3s, in the first half to give #23 McCracken County a 35 – 22 halftime lead over Bullitt East. He averages 3.3 points this year and has made only 10 3s. Big stage doesn’t phase him. ⁦@McCrackenCounty⁩ ⁦@BluegrassBball⁩ ⁦ pic.twitter.com/8TQWKRQJZR

— Troy Howell (@teeroyhowell) April 1, 2021

BOYS KHSAA Sweet 16
(22-6) McCracken County-35
(15-8) Bullitt East-22
HALFTIME. Mustangs finish half on 11-0 run, capped off by this Noah Dumas runner at the buzzer. Noah Dumas-9, Max Blackwell-8
📻 99.5FM The Fan
💻 https://t.co/jCy6v47tpy
📱 https://t.co/6kv4GWufaW pic.twitter.com/XPGqu6lwbF

— Eric Chumbler (@EricChumbler) April 1, 2021

A Cameron Brogran old-fashioned 3-point play pulled the Chargers within 39-32 just two minutes into the third quarter, but McCracken countered with a Blackwell bucket and a Brant Brower 3-ball to go up 44-32. Blackwell kept it rolling with another 3-pointer a few moments later. Brogan drilled a 3-pointer near the end of the third quarter to pull the Chargers within seven at 49-42.

Nolan Davenport added to free throws to get within 49-44 but Brower’s bucket pushed the margin back to seven. Brothers Tucker and Will Blanford each scored buckets to get within 3 with 5:49 remaining, forcing a Mustang timeout. Tilford then knocked down a pair of free throws and Hart blocked a shot and added a bucket to push the Mustang lead to 55-48.

Hart added a 3-pointer with just over 3 minutes remaining, but Collin Powell answered for Bullitt East with a 3 of his own. Clinging to a 58-53 lead, Dumas hit 1 of 2 free throws. Bullitt East got a clean look from downtown, but it rimmed out. From there, the Mustangs were able to salt the game away thanks to some big plays from Hart.

Dumas had 14 points and three assists for the Mustangs. Hart had 14 points, seven rebounds and three blocks. Ian McCune chipped in 10 points, two assists, two blocks, and four steals for the Mustangs. They forced 15 turnovers and held Bullitt East to only 41% shooting.

Photo courtesy of Les Nicholson

Powell led the Chargers with 19 points and five boards. Brogan chipped in 13 points and 3 assists.

Bullitt East’s season comes to an end at 15-9. Credit the Chargers for making a run to the Sweet 16 that hardly anyone saw coming. They were not picked in the top 10 of the 6th Region preseason coaches’ poll but upset #13 DeSales in the region semifinals and easily handled Western in the region finals to punch their ticket to Rupp Arena. They will return three starters next year.

The Mustangs will play Ft. Thomas Highlands tomorrow at 8:00 P.M. at Rupp Arena in the quarterfinals.  Highlands is tied for #2 in the KSR state basketball prep rankings. The Mustangs will need to try to keep the game low scoring and avoid playing at the Bluebirds’ fast pace.

We still haven’t had a very close Sweet 16 game yet, but I expect that to change soon, as the Knox Central vs Ashland game later tonight might be a classic, and the Ballard vs Bowling Green outing tomorrow could be epic!  But hey, I’m 6-for-6 in picking games, so there is that, right?!  Let’s see how things go tonight!  If Boyle and Ashland win tonight that will make for a perfect first round for my bracket. This tweet was sent before the opening game yesterday.

I am not the best at predicting games but here are my Sweet 16 picks:
Quarters
Etown over GRC
Bowling Green over Ballard
Boyle over Ashland
Highlands over McCracken
Finals
Etown over Highlands

— Troy Howell (@teeroyhowell) March 31, 2021

We are still in for a big night of sports as the beloved Cincinnati Reds open their season against bitter rival St. Louis at 4:10 P.M.  The Sweet 16 action continues tonight as Boyle County takes on Paintsville at 5:00 P.M. and Knox Central squares of with Ashland at 8:00 P.M.