White, Greer and Maggard Holiday Classic: Day Two Results
Day two of the White, Greer and Maggard Holiday Classic saw four teams advance to the semifinals with hopes to run the gauntlet and be crowned champions come Wednesday.
Here’s what happened:
George Rogers Clark def. Woodford County 68-60
A high-scoring first quarter saw Woodford County’s Jasper Johnson and GRC’s Jerone Morton both drop nine points. Both teams would combined for 44 points in the first quarter alone (24-20, GRC).
The complete opposite would take place in the second. Neither player would score in the second quarter as the Cardinals outscored the Yellow Jackets just 10-8.
An explosive start to the second half put GRC in the driver’s seat. Woodford County looked sluggish as they had in the first half against Henry Clay Sunday afternoon, while GRC looked fresh. GRC head coach Josh Cook felt differently, however.
“They got to get the wind out of them—they got to do that yesterday,” Cook said. “When you go through Christmas, it’s really that first one that’s gonna hit you. We played four games in the King of the Bluegrass, so we’re still just trying to get our wind back from that.”
Woodford County cut the lead from 14 to eight heading into the final quarter. They whittled the score down to four with four minutes remaining in regulation before GRC ballooned it back to 10 before taking down the Yellow Jackets 68-60.
Morton finished with 12 points, but Trent Edwards led the team with 14 thanks to free throw shooting and his ability to find the rim. There were 24 foul calls total in the second half—GRC went 14-17 on the day from the line, which was a major contributor to the outcome.
“As long as we guard, we’re a really good basketball team,” Cook said. “I think we showed signs of fatigue today … You have to play through that and show some mental toughness.”
The Cardinals will now face North Laurel in the semifinals of the White, Greer & Maggard Holiday Classic on Tuesday night at 8 p.m.
Lexington Catholic def. Simon Kenton 51-43
Jack Gohmann’s buzzer-beating three-point shot gave Lexington Catholic the breathing room they needed heading into the second quarter. They also took a 34-21 lead at halftime.
John Reinhart led all scorers with 12 points and was closely followed by Hudson Sparks’ 11 for LexCath. Sparks, who was coming off the game-winning put-back layup from yesterday’s game against McCreary Central, was getting to the rack with ease all afternoon long.
The Knights extended their lead to 18 heading into the final quarter after the Pioneers cut it to just seven. After a back-and-forth final eight minutes, LexCath came out on top 51-43 thanks to Reinhart’s 19-point performance.
Lexington Catholic will now face Ballard in the semifinals of the White, Greer & Maggard Holiday Classic Tuesday night at 6 p.m.
Ballard def. Madison Central 67-60
Madison Central rode the wave of momentum off the heels of their routing of Bardstown on Sunday night, taking a 20-17 lead after one quarter.
The Indians only allowed nine points in the second quarter and took a six-point lead into halftime on the same team that led IMG Academy by five just over one week ago.
“If you go back and look, I think we missed eight or nine layups in the first half,” Ballard head coach Chris Renner said. “What that does is not only do you not score, but then you’re not able to get your press and it puts more pressure on your defense.”
Will Hardin led all players with 12 at the break and was complemented by Robby Todd’s nine. Ballard’s leading scorer at the break was Maker Bar.
Ballard mounted a comeback after trailing by as much as eight points in the third, finally tying the game with two minutes left in the third quarter thanks to a trey from Jalen Buford. The Bruins took a one-point lead into the final quarter.
Ballard put all doubts aside by starting off the first four minutes of the final quarter, putting Madison Central’s upset bid to bed and winning 67-60. Bar and Gabe Sisk combined for 23 points. The Indians were led by Hardin and Jaylen Davis’ 19 and 18 points, respectively.
“The big key was just our depth versus their lack of depth,” Renner said about the Indians’ lack of substitutions. “… But those guys hung on long and we didn’t play exceptionally well. You‘ve got to give a lot of credit to Madison Central.”
Ballard’s next matchup will be in the semifinals of the White, Greer & Maggard Holiday Classic Tuesday night at 6 p.m. against Lexington Catholic.
North Laurel def. Pleasure Ridge Park 100-94 (OT)
Talk about a nightcap.
Pleasure Ridge Park whittled down a seven-point Jaguar lead early in the first half, but traded buckets the rest of the second quarter. Each time PRP tied the game up, it was Reed Sheppard that broke the knot and kept his team in front.
Sheppard and Ryan Davidson combined for 25 points while PRP’s Zamareon McCown led the Panthers with 11 at the break. North Laurel took a 37-31 point lead heading into the second half.
After a strong start to the second half, the Panthers took the lead off a made three-point basket by McCown midway through the third, forcing North Laurel to call timeout. The momentum continued and PRP took a 58-56 lead into the fourth quarter.
The Jaguars came back from an 11-point deficit to tie the game in the final moments thanks to some heroics from Sheppard to force overtime.
Overtime
From the opening tip of overtime, North Laurel was in control.
“I got the best player in the state. That’s what happened,” Jaguar head coach Nate Valentine said of Sheppard’s huge second-half performance.
The entire gym was on their feet watching two classic performances between Sheppard and McCown—it just so happened Sheppard came out on top.
North Laurel finished 31-54 (57 percent) from the field as a team, 12-22 (55 percent) from deep and 26-28 (93 percent) from the line.
“I got so much confidence when these guys shoot it—I think it’s going in,” Valentine said. “… I’ve got a lot of confidence in Reed [Sheppard] and he’s got confidence in [his teammates]. Ryan Davidson was outstanding again tonight—he really battled. PRP is a great team and that’s a great win for us.”
Sheppard dropped a season-high 50 points on 15-25 shooting, making four three-pointers, grabbing five boards, four steals, five blocks and three assists. Davidson also notched 23 in the victory.
PRP’s McCown finished with 39 points including six three’s and seven assists.
North Laurel will face GRC in the White, Greer & Maggard Holiday Classic semifinals Tuesday night at 8 p.m.
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