King of the Bluegrass: How LaRue County knocked off defending state champ GRC

Behind Daniel Allen’s “Let it fly” mantra, the LaRue County High School boys basketball team pulled off the upset of the tournament Monday in the Chad Gardner Law King of the Bluegrass at Fairdale.

Allen scored 21 points and helped the Hawks hit 12 of 23 3-point attempts in a 72-71 victory over defending state champion George Rogers Clark.

“We came in relaxed and with the attitude that we had nothing to lose today,” Allen said. “I told the guys right before the game, ‘Hey, I’ve got a feeling. I’ve got a feeling.’ … We started making shots and just kept on rolling.”

Carson Childress hit 5 of 11 3-point attempts and added 19 points for LaRue County (6-3), which will face Sagemont (Fla.) at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday in the fifth-place game.

GRC (6-2) had a 37-game winning streak snapped Sunday in a 64-62 overtime loss to Great Crossing. LaRue County coach Paul Childress was hoping that long game might play a factor Monday.

“We knew they played (Sunday) night, and we were hoping their legs might be a little bit dead,” Childress said. “It was key for us to get out to a quick start, and that’s what our guys did.”

The Hawks jumped out to an 11-0 lead, forcing GRC coach Josh Cook to call two timeouts in the first 2 ½ minutes.

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Down 59-41 early in the fourth quarter, GRC mounted a frantic rally and got a 3-pointer at the buzzer from Jerone Morton to cut the final margin to 1. Reshaun Hampton was 8 for 16 from 3-point range and scored 26 points to lead the Cardinals.

Allen, a 6-foot-5 junior, continued his outstanding King of the Bluegrass. He’s averaged 29.3 points and 5.7 rebounds over three games and has hit a combined 11 of 15 3-point attempts. He scored 41 points Friday in a first-round victory over Fairdale.

“This off-season I’ve really worked on my shot,” Allen said. “That game really proved to me the work has paid off. I just had the attitude, ‘Let it fly.’”

George Rogers Clark       14          10          17          30 – 71

LaRue County                  20          19          18          15 – 72

George Rogers Clark (6-2) – Reshaun Hampton 26, Jerone Morton 12, Sam Parrish 5, Trent Edwards 21, J.P. Gaines 1, Tyleik Maxwell 6.

LaRue County (6-3) – Carson Childress 19, Luke Trumbo 6, Jagger Mardis 16, Jaxson Thomas 10, Daniel Allen 21.

Sagemont (Fla.) 80, Manual 73

Devontae Jean’s 3-point play with 20.4 seconds left was the key, giving the Lions (10-1) a 78-73 lead with 20.4 seconds left.

Malachi Coleman’s 3-pointer had pulled the Crimsons (5-5) within 72-71 with 1:46 left, but Sagemont closed the game with an 8-2 run.

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Tynan Becker scored 23 points and Ashton Smith added 20 to lead Sagemont.

Coleman scored 21 points and Damone King added 18 to lead Manual, which finished 1-2 in the tournament.

Sagemont           22          15          25          18 - 80

Manual               15          20          15          23 – 73

Sagemont (10-1) – Maxx Martinez 9, Ashton Smith 20, Tynan Becker 23, Devontae Jean 15, Ryan Eddy 1, Dominic Issa 12.

Manual (5-5) – Justice Decker 6, Darin Wells 11, Malachi Coleman 21, Brady Hurley 5, Donavyn Knox 6, Jared Tuvlin 6, Damone King 18.

Trinity 55, DeSales 48

Drae Vasser scored 16 points – including 12 in the second half - and Jayden Johnson added 11 points to lead the No. 9 Shamrocks (7-2) over the Colts (5-5).

Trinity advanced to face Harlan County at 3 p.m. Tuesday in the consolation-bracket final.

Crew Gibson scored 19 points to lead DeSales, which dropped to 0-2 against Trinity this season. The Shamrocks beat the Colts 54-49 on Nov. 29.

Trinity                 12          12          14          17 - 55

DeSales               11          16          8            13 - 48

Trinity (7-2) – Drae Vasser 16, Cam McClain 8, C.J. Walls 6, Jayden Johnson 11, Alex Johnson 9, Matt Toller 2, Michael Long 3.

DeSales (5-5) – Da’Von Martin 4, Brady Cummins 3, Tyler Klein 3, Will Gibson 7, Crew Gibson 19, Julian Bunton 8, Logan Tharp 4.

Harlan County 62, Male 59

Maddox Huff hit five 3-pointers and scored 28 points to lead the Black Bears (7-2) over the Bulldogs (3-6).

Down 49-44 after three quarters, Harlan County outscored Male 18-10 in the fourth to get the victory.

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Cole Edelen hit seven 3-pointers and scored 27 points to lead Male.

Male                  18          13          18          10 - 59

Harlan County   13          14          17          18 - 62

Male (3-6) – Cole Edelen 27, Jayson Gasaway 10, Jack Edelen 10, Meechie White 9, Terrence Hall 3.

Harlan County (7-2) – Trent Noah 14, Maddox Huff 28, Daniel Carmical 12, Jonah Swanner 6, Jaycee Carter 2.

Fairdale 82, Spencer County 78

Dalton Hicks scored 33 points and Jacob Tucker added 30 as the Bulldogs (4-4) beat the Bears (5-4) in a consolation game. Hicks was 15 of 18 from the free-throw line, and Tucker hit 7 of 8 charity shots.

Luke Erhardt hit seven 3-pointers and scored 32 points to lead Spencer County.

Spencer County               20          9            14          35 - 78

Fairdale                            23          14          21          24 - 82 

Spencer County (5-4) – Kellen Marksbury 6, Luke Erhardt 32, Camden Cox 9, Jonathan Combs 16, Jack Armstrong 6, Keaton Baird 7, Drew Barron 2.

Fairdale (4-4) – Cam Croney 2, Dalton Hicks 33, Jake Dewboys 6, Jacob Tucker 30, Brandon Smith 9, Joe Hurt 2.

Pittsburgh Central Catholic 49, Woodford County 47

The Vikings outscored the Yellow Jackets 16-8 in the fourth quarter to secure the victory in a consolation game.

Randy Wilkerson and Cole Sullivan both scored 12 points to lead Central Catholic (3-3). Debaba Tshiebwe, brother of University of Kentucky star Oscar Tshiebwe, added eight points.

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J.J. Jenkins led Woodford County (3-6) with 14 points.

Central Catholic               8            15          10          16 - 49

Woodford County           14          14          11          8 – 47

Central Catholic (3-3) – Payton Wehner 7, Randy Wilkerson 12, Tommy Kristian 4, Cole Sullivan 12, Debaba Tshiebwe 8, Calin Vento 6.

Woodford County (3-6) – Santonio Wade 6, Aden Nelson 13, Makhi Smith 8, Layton Starks 4, J.J. Jenkins 14, Davion Sturgis 2.

Jason Frakes: 502-582-4046; jfrakes@courier-journal.com; Twitter: @kyhighs.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: King of the Bluegrass: LaRue County upsets defending state champ GRC