After Defending Their Section 5 Title, Bourbon County Eyeing Kentucky 2A State Title Starting Today In Owensboro

Will Play The

Lawrence County Bulldogs

At 7:00 (CST) Inside The Sportscenter

IVAN K. RICE|doctorfsports@aol.com

PARIS – It wasn’t pretty by no means but when it comes to winning a championship, it doesn’t matter if it’s pretty or not, because all that really matters is that you win the game. Last week, in front of a charged up crowd inside Russ Day Gym, Coach Lamont Campbell’s Bourbon County Colonels held off a scrappy Rowan County Vikings team to capture the 2020 Kentucky 2A Championship Section 5 Title for the second year in a row. Bourbon (15-2) knocked off their 16th region counterpart 57-53.

With the win, Bourbon will now have a shot at winning a state 2A title when they arrive in Owensboro, Kentucky today. The Colonels will face Section 8 Champion Lawrence County (10-6), who defeated Magoffin County 86-79, at 7:00 (CST) this evening inside the Sportscenter.

When asked about their state opponent Lawrence County, Coach Campbell said that they are your typical Eastern KY Mountain team. “They will be physical and play hard and run their stuff well. They like open sets with dribble drive motion. They aren’t very big or deep but they hang their hats on their top six players.” The Bulldogs are led by senior Tyler Maynard (21ppg), sophomore

Cody Maynard (15ppg), and senior Chase Sartin (11ppg).

“We expect to continue to be who we are. We want to get after them and make them uncomfortable,” said Campbell. “We want to take things away that they are comfortable with doing as we have done to all of our opponents all year. I think our speed and athleticism is something they haven’t seen yet so, we will continue to be who we are even in this atmosphere of games.”

The winner of the Bourbon/Lawrence matchup will face the winner of Section 6 Champion Lexington Catholic and Section 2 Champion Calloway County on Saturday at 3:00 (CST). The boys’ Kentucky 2A State Championship game will be held on Sunday at 3:00 (CST). All games will be played inside the Owensboro Sportscenter, a historic arena that’s the home of the Kentucky Wesleyan College Panthers and the Owensboro Catholic High School Aces.

On a side note, four teams in the field this year are ranked in the top 20 in the Dave Cantrall’s Ratings the State, as well as the Associated Press Poll. Those teams with their rankings in each poll are John Hardin (#1/#1), Warren Central (#11/#16), Lexington Catholic (#9/#3) and Bourbon County (#13/#11).

The four teams have a combined record of 56-7. John Hardin (16-0), Lexington Catholic (15-1) and Warren Central (10-4), to go along with Bourbon’s 15-2 record.

 

Bourbon County 57,

Rowan County 53

   During their victory over Rowan County (12-6), senior forward Brycen Collins, who made 4 three-point goals, paced the Colonels with 19 points. Senior guard Amirion “AJ” Joyce finished with 17 points, 4 rebounds and 3 steals. Senior guard Nakyir “Scrap” Joyce totaled 9 points, 5 assists and 3 steals. Other scoring came from Jack Huckabay with 5, Nathan Mack 3 (8 rebounds), Amari Faulkner 3 and Nakwan “Bone” Joyce 1.

Mason Moore led Rowan with a game-high 27 that included 4 three-point goals. Moore was followed by Chase Aiderman with 17.

Coach Campbell had this to say in a text message after his team’s narrow hard fought victory over a Vikings team that wouldn’t go away.

“I think overall, we will continue to grow and win games against different opponents and different styles. Rowan is well coached and disciplined. They did things to us to make us adjust. I’m proud of our guys for sticking with the fight and pulling it out. Now we get ready for Owensboro.”

Adding to that, the Coach went on to say that it was a good win for his team and that it feels good to be a part of history again. “Last season we won and became the first ever Section 5 2A Section Champions and now to be the first ever back to back Section 5 champions is huge for our guys and it’s great for our community and our school.”

 

Bourbon advanced to the Section 5 title game by blowing away rival Harrison County (2-12) in the semifinal round 89-49.

The Colonels led 22-18 after the first quarter and extended their margin to 43-29 at the break, as the junior Huckabay led the Colonels during the first half with 13 points that saw him hit 4 three-point goals.

Campbell’s team took total control of the game in the third frame when they outscored the Thorobreds 25-6 to move their lead out to 68-25 heading into the final eight minutes, as 9 different Colonels scored during the period.

The fourth quarter was nearly a splitting image of the third as Bourbon outscored their 10th Region foe 24-14 to cruise home with the 40 point win. The 89 points scored was also a season high.

Huckabay led Bourbon with 20 points, after connecting on 5 of 9 three-point goals. Junior forward Parker Estes followed with 14 points, and AJ Joyce finished with 10 points, 4 rebounds and 6 assists. Senior Mukonkole “KoKo” Lukonga contributed 9 points, and 6 points each came from Collins and senior Wade Chapman. Tossing in 5 points were Mack, Bone Joyce and Scrap Joyce. Other scoring came from Faulkner with 4, freshman Miles Ezell 4 and Braxton Earlywine 1 point.