Sweet Sixteen; Semifinals

Holmes 57 - Lexington Catholic 50

All I've heard all week is that Lexington Catholic was going to win the state championship. I had nothing to counter them with, but I knew that Holmes was a very good team. With Elijah Pittman emerging as a reliable sophomore scoring and rebounding threat, the Bulldogs looked like the kind of team needed to knock of the Knights.

It didn't look to good for Holmes at the start of the game. They played sloppy, much of it due to Catholic's tenacious press. Catholic looked unstoppable, taking a 19-4 lead at the end of the first quarter.

The Bulldogs sprang to life in the second quarter and outplayed the Knights. Holmes was quicker and stronger than them. The Knights had a 31-25 lead at the break, but Holmes was coming after them, outscoring them 21-12 in the second quarter.

After the half, Holmes picked up where they left off in the first half. They continued to surge at the Knights, and with 4:58 on the clock, they cut the lead to 34-32. They tied it at 38 with 2:38 left in teh third quarter.

At this point the video boards featured the Subway "Sub of the Game," which was Elijah Pittman. At that point he had six points and three rebounds. I've become a huge fan of this wonderful sophomore who stepped his game up on the big stage of the Sweet Sixteen. He finished the game with 15 points.

I guess Pittman averaged about 15 points a game for the tournament, and he did all of it -- to the semifinal -- from the bench. I've become a huge fan of his.

The momentum shifted back to Lexington Catholic at the end of the quarter, when they hit two quick baskets as time expired. They were up 44-41.

The Bulldogs played great defense in the fourth quarter, holding a beleaguered Catholic team to just six points. Meanwhile, they reeled off 16 points and rode a 57-50 win over one of the favorites to win the tournament into the championship game.

Mason County 60 - Shelby County 50

Thirty years ago, the Shelby County Rockets won their second state championship by downing the Holmes Bulldogs. It would be one of those "wow" moments if the two linked up again in the championship round. By the way, Charles Hurt played for Shelby County, and Dicky Beal played for Holmes. Both ended up playing together for UK.

I think Dicky Beal bumped into me tonight, and, of course, the officials called a foul on me.

Instead of having Louisville Central in their way like they did in 1978, Shelby County had a mighty Mason County team in their way. Instead of having the star headed to play for the Wildcats, Mason County had the star -- Darrius Miller -- headed for UK.

Mason struggled with the Rockets defense in the first half. At the end of one quarter, the Royals had a 16-15 lead on Shelby County, who probably wore the glass slipper to the semifinals. It's funny because their baseball team wore the same shoe to the state championship game last summer.

The two teams played to a 6-4 defensive slug-fest in the second quarter. It wasn't pretty basketball.

Mason County controlled the second half and advanced to the championship game with a 60-50 victory.

OBSERVATIONS

Eight More Miles to Louisville: I've been meaning to post something about this. It's the first time since 1996 that both Louisville schools were eliminated in the first round. Well, I guess that the good programs from the state's principal city has to allow the underpopulated places in the state to enjoy the Sweet Sixteen. Everybody is lucky that Male High choked in the first round of the Seventh Region tournament.

Billy G: Billy Gillespie was hanging around the Sweet Sixteen for the semifinal watching Darius Miller. Autograph seekers swarmed him at times. Maybe he'll finally sign his contract.

Eight through Eleven: The semifinal featured teams from the eighth, ninth, tenth, and eleventh regions. They should have called it the "Golden Triangle Invitational." Oh, well, that will lead to more industry moving into the area.

Double Royalty: I noticed that Mason County has a kid named Ethan King on the squad. He scored 18 points in Saturday morning's semifinal. He's the Royal's King. Thank, you very much. TCB, baby.