Jim Mashek

OVERTIME THRILLER PUTS BOWLING GREEN IN FRIDAY MORNING MATCHUP WITH ASHLAND BLAZER

LEXINGTON — The Bowling Green High School boys basketball team had already survived a couple shots in the final seconds of regulation, and the Purples trailed for much of the overtime in their first-round KHSAA Sweet 16 matchup with Adair County on Wednesday morning.

There had been plenty of ebb-and-flow in the opening game of the four-day spectacle at Rupp Arena, and the Purples managed to negotiate an intentional foul call on Bowling Green’s Kadyn Carpenter, which sent the Indians to the free-throw line and a subsequent possession.

Adair County’s Connor Loy missed the first free throw before hitting the second, tying the game at 44 with 1:16 left in regulation. The Indians’ Lane Grant got the ball inside to teammate Isaiah Cochran for a go-ahead basket, only for Bowling Green’s Braylon Banks to answer with a drive to the goal to square things at 46-all.

Adair County chose to hold the ball for a last shot, with Bowling Green’s Deuce Bailey chasing standout guard Connor Loy just inside the mid-court line for 20 seconds or so. Loy moved toward the Indians’ bench and got a timeout called with 3.5 seconds left, and Bowling Green watched two hurried shots fall off the rim, sending the game to overtime.

That’s when things got serious.

That’s when Bowling Green’s Deuce Bailey took control.

Adair County was clinging to a 51-50 lead after Loy’s two free throws put the Indians in front, 51-50, with 31.9 seconds left in OT. Bowling Green passed the ball around the perimeter before Bailey saw a crease in the defense.

The future Missouri State quarterback stormed through that slight opening, three Adair County players in the lane, and toward the basket before using the glass for a game-winning shot, a drive with nine seconds left to lift the Purples to a dramatic 52-51 overtime victory.

“They got us in a (defensive) switch,” Adair County coach Deron Breeze said.

The 6-foot, 175-pound Bailey has played more like a big man in this postseason, which is by design because veteran BGHS coach D.G. Sherrill basically starts four guards, all seniors, and Joe Hurt, a slender 6-foot-5 swingman, a senior transfer from Louisville’s Fairdale High School. Bailey took matters into his own hands with the game on the line, and he delivered.

“I saw a mismatch, I kind of just had a matchup I liked,” Bailey said. “I took the opportunity to get to the basket, get a good shot, and it went in.”

Bowling Green earned its 29th victory of the season against six defeats, and the Purples will square off with Ashland Blazer in the Sweet 16 quarterfinals on Friday morning. Blazer zapped Calloway County, 81-64, in the late game Wednesday night, the second major upset of the day. After the Purples slipped past Adair County, Jeffersontown stormed to a 64-59 victory over St. Xavier, considered the tournament favorite in most circles.

Now? This thing is wide open.

Veteran BGHS coach D.G. Sherrill anticipated this sort of challenge beforehand.

“It’s about what we expected,” he said. “It was going to be a war, from the start. We were playing a really good opponent. We kind of got a little lead (34-26 after three quarters), but they were never going to quit playing. Connor Loy, he’s NEVER going to quit. That’s a good win over a really good basketball team.

“That thing started teetering … It could have gone either way. We just feel fortunate that we were able to come out on the right end of that one.”

The Purples, playing in the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2021, can now settle in and watch the second day of the opening round, along with a practice session scheduled for Lexington’s Transylvania University. Adair County finishes its season at 30-6, and like the Purples, it’s a senior-laden team.

“Somebody’s got to win, somebody’s got to lose,” Adair County coach Deron Breeze said. “It’s a one-point game … (Bowling Green is) very good. They catch the ball on the run and attack. They go downhill.”

That’s what Deuce Bailey, the two-time MVP of the KHSAA Class 5A state championship football game, did with the game, and the season, on the line.

“Deuce was the preseason 4th Region Player of the Year,” Sherrill said. “Why would you NOT want the ball in his hands? I’ve seen him, since eighth grade, make plays. When he turned the corner, I thought, ‘something good would happen,’ or, if not, we would go home and know we tried to make the right play at that moment.”

BGHS senior guard Braylon Banks led the Purples with 16 points and four assists, and teammate Kadyn Carpenter finished with 13 points, three rebounds, three assists and three steals. But it was Bailey’s sturdy performance, in 29 minutes on the floor, that belied his lack of size. Bailey scored eight points, including the game-winning field goal, along with five rebounds and two of the Purples’ four blocked shots.

“I’ve always got five guys on the court that can score the basketball,” Sherrill said. “I told the kids in the locker room, you win these kinds of games by refusing to lose … This game was going to be won within five feet of the basket.”

Adair County, the bigger squad, finished with a 33-25 rebounding advantage. Neither squad was that effective from the 3-point line, but the Indians’ Connor Loy and Isaiah Cochran each finished with 14 points. Brayton Croomer, Adair’s 6-foot-6 senior center, added 13 points and eight rebounds.

“We just tried to exploit the mismatches,” Banks said.

Truth be told, there weren’t that many of them. The Purples followed Sherrill’s instructions.

They refused to lose.

Bowling Green (29-6) takes an eight-game winning streak into Friday’s quarterfinal game against Ashland Blazer (24-7). The game will tip off at 11 a.m., EDT.