CONNECTS FROM 3-POINT LAND
AGAINST SOUTH’s JAX DECKER.
BGHS GIRLS COMPLETE 6-0 RUN THROUGH KHSAA’s 14th DISTRICT IN IMPRESSIVE FASHIONSom
Tooth and nail. Ebb and flow. Basket for basket. Something, at some point, had to give.
Turns out, it was Bowling Green High School’s night, to claim a critical victory in the KHSAA’s 14th District, against a game opponent, the Spartans from crosstown rival South Warren.
“We challenged our guys, at halftime,” BGHS coach D.G. Sherrill said after the Purples turned back South Warren, 47-42, on Friday night on the Spartans’ home floor. “We told them, ‘What’s your legacy going to be … ‘
“We had to be able to defend, we had to be able to rebound the basketball.”
Bowling Green earned its 14th victory against 10 defeats, while finishing its 14th District schedule with a 2-4 record. That’s where the Spartans are, too, in district play, although the KHSAA’s RPI formula favors South Warren in the seeding for the 14th District Tournmament to be held later this month at Warren Central High School.
The Spartans, in mid-January, claimed the first victory over Bowling Green in school history, knocking off the Purples, 50-47, at the BGHS Arena. One week later, KHSAA basketball came to a screeching halt because of Winter Storm Fern, and Warren County Public Schools were still holding NTI days — that’s Non-Traditional Instruction, for you ‘old school’ types — through the end of the week.
It’s made for a choppy season, but Sherrill and his South Warren counterpart, third-year head coach Carlos Quarles, have capable teams, and they both have a handful of non-district games to prepare themselves for postseason play.
Bowling Green will travel to Sherrill’s hometown of Princeton, Kentucky, to tangle with Caldwell County (11-10 overall) on Saturday evening, while the Spartans will get in the gym before squaring off against Ohio County on Tuesday night in Beaver Dam.
BATTLES SOUTH’s JAX DECKER FOR A REBOUND.
PULLS IN A HIGH PASS AGAINST
SOUTH’s FULL-COURT PRESS.
FINISHED THE GAME
WITH 10 POINTS.
AGAINST THE PURPLES’ HUDSON AIKINS.
“I thought we had complete control of the game, into the third quarter,” Quarles said. “We were playing at our pace … We missed eight free throws, and we didn’t take care of the basketball … They got some 50/50 balls and some key offensive rebounds.”
None of them bigger than Embree Dotson’s offensive rebound in the final 90 seconds.
Bowling Green got three shots at the basket, before Dotson squeezed his way through traffic for a put-back that extended the Purples’ lead to 45-42. Bowling Green added Anthony Davis’ transition bucket in the game’s final moments, and the Purples claimed their fifth victory in their last six games.
It’s been an uphill climb, for Bowling Green, after last year’s runner-up finish at the KHSAA Sweet 16 in Lexington.
The Purples have just one senior, versatile guard Christian Muhire, but BGHS sophomore guard Hudson Aikins points out that he’s played with most of his teammates since grade school. Aikins scored from just outside the lane in the closing moments of the first half, pulling the Purples to within 22-17, and Bowling Green was able to stay within striking distance down the stretch.
“When Tre (BGHS teammate Tre Thomas) comes in, I usually go from the One to the Two,” Aikins said. “We’re just trying to get better every day.”
CONTROLS THE OPENING TIP FRIDAY NIGHT.
HIS TEAM WITH 13 POINTS.
IS FLANKED BY PURPLES TEAMMATES
EMBREE DOTSON (LEFT) AND HUDSON AIKINS.
Dotson believes the Purples are “playing with more confidence,” while Anthony Davis, the 6-foot-4 freshman with vast potential, understands the value in staying in front of your opponent.
“In the second half, we locked ’em up, on defense,” Davis said.
Aikins led the Purples with 12 points, while Dotson and Muhire added 10 and nine points, respectively. Senior guard Owen Shively led the Spartans with 13 points, while teammate Jax Decker finished with 10.
BGHS coach D.G. Sherrill had to wait on several players — Davis, Dotson and Arlando Davis among them — to finish the football season before lacing up their sneakers for basketball.
Dotson does a lot of things that don’t show up in the box score, and he’s been a jack-of-all trades for the Purples’ football team, too.
“Embree’s great. He’s athletic, he plays hard,” Sherrill said. “He can guard the point guards, he can guard the big guys.”
DRAINS A FIRST-HALF 3-POINTER.
WILL FACE CALDWELL COUNTY ON SATURDAY.
DEFENDS AGAINST SOUTH’s OWEN SHIVELY.
DEFENDS AGAINST BGHS GUARD HUDSON AIKINS.
Sherrill has been working the telephone lines to get some make-up dates for games lost to the winter storm, but the Purples will have a tall task when it comes to tournament time.
They’ll be paired up with seventh-ranked Warren Central, on the Dragons’ home floor, in the KHSAA 14th District Tournament’s 1-vs.-4 game.
BGHS guard Hudson Aikins seems to be embracing that challenge.
“We’re OK with playing Central,” he said.
Greenwood and South Warren will square off in the other 14th District semifinal later this month.
THWARTS THE PURPLES WITH THE DUNK.
AND ANTHONY DAVIS CELEBRATE THE VICTORY.
SCORES INSIDE AGAINST THE SPARTANS.
— AMAYA BROWN OF BGHS (LEFT)
AND SOUTH’s HALLIE SHIVELY —
HAVE PROMISING FUTURES.
BOWLING GREEN GIRLS 67, SOUTH WARREN 30
Bowling Green used a 1-2 punch from junior guard Maddie Davenport and sophomore forward Jooniper Strow to roll past the Spartans, completing a 6-0 run through the KHSAA’s 14th District.
The Lady Purples (12-9 overall) have won four straight, heading into Saturday night’s non-district game against Logan County in the BGHS Arena. South Warren (7-14 overall, 2-4 in the 14th District) will face Greenwood (11-11, 4-2) in the semifinals of the district tournament, while Bowling Green will be matched up against Warren Central (4-19, 0-6).
“We’re finding different ways to score,’ Strow said. “I feel like we’ve gotten better, offensively.”
Davenport believes the Lady Purples have made major strides since November.
“There’s more team chemistry, you can tell, out on the court,” she said. “We need to stay disciplined on defense.”
All of which is music to the ears of Calvin Head, the Lady Purples’ veteran head coach.
“We’ve got to make sure we’re moving forward,” Head said. “I like where this team is headed.”
Strow led the Lady Purples with 17 points while Davenport finished with 16. Senior guard Catherine Calvert led the Spartans with eight points.
IS A TRANSFER FROM SOUTH WARREN.
FINISHED THE GAME WITH 16 POINTS.
CAN HAVE A BETTER LIFE …
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