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Week In Pictures
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With the 91st National City Boys’ State Tournament on the line, Mason County turned to its leader.
Darius Miller, the 6-foot-7 University of Kentucky signee, didn’t let his teammates down.
Scoring 19 of his 24 points in the second half Saturday night, Miller carried the Royals to a 57-48 victory over Holmes, cheered by a Rupp Arena crowd of 17,663 that included Miller’s future coach, Billy Gillispie.
“It feels great,” said Miller, who turned 18 a day earlier. “We dreamed about this since we were little. We’ve played with each other since the fourth grade. This is a fabulous feeling. I’ve never felt anything like this.”
Named the tourney MVP, Miller made seven of 11 field-goal tries in the finals and 10 of 13 free throws. He helped Mason to a 37-23 domination of rebounds, sharing the team lead (8) with Trevor Setty.
“He’s had it in his heart and in his mind all year long that this is what he wanted to do,” Coach Chris O’Hearn said.
Not that Miller was all the Royals needed.
“I was struggling to make shots the first half, but they kept faith in me and kept feeding me the ball,” Miller said. “I had all the faith in the world in them. They came in, they stepped up and kept us in the game in the first half. I just tried to take over the second.”
Russ Middleton added 13 points, seven in the first half. Keith Downing, averaging 3.1 points, also scored seven in the first half and finished with 10. Setty had six points and two steals. Ethan King added two points, four rebounds, two assists and two blocks before fouling out in the final minute.
Holmes, dominated on the boards and at the free-throw line (18-8), kept close by outscoring Mason 18-6 on points-off-turnovers, and 12-3 from three-point range.
Arrez Henderson led the Bulldogs (34-3) with 18 points and nine rebounds. Ricardo Johnson totaled 15 points, three rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocks.
Elijah Pittman, a 6-5 sophomore who spent the regular season on the junior-varsity squad, got his first start of the tournament and notched 12 points and four rebounds.
Mason County (34-4), ranked No. 1 by coaches in the Herald-Leader pre-season poll, captured its second state crown. The first came in 2003, a team led by Chris Lofton.
The Royals also had runner-up finishes in 2004 (to Warren Central) and 1981 (Simon Kenton). Miller played in the 2004 finals as an eighth-grader.
“Pre-season, ranked No. 1, it’s hard to live up to those (expectations),” O’Hearn said. “We had a great year. We played a very demanding schedule. We didn’t go undefeated. Some of our people probably thought there was something wrong with us. They expect to win every game.
“But you know what? As long as we’re here playing Saturday night in March and winning that last game, that’s all that matters to me.”
The Royals were under duress an hour before tipoff. That’s when KHSAA officials indicated that Setty was suspended for leaving the bench late in Saturday’s semifinals, drawing a technical foul. Upon review, Setty was reinstated about 30 minutes before the finals.
Once under way, Mason County scored the first four points on a Middleton drive to the hoop and a layup by King. The Royals led 13-9 at the quarter break.
Henderson, a 6-0 senior and Holmes’ defensive stopper, personally gave the Bulldogs their only lead. He drained a three-pointer to open the second-quarter scoring. At the other end of the floor, he stole a pass in full stride, then zipped down the floor for a dunk to put the Bulldogs up 14-13.
The lead was short-lived as Mason came back with the next five points en route to a 21-16 halftime lead.
Then, it was Miller time.
“They were guarding him one-on-one in the post,” O’Hearn said. “He’s the best player in the state. He’s got to get the ball there.”
Miller did, scoring the first six points of the half. Middleton’s baseline drive capped an 8-0 run. That made it Mason by 13 points, 29-16.
“He’s a great player and, obviously, they’re going to go to him,” Holmes Coach David Henley said. “We knew it, they knew it, everybody knew it. That’s why he’s going to Kentucky. That’s why he’s one of the best players in the country, and he came through.”
The Royals biggest lead, 39-24 late in the third quarter, came when Miller hit a fadeaway bank shot from about five feet, while getting hacked by Pittman. Miller added the free throw for a 15-point gap.
Holmes rallied, scoring the first six points of the fourth quarter to make it 41-35.
The Bulldogs still were within six, 52-46, on a Johnson free throw with 55 seconds left.
Downing, Ryan Hamm and Setty combined to knock down five of six free throws in the last 50 seconds.
Then, celebration time.
Said Middleton: “It’s the greatest feeling I’ve ever felt in my life — or ever will.”
Audio slide show: Sweet 16 final