11th Region championship: How LCA and Scott County match up

The boys’ 11th Region championship game is set for 7:30 p.m. Monday at Eastern Kentucky University’s McBrayer Arena.

Scott County, the defending region champ and the No. 2 team in the state, will take on No. 5 Lexington Christian Academy, which is in the finals for the first time in program history.

Here’s how they compare, along with some commentary from the two 11th Region semifinals coaches, Madison Central’s Allen Feldhaus and Lafayette’s Mike Mendenhall, on how the teams will match up.

Stats

Records: Scott County 33-1 (undefeated against Kentucky competition), Lexington Christian Academy 27-7

Scoring average: Scott County 80.2 ppg; LCA 67.1 ppg

Scoring defense: Scott County 56.0 ppg; LCA 52.6 ppg

Field-goal percentage: Scott County 49.0 percent ; LCA 49.3 percent

Three-point field-goal percentage: Scott County 37.7 percent; LCA 36.9 percent

Free-throw percentage: Scott County 72.2 percent; LCA 75.4 percent

Rebounding: Scott County 36.5 rpg; LCA 33.6 rpg

COACHES’ HISTORY

Billy Hicks: 947-271 (76.1 win percentage in 37 seasons)

Nate Valentine: 87-39 (69.0 win percentage in four seasons)

Starting five

Glenn Covington (Jr.): 6.2 ppg; 3.6 rpg; 43.5 field-goal percentage; 41.9 three-point percentage; 56.3 free-throw percentage

Bryce Long (Jr.): 9.8 ppg; 3.0 rpg; 50.0 field-goal percentage; 34.4 three-point percentage; 75.0 free-throw percentage

Michael Moreno (Jr.): 20.4 ppg; 11.0 rpg; 59.0 field-goal percentage; 46.7 three-point percentage; 67.9 free-throw percentage

Cooper Robb (Sr.): 13.9 ppg; 5.0 rpg; 49.4 field-goal percentage; 40.2 three-point percentage; 75.3 free-throw percentage

Diablo Stewart (Jr.): 12.4 ppg; 2.1 rpg; 47.9 field-goal percentage; 45.6 three-point percentage; 84.5 free-throw percentage

Pearce Dalton (Jr.): 3.2 ppg; 2.1 rpg; 36.4 field-goal percentage; 26.4 three-point percentage; 66.7 free-throw percentage

Will Hacker (Jr.): 8.0 ppg; 2.5 rpg; 49.4 field-goal percentage; 51.1 three-point percentage; 60.0 free-throw percentage

Austin Hall (Sr.): 16.5 ppg; 7.5 rpg; 60.3 field-goal percentage; 38.3 three-point percentage; 76.0 free-throw percentage

Carter Hendricksen (Sr.): 19.1 ppg; 9.0 rpg; 51.2 field-goal percentage; 39.4 three-point percentage; 79.1 free-throw percentage

Kyle Rode (Jr.): 15.9 ppg; 7.6 rpg; 47.6 field-goal percentage; 34.4 three-point percentage; 87.6 free-throw percentage

Key off the bench

Cam Fluker (Jr.): 5.0 ppg; 2.1 rpg; 43.0 field-goal percentage; 30.9 three-point percentage; 76.0 free-throw percentage

Lorenzo Williams (Sr.): 7.3 ppg; 3.3 rpg; 42.6 field-goal percentage; 18.9 three-point percentage; 69.1 free-throw percentage

Zeke Grier (So.): 2.4 ppg; 0.8 rpg; 30.8 field-goal percentage; 28.3 three-point percentage; 46.2 free-throw percentage

Isaiah Hunt (Sr.): 2.9 ppg; 1.3 rpg; 41.3 field-goal percentage; 15.0 three-point percentage; 56.5 free-throw percentage

Commentary

Madison Central Coach Allen Feldhaus (lost to LCA in semifinals): “I saw LCA when they played Scott County at Scott County and it was nip and tuck in the third quarter and then Rode, that’s the game when he went down and sprained his ankle. He didn’t play the whole fourth quarter. They can match up with Scott County physically. Now whether they can handle the pressure that they’re gonna get from Scott County? Their physicality defensively is second to none. But, the thing about LCA is when you’ve got big kids like that that can handle it a little bit, they can see over the pressure. They could really see over us and they won’t be able to see over Scott County as well as they did us. If I was Nate, I’d be telling them to just ‘Let’s get into the fourth quarter and have a chance to win.’”

Lafayette Coach Michael Mendenhall (lost to Scott County in semifinals): “I think it’s gonna be a good game. I think if LCA shoots the ball well, that’s gonna be key. You’ve got to be able to shoot the ball against them. You’ve got to be able to handle their pressure and I think their bigs can do that. I think it’s gonna be a heck of a game and it’ll be a great atmosphere down here on Monday night. I think either one of them can win and will represent the 11th Region very well.”

This story was originally published March 5, 2018 at 10:32 AM with the headline "11th Region championship: How LCA and Scott County match up."