‘Showing out.’ All ‘A’ Classic turns into mountain invitational.
It’s fair to say not many people, excluding some esteemed meteorologists, foresaw the kind of snowfall Kentucky received Friday.
In high school basketball circles, a far smaller percentage of folks would have pegged three eastern Kentucky teams to advance past this year’s All “A” Classic boys’ basketball quarterfinals at Eastern Kentucky University’s McBrayer Arena that same day.
Harlan topped Bracken County 63-58 in overtime, shaking off blowing a 12-point second-half lead and having its leading scorer foul out with a minute to go.
In the late nightcap, Breathitt County stunned Covington Holy Cross 75-59 and held standout guard Jacob Meyer more than 13 points below his average.
“The mountain teams are really showing out this year,” said Breathitt senior guard Jaylen Turner who led four Bobcats scoring in double figures with 17 points. “It’s a lot like the state football (championships). The mountain teams came out and dominated that, and we want to come out and dominate this.”
Dating to the All “A’s” beginnings in 1980 there have been 10 mountain-team champions in this state tournament dedicated to Kentucky’s 125 smallest schools. Cordia was the most recent in 2016.
With three eastern Kentucky teams populating Saturday’s boys’ semifinals for the first time since 2007, only Louisville’s Evangel Christian can spoil having another mountain team on top come Sunday’s finals. Evangel beat Todd County Central 67-36 earlier Friday. The Eagles were set to face Pikeville in Saturday’s other semifinal. The Panthers topped Murray 46-40.
“We’re the underdogs. That’s what we use as fuel,” Turner said. “We’ve come together on that. We’re being picked to lose. … We don’t take lightly to losing.”
Breathitt (16-4) overcame a 12-point fourth-quarter deficit (yes, fourth-quarter) to upset Lyon County 62-60 in Thursday night’s opening round. Against Covington Holy Cross (16-7), the Bobcats didn’t need a comeback.
Turner signaled it could be Breathitt’s night with a spectacular steal and breakaway dunk late in the first half. He got fouled as he rose to the rim and got turned in the air to land horizontally flat on the floor. He bounced up without hesitation to high-fives from his teammates and a roaring ovation from the stands. He made the free throw, too, for a 31-26 lead that Breathitt took into halftime.
“We just came out more intense than we ever have,” Turner said. “I average like six points per game and I probably had one of my highest scoring games this year.”
Covington Holy Cross tightened up the game in the third quarter with Meyer showing flashes of why he often goes for 40-plus points per night. The 6-foot-1 junior is blazing fast with and without the ball. He scored nine of his 26 points in the third quarter as the Indians twice took the lead.
But after Luke Bellamy let go of a running shot from well outside the arc to beat the third quarter buzzer, the banked-in three-pointer gave Breathitt a 50-47 lead. The Bobcats never trailed again, pouring it on in the fourth.
Bryce Hoskins, Breathitt’s 6-foot-6, 260-pound football player turned forward, scored 15 points and grabbed a game-high 16 rebounds. Breathitt also has size with Turner, who’s 6-4, and 6-8 Christian Collins, who scored 13 points. Bellamy chipped in 16 and made four three-pointers.
“I feel like we can beat anybody,” Coach John Noble said. “Our guys compete. Sometimes we’re not as physical as we need to be and that’s a problem. That’s what playing really good basketball teams will do for you. You get physical or you get beaten.”
The Breathitt-Harlan semifinal on Saturday was to be a rematch of a holiday tournament game earlier in the season that the Green Dragons won 76-70.
Harlan: ‘The basketball gods worked in our favor’
Friday’s third boys’ game of the day figured to be a showdown between the high scoring of Bracken County’s Blake Reed and Harlan’s Jordan Akal.
It was all that and more, delivering an overtime shootout that saw Akal’s teammates prove to be the difference in the late stages.
Harlan got back-to-back three-point plays to start overtime. The first came after a Will Austin steal and feed to Kaleb McLendon for a corner three a minute into the extra frame. The second came from Austin himself as he drove the lane and got fouled on his made floater. He made the free throw, as well, and put the Green Dragons up 58-54. In a game with six ties and nine lead changes, Harlan would not trail again.
Akal led Harlan (15-7) with 28 points and made four three-pointers to nearly match Blake Reed’s 31. He fouled out with a minute left in the game and Harlan up just two, 58-56. He had confidence in his teammates to pull it out.
“I knew they was coming up (big),” he said. “They’re my family. I think the basketball gods worked in our favor. I feel like we deserved it.”
Harlan’s Akal, a senior and son of Coach Derrick Akal, ranks 12th in the state with a 26.6 points per-game average. Bracken County’s Reed, just a sophomore and son of Bracken Coach Adam Reed, ranks ninth in the state with 27.6 points per game and his younger brother, freshman Cayden Reed, is no slouch, averaging 18.1 point per game.
Dynamic scorers pose a unique challenge for opponents. But when those scorer’s teammates step up, it turns into something special. Junior guard Jae’dyn Gist scored 16 points and closed the game out with three free throws. Austin finished with 10 points and a game-high 13 rebounds.
“When (Jordan) went to the bench (with his fifth foul), a couple of years ago, that would have been doomsday for us,” Harlan Coach Akal said. “But we’ve got some guys that have matured. In order to have a good basketball team, the other three or four guys have got to step up. Tonight, they made plays … and we needed them. They made free throws, got big defensive rebounds and gave us excellent opportunities on the offensive boards. That’s what we need for the rest of the season.”
Bracken County (15-6) made its first All “A” Classic since Coach Adam Reed’s days as a Polar Bears player in 1998. Blake Reed scored 31 points. Cayden had 16.
“I don’t think the other guys for us stepped up like their guys did,” Coach Reed said. “And that’s kind of where we lose track. If we have another guy, other than Blake or Cayden, get 10, we have a chance to win. … We didn’t do that tonight. They’ll learn. We’ve got to get back to the drawing board for sure.
Still, the Polar Bears showed grit, erasing a 12-point third quarter deficit to take the lead three times in the fourth quarter before the game went to overtime.
“We had a blast,” Coach Reed said. “Eastern Kentucky University was awesome. We’re excited to come back next year.”
All ‘A’ Classic
At Eastern Kentucky University’s McBrayer Arena
SUNDAY’S GAMES
Noon: Girls’ championship
2 p.m. Boys’ championship
Tickets: $10
Pay per view stream: $10 at Go.PrepSpin.com.
This story was originally published January 29, 2022 at 12:31 PM.
