‘Special group’ delivers Henry Clay’s first 11th Region boys’ basketball title since 2005
When Daniel Brown took the Henry Clay boys’ basketball head coaching job in 2006, he called it the “No. 1 job in the state of Kentucky.”
The program, dripping with history — six state titles and 19 region championships — had recently reached the state tournament semifinals in 2003 and the quarterfinals in 2005.
Brown had no idea how hard it would be to continue that tradition.
But Monday, his Blue Devils (27-8) finally did just that with a 41-36 victory over Frederick Douglass to win the 11th Region championship at Eastern Kentucky University’s McBrayer Arena.
Brown’s career has included district championships and No. 1 teams but never a trip to the Boys’ Sweet 16 until now.
“It’s very special. It’s gratifying,” Brown said. “You know, you take a job like Henry Clay and they expect you to win. And they’ve stuck with me for 16 years. We’ve won a lot of big ball games but none bigger than tonight. It’s a special group of kids, and I think we’re going to go in Rupp Arena and we’ve got another goal.”
The win came at the expense of a Broncos (19-15) team that rallied to defeat Henry Clay in overtime for the 42nd District title a week ago. The Blue Devils held a seven-point lead with 53 second left in regulation of that game before falling 57-54.
“A lot of us were down after that loss, but Coach kept telling us, ‘That’s not the game we want. We want to get them in the region finals,’” said junior forward Kyan Miller, who grabbed a pair of offensive rebounds late and also made a pair of free throws to extend Henry Clay’s lead to 39-36 with 35 seconds left Monday night. ”That’s what we did.”
Kyan Miller is the son of assistant coach Steve Miller, the program’s second all-time leading scorer, 1984 Mr. Basketball and member of the Blue Devils’ 1983 state championship team. Four of Kyan Miller’s eight rebounds came on the offensive glass. He scored seven points, including a rare three-pointer and those two clutch free throws in front of a jubilant student section.
“I knew I needed to win for my team, and I’ve got to do whatever it takes whether it’s defense, rebounding, hitting shots. … If the offense isn’t working, I’m getting it down on the other end,” Miller said. “It’s just amazing. This is unreal.”
In a halting, low-scoring game that Henry Clay led 18-12 at halftime, the Blue Devils held the lead most of the night, but could never establish any distance between themselves and the Broncos.
Douglass hasn’t minded deficits this postseason, rallying from behind in the fourth quarter against Bryan Station, Henry Clay and Madison Southern in dramatic fashion.
Seconds after Henry Clay’s leading scorer, Aziel Blackwell, fouled out of the game, Douglass’s Aveion Chenault made one of two free throws to cut the Blue Devils’ lead to 37-36 with 1:40 left in the game.
Blackwell said he wasn’t worried whether his team could pull through without him.
“I had no doubt at all, because I know how much we wanted this,” Blackwell said. “I knew they were going to fight for me.”
Douglass missed an opportunity to take the lead at the free throw line with 52 seconds left after Konlin Brown’s errant three-point attempt moments earlier.
Clinging to the one-point lead with 36 seconds left, Kanye Henderson missed the front end of a one-and-one foul shot, setting up Miller’s heroic offensive rebound and foul shots.
“I could just see it in his face that he was going to knock them down,” Blackwell said of Miller. “He’s had confidence in them the whole time.”
After a Douglass miss, Mason Hawkins got the rebound and got fouled. He made both free throws to set the final margin with four seconds left.
Henry Clay has faltered in a number of close games this season, dropping heartbreakers to teams like Douglass, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Madison Central and Great Crossing. All of that was for a purpose, Brown said.
“I think we built ourselves for this run in the last three or four weeks,” Brown said. “We played so many close games and we had so many hard failures. I just think we prepared ourselves with that schedule, just the type of games we were in. We never panicked.”
Henderson scored a team-high 14 points and was named tournament most valuable player. Winning the region title and having a chance to play in Rupp Arena his senior season feels pretty good.
“It means everything. It means the world,” Henderson said. “It feels like a dream.”
Blackwell added 12 points for Henry Clay. The Broncos were led by freshman Armelo Boone’s 15 points as Henry Clay held Douglass’s leading scorers Kai Simpson and Tyson Barrett to two points and four points, respectively.
Monday’s win had special meaning for Henry Clay’s coach beyond the Blue Devils’ tradition, however.
Brown took a picture with sons Konlin, a junior, and Kayson, a freshman, after the game. His oldest son, Keaston, was a member of the 2019 team that won the 42nd District title, but fell in the region finals to Scott County. Brown’s 2014 team suffered the same fate to Scott County after winning the district. But the third time wasn’t just a charm.
“What really made it special — I lost my dad in July and tonight is his birthday,” Brown said.
Denver Brown died July 28 at the age of 71. He had seen Daniel grow from a star basketball player for Nicholas County into a husband, father and head coach for North Laurel, Bourbon County and finally Henry Clay.
“It’s fitting that I win my first region title on his birthday,” Brown said. “He helped a lot tonight looking down on us.”
Next game
Henry Clay vs. Murray
What: Boys’ Sweet 16 state tournament first-round game
Where: Rupp Arena
When: Thursday, March 17, 6 p.m.
This story was originally published March 8, 2022 at 7:34 AM.
