‘Green light’ shooter makes another big shot to advance Lincoln County in Sweet 16
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2022 Boys’ Sweet 16 coverage
Click below to read all of the coverage from Kentucky.com and the Lexington Herald-Leader during the Boys’ Sweet 16 State Basketball Tournament in Rupp Arena.
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Lincoln County’s Colton Ralston is doing a bang-up impersonation of former University of Kentucky sharpshooter Aaron Harrison this postseason.
A week after hitting a jumper at the buzzer in the 12th Region championship, the junior with 49.4 seconds left nailed a go-ahead three-pointer to give the Patriots their first win at state since 1975. They overcame taller and lengthier Jeffersontown, 45-41, in the opening game of the UK HealthCare Boys’ Sweet 16 on Wednesday.
BOX SCORE: Lincoln County 45, Jeffersontown 41
Ralston’s make came 13 seconds after Jeffersontown, leading 41-39, missed the front end of a 1-plus-1 opportunity. The play was called from the sideline by head coach Jeff Jackson, who wasn’t nervous at all as Ralston pulled up from the wing a couple feet beyond the college three-point line, inside the Rupp Arena logo painted along the sideline.
“He’s got the green light to shoot it anytime he wants to, he knows that,” Jackson said. “As long as he’s in a good flow and a good rhythm. He spends an awful lot of time in the gym doing extra work. He shoots about four or five hundred a day. There’s a reason he makes big shots.”
Jeffersontown (24-9) had an opportunity to retake the lead its next trip down but Lavonte Harris was whistled for a bang-bang charge that, if called the other way, would have resulted in an and-one opportunity for the Chargers.
J-town head coach Richard Duncan didn’t agree with the call but didn’t seem overly bothered by it, either, during his postgame press conference.
“It is what it is,” Duncan said. “We practice coming to a jump stop. My guy felt like he could get there and went strongly to the basket. You ask me, it’s a block, you ask them it’s a charge. That’s the way the game goes.”
Down two inside the final 20 seconds, Jeffersontown missed a wide-open three-point attempt from the top of the key after its initial play — a lob to the rim — was cut off by Lincoln County’s Jaxon Smith, who drew the decisive charge. The Chargers finished 2-for-19 from behind the three-point line, and 1-for-11 in the second half.
Smith, a senior, is a five-year starter who played for the Patriots’ 2019 Sweet 16 team. That group fell to Madisonville, 57-49, in the first round. He sank a pair of free throws to seal the deal with four seconds to play and ended with a game-high 14 points.
Shooting from the stripe nearly cost Lincoln County; it missed its first six attempts of the second half and finished 13-of-22 at the line.
“When I went to the line, I was happy because I knew I was gonna make ‘em,” Smith said. “I’ve been in that spot before. Coach tells me I’m a senior and those are the shots I need to make, and when I go to the line in that moment I’m pretty confident I’m gonna make those free throws.”
After Jeffersontown jumped out to a small lead, a 10-0 run in the opening quarter put Lincoln County (30-7) in control for most of the first half. The Chargers clawed back to tie the game in the third quarter and reclaimed the edge twice inside the final four minutes.
A stingy zone defense, prompted in part by foul trouble, helped the Patriots overcome J-town’s noticeable height advantage. Lincoln County shot just 14-of-34 from the floor but held the Chargers to 28.3 percent shooting (13 of 46).
“The zone was very, very good to us,” Jackson said.
BOYS’ SWEET 16
What: Sixteen-team tournament to decide Kentucky’s high school basketball state champion.
When: Wednesday through Saturday
Where: Rupp Arena
Tickets: Tickets available for purchase at KHSAA.org.
BOYS’ SWEET 16 SCHEDULE
At Rupp Arena
Wednesday’s games
Lincoln County 45, Jeffersontown 41
North Oldham 36, Muhlenberg County 32
Clark County 77, Perry County Central 36
Pikeville 59, North Laurel 51
Thursday’s games
11 a.m.: Warren Central (26-3) vs. Male (28-5)
1:30 p.m.: Lyon County (28-6) vs. John Hardin (25-9)
6 p.m.: Henry Clay (27-8) vs. Murray (25-6)
8:30 p.m.: Covington Catholic (28-4) vs. Ashland Blazer (26-5)
Friday’s quarterfinals
11 a.m.: Lincoln County (30-7) vs. North Oldham (19-12)
1:30 p.m.: Clark County (34-1) vs. Pikeville (32-2)
6 p.m.: Lyon County-John Hardin winner vs. Covington Catholic-Ashland Blazer winner
8:30 p.m.: Henry Clay-Murray winner vs. Warren Central-Male winner
Saturday’s games
▪ Semifinals at 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.
▪ Championship game at 7 p.m.
This story was originally published March 16, 2022 at 2:06 PM.
