Lexington Catholic boys, girls to face red-hot opponents in 43rd District title games

There is still work to be done to decide the champions of the 43rd District boys’ and girls’ high school basketball tournaments in Lexington, but Tuesday and Wednesday night’s semifinals sorted out which teams will march forward toward the Sweet 16 and which will pack things in for the winter.

In the boys’ 43rd at Lexington Catholic, the host Knights and Lexington Christian Academy secured berths in next week’s 11th Region Tournament. The winner of their district title game on Friday at 8 p.m. will not only capture a championship trophy but will earn home-court advantage for its regional opener.

In the girls’ 43rd, Lexington Catholic and Tates Creek will battle for the championship on Friday at 6 p.m. after both took care of business in this week’s semifinals. Both also earned spots in the 11th Region Tournament.

Wednesday’s semifinals

Boys: Lexington Christian Academy 59, Tates Creek 55 — The Eagles overcame a first quarter deficit to earn a season sweep of the Commodores.

LCA’s hard-fought victory featured 15 lead changes and five ties, with both programs’ student sections hollering each step of the way.

After trailing 14-7 in the first quarter, LCA emerged with a new sense of urgency.

“I think it was just a matter of sometimes,” LCA head coach Ted Hall explained, “when you play in a district tournament, it takes a lot to calm down. Because everybody wants to win so much. They hit some shots, and (Eric) Hackett is really good and he’s a handful. Of course, as are the rest of them. So, I think it was a matter of getting into it a little bit.”

Tates Creek had two scorers in double figures. Starting guard Eric Hackett (16 points) and reserve forward RaeAmere Owsley (14). Owsley, whose total included an impressive pair of dunks, scored the bulk of Tates Creek’s bench points as the Commodores reserves outscored LCA’s 20-6.

Both teams surged at various points throughout the game. The Commodores, who struggled with foul trouble all night, stayed competitive by increasing their field goal percentage by more than 20 percent from the first half to the second. The Eagles, who found themselves on the wrong end of the rebounding margin (-11), made up for it in steals (10).

“It was just a back-and-forth game,” Hall said. “You feel like you’re in good shape for a while, and then they come back and go on a run.”

LCA sophomore guard Andersen Green was named player of the game. Green tallied 18 points on 6-of-12 from the field, including 1-of-2 from beyond the arc. He also hit all five of his free-throw attempts, and recorded two rebounds, two assists and a steal in a game-high 30:16 minutes played.

“Our teammates, our coaches, they all prepared us well,” Green said. “I mean, we were ready. We knew what we needed to do to win, so we went out there and did that.”

Lexington Christian has won four of its last five games and eight of its last 10.

On Friday, the Eagles will face rival Lexington Catholic for the third time this season.

Lexington Catholic, victorious over Paul Laurence Dunbar in Tuesday’s semifinals, won both battles with Lexington Christian during the season, but the Eagles nearly pulled the upset in a 67-66 home loss on Jan. 3.

LCA led Lexington Catholic by 18 at halftime and by seven with under three minutes remaining. Reece Potter’s putback bucket with 24 seconds left was the difference as LCA missed an opportunity to tie, and, possibly win, at the free-throw line with 2.5 seconds left.

Lexington Catholic won the rematch 65-37 on their court on Feb. 10.

Girls: Tates Creek 59, Lafayette 53 — With just eight minutes remaining in the 43rd District semifinal between Tates Creek and Lafayette, the Commodores led by seven and had something to prove.

In each of their two previous matchups against the Generals this season, Tates Creek lost by 19 points. The Commodores were determined that this time would end differently.

“I am so proud of these girls,” Tates Creek head coach Jana Costner said. “We have come a long, long way. We are changing the culture, we’re changing the narrative and we need people to know who we are. We are Tates Creek and we’re here. We’re not invisible. We are here.”

Tates Creek (17-12) has won eight in a row and 10 of 11 after a 7-11 start to the season.

The Commodores made their presence known most notably on defense on Wednesday, grabbing 14 steals and limiting the Generals to 36.8 percent shooting.

Cleanly and calmly, the Commodores several times intercepted Lafayette inbounds passes. No player did this better than Tates Creek’s season scoring leader and player of the game, Jada Bell.

“Playing together really helped us,” the senior guard said. “We try to anticipate the pass a lot without fouling.”

Bell recorded eight steals and scored a game-high 25 points on 10-of-18 shooting from the field, including 4-of-9 from long range. She also grabbed five rebounds and dished out four assists.

Tates Creek’s eighth-grade point guard, Kaleigh Potts, also scored in double figures with 15 points, which included a pair of three-pointers.

Gracyn Grantz (13 points), Savannah Simpson (12) and Belle Combs (12) led Lafayette, which finishes its season 15-14.

Looking ahead to Friday’s finals, Tates Creek split the season series with Lexington Catholic, winning 54-50 on Jan. 21 at LexCath and losing 46-31 at home on Jan. 26.

“We need to continue to take care of the ball,” Costner said of what it will take to win. “When we have it, we need to make sure that we’re not trying to do too much. Keep it simple and take care of the ball. That’s the thing. And then, on defense, we just need to recognize who’s in foul trouble, on our team and the other team. We need to pay attention to the small details, and that’s what I’ve been trying to teach them all year.”

Tuesday’s semifinals

Boys: Lexington Catholic 62, Paul Laurence Dunbar 42 — The No. 2 ranked Knights shrugged off a sluggish first half and outscored the Bulldogs 33-19 in the second half to advance to the program’s fourth consecutive 43rd District Tournament finals.

Though LexCath never trailed, Dunbar trimmed the Knights’ lead to one, 24-23, late in the second quarter before Tyler Doyle got a bucket and a quick steal that set up a John Reinhart three-pointer for a 29-23 lead at the half.

“We knew we’d have to battle through a team with some seniors on it that have experience,” LexCath Coach Brandon Salsman said. “We’re grateful to be the winner and looking forward to the next round.”

Doyle scored a game-high 21 points. Reece Potter added 10 and Reinhart nine for the Knights. Max VanDyke, Cade Hill and Nick Spalding led Dunbar (10-21) with 14, 12, and 11 points, respectively.

Girls: Lexington Catholic 51, Paul Laurence Dunbar 10 — Katherine Truitt led the Knights (16-10) with 20 points as the district’s top seed forced 33 Dunbar turnovers in the rout.

LexCath scored the game’s first 27 points, holding Dunbar without a bucket until the 4:47 mark of the second quarter. Dunbar (4-24) had advanced to the semifinals by defeating Lexington Christian 45-42 on Monday.

Digital sports writer Jared Peck contributed to this report.

Friday’s championships

43rd District Tournament finals at Lexington Catholic

6 p.m.: Girls: Tates Creek (17-12) vs. Lexington Catholic (16-10)

8 p.m.: Boys: Lexington Catholic (29-2) vs. Lexington Christian (23-8)