42nd District basketball finals pit Douglass as favorites against two upstart teams
Frederick Douglass will host Friday’s 42nd District Tournament basketball championships as the top-seeded favorites in both the girls’ and boys’ games.
But their respective opponents each know something about defying the odds in the postseason.
On Wednesday, both Scott County’s boys and Bryan Station’s girls knocked out higher seeds who had swept them in the regular season.
Each set of Broncos represents another level, however.
Douglass Coach Wes Scarberry leads the No. 8 boys’ team in the state, according to the latest media poll, and they are looking for the program’s fourth straight district title. The Broncos (27-2) are riding a 24-game win streak into the title game and all five starters scored in double figures against Bryan Station in Tuesday in a 86-69 win.
“They’re very unselfish. I’ve been proud of them all year for how they’ve played as a team,” said Scarberry, who was named region coach of the year by two groups in the last week. “Just to see how they pass and don’t really care about scoring, they are just really focused on winning. It’s hard to do, because a lot of those guys are capable of putting up really good numbers.”
Scarberry’s Broncos swept Scott County in three meetings this season, 77-62 on Dec. 9, 71-63 on Jan. 13 and 68-46 on Feb. 3.
Coach Daryl Moberly’s Douglass girls’ squad is looking for its first district crown, and took on a who’s who of Dave Cantrall Ratings top 25 teams this season to prepare, notching wins over No. 6 George Rogers Clark, No. 9 Christian Academy-Louisville and No. 23 Madison Central. Cantrall rates Douglass (20-8) as the state’s No. 15 team.
Moberly’s players remember getting upset as the top seed in the 42nd District semifinals a year ago and are looking to make amends and a statement that they can not only win the 42nd, but also challenge for the 11th Region title and more.
“We just laid an egg last year. Henry Clay came in prepared and they earned it,” Moberly said. “This year, we’re prepared and we’re ready. We remember what happened last year. We talked about what happened to us in the first round last year and made sure we got out of the first round this year.”
But they’ll probably have to take on Bryan Station without standout junior Ayanna Darrington, a 6-foot-2 forward who averages a double-double — 11.7 points and 10.1 rebounds per game. Darrington recently aggravated an ankle injury she’s been dealing with since volleyball season and was in a walking boot and street clothes on Tuesday as Douglass played Scott County. Moberly hopes Darrington will be ready to play in next week’s 11th Region Tournament.
Moberly’s Broncos defeated Bryan Station 78-40 on Jan. 10 and 72-53 on Feb. 1 with 21-point contributions from Darrington each time.
All of Friday’s district finalists have secured a place in next week’s 11th Region Tournament. But only the champions can take home a gold-tinted trophy and with it home-court advantage in the regionals’ first-round games, an important advantage that could help them survive to the later semifinals and finals to be played at Eastern Kentucky University’s Baptist Health Arena.
Here’s a look at how Friday’s championship games fields were set by the semifinals results.
Wednesday’s semifinals
Girls: Bryan Station 56, Henry Clay 40 — The Defenders went on a 10-0 run over the last 62 seconds of the first half to grab a lead they would not relinquish.
Defensive pressure after a Kailyn Gentry layup yielded a Jailenn Green steal and three-pointer seconds later. Another Green steal brought another layup for her a few seconds after that.
Finally, senior Makari Murphy got the ball at the edge of the “D” center court logo at Douglass and let fly a three-pointer from 30 feet that beat the buzzer and set a 24-14 halftime lead.
“We started really well and then after that we just kept it going,” said second-year Bryan Station Coach Serena Sandusky, who is 2-for-2 in earning trips to the district finals.
The last time the Defenders (14-16) made two district finals in a row came in 2012 and 2013 when Sandusky was a player for the legendary Donna Murphy. Sandusky made sure her players knew the opportunity in front of them.
“I think they played with that chip on their shoulder and I’m proud of them,” Sandusky said.
Green led the Defenders with 20 points. Albertine Cyuzuzo added 11 with 10 rebounds and Emily Gomez scored 10.
Green said this season’s practices intensified after a string of losses during the middle of the season. The Defenders lost 10 of 14 games at one point, including two losses to Henry Clay, the team that topped them for the district title last season.
“Coach made practice a little bit harder for us so we can level up and get through this,” Green said. “I feel like we had it in us for a district run. We just had to put it all together.”
Boys: Scott County 62, Sayre 47 — A drenched Tim Glenn couldn’t help but smile after his Cardinals (12-20) gave him a bath upon earning the team’s first appearance in the 42nd District title game and 11th Region Tournament since 2020, a year they won them both.
“It’s been a little bit. We took a little sabbatical,” Glenn said. “Scott County’s still Scott County. We still love basketball and we’re supposed to be in that region.”
Nick Mosby led the Cards with game-high 26 points and fellow senior Larmarion McGrapth added 15 as Scott County avenged two regular season losses to the Spartans. This time, the Cardinals made shots and disrupted Sayre’s offense by anticipating passes into the post and creating turnovers.
“We had four or five days to prepare for this game and we knew them well coming in,” Mosby said. “We knew people expected us to lose this game. It is what it is. We came out aggressive and we were able to pull this one out.”
Tied 23-23 early in the third quarter, a 13-2 run that included three-pointers from Micah Glenn and McGrapth broke the game open. McGrapth’s three from the right wing on a fast break put the Cards up 34-25 and prompted a Sayre timeout with 5:05 left in the third quarter.
The Spartans regrouped and rallied within two points on Brock Coffman’s layup that made the Sayre deficit 36-34 just a few seconds into the fourth quarter, but the Spartans could get no closer. Additional threes by McGrapth and Mosby later in the period sealed the win.
“The past two times we played them we got good shots, shots we wanted and we just didn’t make them,” Glenn said. “Tonight, we made some shots at opportune times, made a couple of runs and withstood a couple of theirs.”
Davis Miller and Brock Coffman led Sayre (19-13) with 19 and 13 points, respectively.
Tuesday’s semifinals
Girls: Douglass 69, Scott County 48 — Sophomore Niah Rhodes scored 26 points, including three of her seven three-pointers during a decisive 16-6 run in the second quarter to help the Broncos reach the district finals for the second year in the program’s six-year history.
Douglass got off to a slow start against the Cardinals early.
“Scott County played a good first half and got us totally off our game plan,” Moberly said. “They outrebounded us. They played hard.”
But Rhodes got hot in the second quarter to help break a 14-14 tie. Recently cleared-to-play Bryan Station transfer Victory Sledge contributed 14 points and nine rebounds and Jaylee Knowles added eight points off the bench. Jermyra Christian and Kate Baker scored nine points each.
“We just had to listen to our coach, execute and we pulled it through,” said Rhodes, who doesn’t seem to mind adversity or the added expectations on this year’s team. “I have all the confidence in the world with my team. We’re ready. We want all the smoke.”
Maleiyah Moore scored 23 points for Scott County (9-19), who also got 13 points from Tyra Young and 12 from N’mya Summers.
Boys: Douglass 86, Bryan Station 69 — The high-flying Broncos unleashed themselves upon the Defenders early Tuesday night, jumping to a 27-12 lead after one quarter and barely letting up the rest of the way.
The final scoreline had five Broncos in double figures — Tylon Webb with 20 points, Armelo Boone with 19, Aveion Chenault, 18, Kai Simpson, 13, and Logan Busson 10. Among the Broncos’ 48 points in the paint, eight were dunks, split evenly by Boone and Chenault who each list at 6-foot-3.
“When we play defense and rebound, we get dunks,” Boone said.
Douglass built its largest lead, 21 points in the second quarter, but Bryan Station rallied in the third, cutting the lead to 47-38 just over two minutes into the second half. A Simpson three-pointer deflated the charge and the Broncos gradually rebuilt their advantage.
“The way (the Defenders) press, they are never really out of a game,” Scarberry said. “We didn’t handle the pressure as well as I was expecting us to, having seen it already this year. It was a great experience for us, and we’ll see some teams like that at region for sure.”
Amari Owens led Bryan Station (11-19) with 31 points. Tayshawn Adams added 14.
Friday’s championships
42nd District Tournament finals at Frederick Douglass
6 p.m.: Girls: Bryan Station (14-16) vs. Frederick Douglass (20-8)
8 p.m.: Boys: Scott County (12-20) vs. Frederick Douglass (27-2)
This story was originally published February 23, 2023 at 8:19 AM.
