Great Crossing lays claim to undisputed No. 1 ranking with win over Lexington Catholic
Great Crossing’s boys basketball team has been no stranger to No. 1 statewide rankings this year. But from the beginning of the season through Saturday, the Warhawks had not been a unanimous No. 1.
Media No. 2 Lyon County and No. 3 Lexington Catholic are among the rivals who have been in the mix along the way. And the Lyons were the No. 1 team in the Herald-Leader’s preseason poll of coaches.
But Saturday afternoon, Lyon County lost 50-48 to No. 6 Newport in the All “A” Classic semifinals.
So Great Crossing’s game against Lexington Catholic on Saturday night in Franklin County High School’s Gary Moore Classic offered an opportunity for the Warhawks to make a statement.
Consider it made.
Great Crossing defeated Lexington Catholic 58-50 as they closed the game on a 19-3 run sparked by a suffocating defense and the standout post play of 7-foot-1 center Malachi Moreno.
Moreno scored seven of his game-high 20 points in the fourth quarter, grabbed 19 rebounds, including 11 offensive boards, and blocked seven shots.
“It wasn’t only me,” Moreno said. “It was my entire team that helped us win that game. … We all stepped up. We all helped each other, and we came out with a win.”
Great Crossing (22-1) needed that late 19-3 run to win because in the middle two quarters, Lexington Catholic (20-2) roared to the lead despite missing two starters for undisclosed reasons and giving up a bevy of dunks and fast-break opportunities in the early going. The Knights trailed 16-6 midway through the first quarter.
But led by Bellarmine commit Tyler Doyle, Lexington Catholic soon shut down Great Crossing’s dunk-fest and started knocking down shots. Doyle hit a running floater as he dribbled in from the left wing to give the Knights their largest lead, 40-31, with 2:58 to play in the third quarter.
“We got away from what we talked about and started doing what they wanted us to do, which was settling for threes. That’s kind of sometimes our Achilles’ heel,” Great Crossing coach Steve Page explained. “We made an adjustment late … and were looking for either Trey (Vince Dawson) or Malachi to post … that’s how we took the lead. … We’ve just got to understand that we’ve got to play through Malachi.”
Six points from Dawson and a 3-pointer by Gage Richardson helped trim Great Crossing’s deficit to 47-44 midway through the fourth quarter. Back-to-back Moreno buckets on the right block pushed the Warhawks in front. Moreno’s layup and foul shot with 3:07 left gave Great Crossing a 49-47 lead. John Reinhart’s 3-pointer from the right corner a few seconds later would be the Knights’ final score. Dawson finished with 16 points. Richardson added nine.
“I think that when we get down and the game is coming to a close we realize we really shouldn’t be messing around,” Moreno said. ”We start picking up our intensity, our defense and our attitude.”
Page credited senior reserve Jaylen Warren for helping shut down LexCath’s Doyle in the fourth quarter. Though Doyle finished with 19 points, he did not score in the fourth. Warren got a game-sealing basket and foul for a 56-50 lead with 22 seconds left. He also got Great Crossing’s “hard hat” award for his defensive effort.
“We didn’t play him the first half and he wasn’t happy,” Page said of Warren. “When he came in, he wanted to prove a point. … He knows he’s in there to defend and take what the defense gives him offensively. And he got the sealing bucket.”
Page knows his team will likely be No. 1 atop every poll that exists for Kentucky boys high school basketball when new rankings come out this week. But he also knows Great Crossing might have to face Lexington Catholic or others as tough or tougher in the postseason. The Knights beat Great Crossing in last year’s Gary Moore event and the 11th Region semifinals.
“We tell the kids all the time: ‘When March and the region hits, that number beside your name means absolutely, positively nothing,’” Page said. “But for them to come out tonight and beat a team that beat them here last year and knocked them out of region last year, it was huge for our mindset.”
This story was originally published January 28, 2024 at 9:39 AM.
