New-look Douglass proves itself with tourney title over Bryan Station in front of packed house
Frederick Douglass’ 72-64 win over Bryan Station on Monday in the White, Greer & Maggard Holiday Classic finals at Lexington Catholic should dispel any doubts about the Broncos’ ability to contend for the 11th Region crown this season.
Despite being on its fourth head coach in four years and losing two of its core players to transfer and early college enrollment, Douglass is off to a 10-2 start, including an impressive performance against its 42nd District rival before a standing-room only crowd in LexCath’s Bueter Gym.
Last season’s leading scorer, Armelo Boone, transferred to Woodford County. Last season’s leading rebounder, Aveion Chenault, has turned his focus to playing football at Western Michigan. Both played huge roles in Douglass’ 11th Region title and Boys’ Sweet 16 semis appearance in 2022.
“It’s not about the two people we lost. It’s about the team we have now,” said sophomore point guard Dakari Talbert, the gridiron Broncos’ leading rusher last season and the tournament’s most valuable player Monday night after scoring 15 points against the Defenders. “Everybody just does what they do to help us win. We make the most out of everything we’ve got.”
Bryan Station junior phenom Amari Owens scored a game-high 43 points against Douglass, but the Broncos largely contained Owens’ teammates and nullified the Defenders’ size advantage in the post. Douglass won the rebounding battle 44-35. Taeshawn Adams was the only other Defender in double figures with 11 points.
“It ain’t the size of the dog, OK? It’s the heart,” Douglass coach Murray Garvin said. “And those young men in that locker room have heart. … Amari Owens is one of the best guards I’ve ever had to coach against. I didn’t care if he scored 40 and lost. And I think he had 43. So we followed the game plan exactly how we wanted to.”
Playing amid an atmosphere befitting a showdown between two of Lexington’s best teams, four Broncos scored in double figures, led by Talbert and Tate Robinson with 15 points each. Talbert knocked down a pair of 3-pointers while Robinson had three triples. DeMarcus Surratt notched a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Jaunte Jenkins added 13 points.
“Coach told us it was going to be 32 minutes of just battling,” Talbert said. “That’s what we did. Coaches love to say it doesn’t matter who we play. … We’re not playing nobody but ourselves.“
After a back-and-forth first quarter, Douglass took control during a key stretch of the second with a 9-0 run sparked by steals by Surratt and Jenkins and punctuated by a pair of fast-break dunks by Terry Cayson that helped expand the Broncos’ lead to 29-18 with 3:56 until halftime.
Bryan Station (11-2) scrapped back within four points a few minutes later, but Douglass’ James Clare bounced in a three-quarter-court 3-point heave at the buzzer to put the Broncos up 34-27 heading into the locker room. The Defenders got no closer than six points the rest of the way and trailed by as many as 14 in the fourth quarter.
“When you get beat by a good team, they’re going to expose what you need to work on. So, we’ll get back to the drawing board,” Bryan Station coach Champ Ligon said. “We’ve been playing a lot of games, and we haven’t been getting any practice. Sometimes, when you do that, you have some slippage. And we just didn’t execute very well. But the credit goes to them. We got outplayed and we got outcoached tonight.”
Douglass’ Garvin knows December tournament trophies mean little come March, so he told his team to enjoy the win for 48 hours. Then, the Broncos will get back to work in hopes of a sixth straight 42nd District title and more.
“I’m so proud of these guys. To come together in such a short period of time and to capture a championship that we’ve never won in school history. There’s not many things Douglass hasn’t done, but this was one of them,” Garvin said. “We’ve got about 12 days off until Jan. 10 (at Tates Creek). We’ll get back grounded, but I’m super proud and I hope they enjoy this championship.”
December shakeup among the ranked
When the first Kentucky High School Boys Basketball Media Poll comes out next week, it will look very different from the Herald-Leader’s preseason coaches poll.
No. 1 Great Crossing (9-4) followed its Dec. 15 loss to No. 2 St. Xavier with two losses at the City of Palms Classic in Miami and a third-place finish at the Beach Ball Classic in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
St. X (11-2) should still take over the state’s No. 1 spot despite two losses at the Torrey Pines Holiday Classic in San Diego. The Tigers claimed their second straight King of the Bluegrass tournament title at Fairdale before heading to California.
But No. 3 Trinity (4-8), No. 4 Male (8-4), No. 5 Newport (7-6), No. 7 Woodford County (7-5), and No. 9 Ashland Blazer (6-5) have all struggled in the early stages.
Male leading scorer Cole Edelen (25.5 points per game) suffered a foot injury in a 54-48 loss to Lexington Catholic on Dec. 14 that’s expected to sideline him for a few more weeks.
Teams on the rise should include Bryan Station and Frederick Douglass as well as No. 14 Covington Catholic (8-2), No. 15 Manual (12-2) and undefeated Marshall County (13-0), unranked in preseason.
Coaching milestones for Salsman and Brown
Lexington Catholic’s Brandon Salsman and Henry Clay’s Daniel Brown each reached coaching milestones in December.
Salsman, who last season became the Knights’ all-time coaching wins leader, got his 500th win overall on Dec. 10 with a 70-43 victory over Lafayette. His record including his three seasons at Bourbon County stands at 504-194 going into the new year.
Brown, who still has a ways to catch up with Henry Clay legend Al Prewitt’s 621 Blue Devils victories, got the 400th win of his career against Harlan on Dec. 22. His career record stands at 402-223 including a season each at North Laurel and Bourbon County. All but 36 of Brown’s wins are with Henry Clay.
This story was originally published December 31, 2024 at 10:16 AM.
