Second-quarter heater propels South Oldham past Danville Christian in Boys’ Sweet 16
South Oldham head coach Steven Simpson felt good about the Dragons’ chances against Danville Christian Academy after watching them launch 3-pointers prior to tip-off.
“They shot lights-out in warm-up,” Simpson said. “I knew they were gonna shoot it well, they didn’t miss hardly any during warm-up.”
The Dragons connected on 14 triples, one shy of matching the single-game state tournament record, en route to a 67-44 first-round win over DCA in the UK HealthCare Boys’ Basketball Sweet 16 on Wednesday night in Rupp Arena.
Their long-ball marksmanship was nothing new. South Oldham averaged 12 makes per game coming into the Sweet 16 and, as of Wednesday night, has made 438 total 3-pointers as a team this season.
According to the KHSAA boys basketball record book, which hasn’t been updated since August 2021, these Dragons are the first team in Kentucky history to have made 400 triples in any season. Including this year’s team and last year’s, which made 389 but isn’t currently reflected in the KHSAA accounting, South Oldham owns the top six single-season marks for 3-point makes in state history — all set since 2016.
Of those teams, however, the 2016 group was the only one to make it to the Sweet 16 before this edition. That South Oldham team, whose run ended in the state quarterfinals, was the school’s third state qualifier in a stretch of four seasons. Before this year, South Oldham hadn’t even made it back to the 8th Region championship game since 2018.
“This is a very hard-working group of young men that made the decision a long time ago to put aside individual stats and attempt to play a type of basketball where we emphasize good shot over great shot,” Simpson said. There isn’t a player on the roster who doesn’t have the green light if there’s room to shoot.
As Simpson observed in the postgame press conference, South Oldham reached the peak potential of that approach in the second quarter. Trailing 13-12 through the first eight minutes, the Dragons blitzed the Warriors 26-7 in the next frame. They made nine shots in the period; eight were 3-pointers.
A fast-break pull-up by Julian Miles from well beyond the college line capped a 15-0 run to end the half and left little doubt about the outcome. DCA trailed by 18 at the break and never got closer than 15 afterward.
Miles was 2-for-6 from beyond the arc and finished with 14 points. He added three steals and 10 assists, which he believed was a career high.
“We just know if we penetrate and kick or penetrate and fill behind the guy, we just know that somebody’s gonna be open,” Miles said. “Make that extra pass and we’ll hit that shot.”
The Warriors, anchored by Lual Ayei (6-foot-11) and Leek Ateny (6-10), had a demonstrable size advantage but only outrebounded the Dragons by one, 26-25. Ateny led DCA, the reigning All “A” Classic state champion and making its first Sweet 16 appearance in the young program’s history, with 14 points on 7-for-13 shooting. But the rest of the team combined to go 11-for-31.
Simpson deployed a 1-3-1 zone the entire game to mitigate the Warriors’ advantage in the post, applying constant pressure to DCA point guard Titus Boyd.
“That’s the first time in 32 years of coaching I ever saw a team run a 1-3-1 the whole game,” DCA head coach Shaun Busick said. “ … It’s unconventional, it’s not something you play against a bunch. It was really good coaching.”
Jake Fithian led South Oldham from long distance, connecting on five of his eight attempts and ending with a game-high 17 points. His last triple was the team’s 14th, matching Mason County’s 2003 squad for the second most in a single Sweet 16 game.
Male set the record for 3-point makes in 2023 with 15 in a first-round win over Breathitt County. South Oldham will get a chance to match or exceed that total against Jeffersontown in Friday’s quarterfinals — though Simpson thinks they should’ve done it Wednesday.
“We missed a couple we should’ve made,” Simpson said with a laugh.