Tates Creek rallies to set up district finals showdown with Lexington Catholic

The last time the Tates Creek boys basketball team played in the 11th Region tournament, the world shut down soon after.

This year’s Commodores on Wednesday rallied for a 65-62 win over Lafayette in the 43rd District Tournament semifinals and — knock on wood — are unlikely to have a global pandemic hanging over their heads following their trip to Richmond next week.

First, though, they’ll meet Lexington Catholic in the district championship game, scheduled for 8 p.m. Friday at Lafayette.

“It’s been a while since we’ve been there, and we’ve had a rollercoaster year,” Commodores head coach Keaton Belcher said.

He noted the discovery of roof damage early last month following January’s winter storm, which led to leaking that warped the floor of the school’s main gymnasium. In addition to forcing Tates Creek’s teams to shuffle practice and game sites, it moved this year’s 43rd District tournaments to Lafayette.

“This should’ve been a home game for us,” Belcher said.

It felt like one by the end, when a small court-storming broke out after Lafayette’s final shot — a solid look at a 3-pointer from Jaarius Lindsey — drew iron as time expired.

Tates Creek (16-13) had trailed for much of the night heading into the fourth quarter, but it was a tight one throughout; neither team led by more than six points in a contest that saw 15 lead changes and nine ties.

Five of those lead changes occurred within the first three minutes of the final frame, with the Commodores going up for good on a 3-pointer from the wing by Tom Haubenreich with a little more than five minutes left to play.

Stephen Franklin, a senior, scored 17 points and had six assists for Tates Creek. He hit all four of his free-throw attempts inside the final 20 seconds to help fend off Lafayette (16-12), which twice pulled within a point down the stretch.

“Our head coach at halftime stressed it to us at halftime: ‘stay poised, the most poised team is gonna come out with this victory’” said Franklin, who was 8 for 10 overall from the stripe. “And that’s what we did.”

Sophomore A.J. Slaughter had 19 points to lead the Commodores in scoring and chipped in four assists. He had a game-high five steals. Tates Creek’s 11 as a team accounted for most of Lafayette’s 14 turnovers; the Creekers only committed four.

“We just knew we had to keep our composure,” Slaughter said. “It was a big crowd, a lot of noise. We knew what we were here for.”

Brady Manning, another senior, hit his only 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions to tie the game early in the third quarter and led Tates Creek with five rebounds.

The glass kept Lafayette in it. The Generals more than doubled the Commodores’ output, 36 to 17, with Tyler Hunt outrebounding them on his own with 20, leading to most of his 14 points. Ben Marsh led Lafayette with 19 points on 9-for-12 shooting.

Tates Creek on Friday faces Lexington Catholic, a mainstay in the title round; the Knights haven’t been eliminated in the 43rd District semifinals since 2019. They’ve won four straight 43rd District championship games.

“They’re well-coached. They have great players,” LexCath head coach Brandon Salsman said. “... It will be a tough matchup.”

The Commodores forced the Knights to double overtime Jan. 12 at Lexington Catholic before LexCath pulled out a 68-65 win. Tates Creek, which set a school record with 29 made 3-pointers against Adair County in December, knocked down 13 threes that night.

On Feb. 11, the Commodores connected on nine 3-pointers and played LexCath close again, lsoing 60-53.

“We’re a team of momentum, and we’re so undersized so we’ve got to make up for it in a lot of different areas,” Belcher said. “Three-point shooting, free-throw shooting, timely late-game defensive adjustments. … We’ve tried to make basketball fun again (at Tates Creek), and by playing fast and shooting a lot of 3s, kids like doing that.”

LexCath too much for Dunbar

Four Knights finished in double-figure scoring as LexCath cruised to its sixth straight finals appearance with a 77-50 win over Paul Laurence Dunbar.

Everett Stuart led the way with 15 points, but Jacob Holland and Ashton Pflugner were close behind with 12 apiece. Max Meagher had 10 points; he and Holland also each added five assists and three steals for the Knights (20-8).

Despite the loss, first-year Dunbar coach Steve Quattrocchi took many positives from his team’s progress this season. The Bulldogs finished with a 13-19 record, 10 more wins than last year, and they avenged their two regular-season losses to LCA by knocking the Eagles out of the postseason with a 63-47 win in Monday’s first round.

“It’s been a heck of a ride, and we’ve had a little bit of everything over the course of the season,” Quattrocchi said. “We played really well at the right time. ... Hopefully, that’s setting the tone for the future.”

High school sports writer Jared Peck contributed to this report.

Boys 43rd District Tournament

At Lafayette High School.

Monday’s first round: Paul Laurence Dunbar 63, Lexington Christian 47.

Tuesday’s semifinals: Lexington Catholic 77, Paul Laurence Dunbar 50.

Wednesday’s semifinals: Tates Creek 65, Lafayette 62.

Friday’s final: Lexington Catholic (20-8) vs. Tates Creek (16-13), 7:30 p.m.

This story was originally published February 26, 2026 at 7:23 AM.