Nobody’s underdog: Douglass knocks off No. 1 Madison Central in region semis
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Douglass upset No. 1 Madison Central 58-49 to reach region final.
- A reserve’s three-point play and a fourth-quarter run swung momentum.
- Douglass will face defending champion Great Crossing Monday for title.
Before the season began, much of the state expected Frederick Douglass to be among this season’s Boys’ Sweet 16 contenders.
A statewide survey of coaches picked the Broncos as the Herald-Leader’s preseason No. 2 behind Louisville’s St. Xavier. And a survey of coaches within the 11th picked them as the region’s favorite to make it to Rupp Arena.
But back-to-back losses in December’s King of the Bluegrass tournament — 62-59 to Male and 72-61 to Madison Central — knocked the shine off those expectations.
Then, a 69-66 loss to Madison Central again in Richmond on Jan. 23 seemed to solidify the Indians as the 11th’s best.
Madison Central brought a statewide No. 1 ranking into Saturday’s afternoon’s 11th Region Tournament semifinals at Eastern Kentucky University’s Baptist Health Arena.
No. 7 Douglass walked out with a 58-49 upset to keep its region title hopes alive and prove a thing or two to its doubters.
“The young men in our locker room really stepped up today. They stepped up to the challenge,” Douglass coach Murray Garvin said. “They took it personal that everybody had picked Madison Central. Nobody thought we had a chance.”
After six ties and 10 lead changes over almost three quarters, Douglass seized momentum with four key plays straddling the final quarter break.
Madison Central’s Jake Feldhaus, the 11th Region player of the year and a Mr. Basketball finalist, nailed a deep 3-pointer to give the Indians a 41-40 lead with 58 seconds left in the third quarter, their first lead of the second half.
Douglass’ DeMarcus Surratt drove into the lane to try for an answer. He missed, got his own rebound, missed, got his own rebound again and saved the ball with a toss to Naz Gillispie in the left corner as he fell out of bounds.
Gillispie, a senior reserve averaging 1.1 points in only 12 of the Broncos’ 28 games, took a hesitation dribble in and knocked down a baseline jumper through a foul to bring Bronco Nation to its feet. He completed the three-point play at the foul line to put Douglass back up 43-41 with 29 seconds left in the period. Douglass took that lead into the break.
“The strength of our team is that anybody’s capable of scoring. DeMarcus didn’t have his greatest game, but we are so balanced, anybody could step up and make a play,” Garvin said. “Naz Gillespie comes off the bench and hits that jumper in the corner, a three-point play right there that was just as big as any. Super proud of our guys.”
Douglass wasn’t done.
Early in the fourth, a Thurman Wade steal sent Dakari Talbert on a fast break. The football team’s leading rusher last fall turned on the jets and flipped a layup through contact into the basket for another three-point opportunity he converted for a 46-41 lead with 6:35 left.
Talbert then hounded Madison Central guard Cam Steele into dribbling the ball off his knee out of bounds on the next possession. Madison Central called a timeout to collect itself.
Moments later, Talbert capped the Broncos’ 9-0 run with a step-back 3-pointer from the right wing for a 49-41 lead with 5:53 left.
“That was a big momentum swing and something that we needed. … I’m just glad that it happened. It doesn’t matter who it is,” said Talbert, who finished with 12 points. “It’s playoff basketball. There’s nothing like it. March Madness — anything happens.”
Madison Central (30-4) got no closer than four points the rest of the way. Tate Robinson led the Broncos with 16 points, including eight out of eight free throw tries. The last four sealed the win. Surratt added 10 points.
“We played Central at their place, and that place is rocking. So we knew coming down here to Richmond that it was going to be the exact same environment, maybe even louder,” Robinson said. “Dakari taking over in the fourth quarter was big. And then Naz with that big ‘and-1.’ It flipped the momentum and allowed us to finish down the stretch.”
Madison Central suffered the loss of its third leading scorer, Luke Asher, to a knee injury against Tates Creek on Thursday. Indians coach Allen Feldhaus Jr. acknowledged Asher’s absence hurt his team a bit, especially when Douglass switched to a zone defense that Asher usually plays a pivotal role against.
Feldhaus Jr. took exception with officials early and got hit with a technical foul in the second quarter that forced him, by rule, to remain seated on the bench the rest of the way.
“I thought there were four or five, kind of consecutive trips where we went to the rack and there was no call. I was frustrated with that,” Feldhaus Jr. said. “And it’s frustrating for me because I’m very intense, I understand that. I haven’t been T’d up the entire year, and I get one early, and it takes me out of my game. I won’t say anything other than that.”
Jake Feldhaus led the Indians with 26 points and 10 rebounds. Grayson Burton added 10.
Next, Douglass (23-6) takes on Great Crossing, a 50-42 winner over Lexington Catholic in Saturday’s other semifinal and the defending region and state champions.
The Warhawks have made it back to the 11th finals despite graduating the entire starting lineup of a year ago. Great Crossing outlasted Douglass 59-57 in last season’s region finals. Douglass won their only meeting this year, 74-65, in each team’s season opener on Dec. 2.
Boys 11th Region Tournament
At Eastern Kentucky University’s Baptist Health Arena, Richmond.
Tickets: $10. Streaming: Glicod.com.
MONDAY’S FINAL
7 p.m.: Frederick Douglass (23-6) vs. Great Crossing (22-11).
This story was originally published March 7, 2026 at 10:19 PM.
