Marshall County’s Matthew Langhi powers Boys’ Sweet 16 win over Boyd County
Marshall County’s Matthew Langhi scored 12 of his game-high 36 points in the third quarter as the 1st Region champs erased a five-point halftime deficit and outdueled No. 14 Boyd County down the stretch for a 67-63 first round win in the UK HealthCare Boys’ Basketball Sweet 16 at Rupp Arena on Thursday.
Marshall County senior Colton Lovett delivered a big putback bucket and a bigger block in the final minute to help the Marshals hang on despite 29 points from Boyd County’s Jacob Spurlock, the Lions’ 16th Region player of the year and Mr. Basketball finalist.
“It was a fun atmosphere, a fun game. You know, we love games like that. I mean, it’s a lot of fun to come up here and play a good game than blow someone out of the water or get blown out like we did the first time we came up here and played,” said Langhi, who was part of the Marshals 72-55 loss to Adair County here two seasons ago.
Langhi, a 6-6 junior who also grabbed 10 rebounds and had five assists, ranks among the top small forward college prospects in the nation. He scored eight of Marshall County’s first 11 points of the second half, capped by a fast-break layup that put the Marshals up 43-41 with 3:18 left in the third quarter thanks to a Ryan Stokes’ steal and assist. It was their first lead since the end of the first quarter.
“The moment that changed it was really halftime. We walked in and kind of our heads were down,” said senior point guard Kaden Mohler, whose primary task was to lock up his opposite number, Malachi Payne in the second half. “Coach came and talked to us, like, ‘We have no reason to put our heads down, whatsoever.’ It was a five-point game. We had been in that situation multiple times throughout this whole season.”
Payne scored 10 points in the first half with five assists. He added just six more points and two assists in the second.
After Langhi’s layup put Marshall County up 43-41, the teams exchanged the lead twice more and tied it four times, the last at 61-61 with 1:41 to play on a deep 3-pointer by Spurlock, his fifth of the game.
Marshall looked to Langhi to answer, but his driving layup missed. Fortunately for the Marshals, Lovett snatched the rebound and knocked down a short jumper in the lane for a 63-61 lead with 1:21 to play.
After an empty possession for both teams and a jump ball call on an out-of-bounds play, Boyd County had possession under its own basket with 24.8 seconds to play. Lovett trailed Boyd’s Caleb Rimmer’s baseline drive to the rim and managed to block his layup attempt for a tie from behind. Langhi retrieved the rebound and drew a foul. He and Stokes hit all four of their free throws in the last 15 seconds to seal the win.
Langhi deflected credit for the Marshals second-half surge.
“There’s a lot of things I could’ve done better, but really, it wasn’t all me,” Langhi said. “My teammates played a big part in trusting me and getting me the ball in good positions, as well as the coach putting me in good spots and plays to give me good looks as well.”
Boyd County coach Randy Anderson said he felt the game became more physical in the second half, but he couldn’t fault the effort by his players. The Lions reached the state tournament for the first time since 2018 and won the midseason Kentucky 2A Championship event for the first time.”
“I am extremely proud of what these guys have accomplished this year,” Anderson said. “Twenty-nine wins and the 2A state champ. They got us down here to Rupp for the first time in quite a few years, and I think we left it all on the floor.”
