No. 1 vs. No. 2: The most likely Sweet Sixteen championship bout is official
The championship match-up most wanted, and expected, has materialized at the boys’ state basketball state tournament.
Scott County defeated Warren Central, 70-52, in the 102nd Whitaker Bank/KHSAA Boys’ Sweet Sixteen to reach its second straight final Saturday night at Rupp Arena. The Cardinals will meet Trinity, a 42-40 winner over Campbell County earlier in the day, with a state title on the line 2 p.m. Sunday.
BOX SCORE: Scott County 70, Warren Central 52
MIchael Moreno had 25 points (10 of 15 shooting), 10 rebounds and a block to lead the Cardinals, who led wire-to-wire. Glenn Covington had 16 points, shooting 4-for-6 from the three-point line, and seven rebounds. Diablo Stewart scored 15 points and had eight assists.
It was Moreno’s best offensive performance since returning from a foot fracture that sidelined him in late December until the start of the postseason.
“To be able to perform the way that I wanted to perform coming out in the final four, cause we wanted to get back to the state championship all year ... it feels great to be able to perform like that and just get going,” Moreno said.
Dre Boyd had 13 points on 6-for-8 shooting and six rebounds to lead Warren Central, which fell to Scott County in the semifinals for the second straight year.
Neither Scott County nor Trinity won its district tournament — Trinity lost 58-47 to Waggener in the 27th District final while Henry Clay defeated the Cardinals, 78-71, to take the 42nd District crown. The Shamrocks didn’t see Waggener again but rolled through the 7th Region tournament, defeating Male (57-47), Eastern (55-20) and Ballard (59-37). Scott County eliminated Henry Clay in the region final, 58-38, after staving off Madison Central (77-66) and Frankfort (56-51) in the preceding rounds.
It will be just the second time that neither state-championship participant won its district. Covington Catholic and Scott County each were district runners-up in 2014. Scott County lost to Covington Catholic in that game, as well as in last year’s championship round.
The Cardinals are in the final for the fourth time in the last eight seasons. Trinity will make its second championship appearance and first since defeating Scott County for the 2012 title.
Scott County defeated Trinity on a late go-ahead three-point shot in the first round of last year’s Sweet Sixteen. The Cardinals got the better of the Shamrocks in January, their only regular-season meeting, but neither Moreno nor Trinity star David Johnson played in that game, which was part of the Raymond Reed Classic at South Laurel.
Dragons Coach William Unseld likes Scott County in the latest match-up. He was particularly effusive in his praise of Moreno.
“He’s my favorite player in the senior class. I’m not saying he’s the most talented, but he is my favorite player in the senior class in the state of Kentucky,” Unseld said. “There’s some talented kids, and there’s some good kids, but playing against him twice and watching how he carries himself? He just goes to work, doesn’t say a word, a positive guy...
“He comes through at the end of the game and tells my kids, ‘Keep you’re head up. You’re here. You probably wasn’t supposed to get here but you’re here and you fought us.’ You talk about a special person to be able to do that after a game like that. Man, he’s my favorite. I told him, ‘I’m rooting for you from here on out.’”
This story was originally published March 9, 2019 at 11:06 PM.
