Dominant fourth quarter propels Louisville power to 2019 Sweet Sixteen championship
David Johnson would not be denied.
One night after sealing Trinity’s second state finals trip with a last-second block, the star senior scored a game-high 22 points to lead the Shamrocks in a 50-40 come-from-behind victory over Scott County in the 102nd Whitaker Bank/KHSAA Boys’ Sweet Sixteen state championship Sunday at Rupp Arena.
“I said this morning, ‘It is gonna take our absolute best game to beat them,’” Trinity Coach Mike Szabo said. “And that’s probably our best game, right there.”
Trinity won its second state title and improved to 2-0 in championship game appearances. The Shamrocks won their first title in 2012, also defeating Scott County for that crown.
Scott County fell to 2-5 in state championship games, and it lost its second straight. All nine trips have been under head coach Billy Hicks, the winningest coach in Kentucky high school basketball history and the state’s only coach to have reached 1,000 wins.
Johnson, a 6-foot-5 guard who’s signed with the University of Louisville, was named Sweet Sixteen MVP. Teammates Jamil Hardaway and Stan Turnier were named along with him to the All-Tournament team.
Trinity rolled through the first rounds, knocking out Johnson Central and Ashland Blazer, before prevailing in a dogfight against Campbell County in the semifinals. It trailed most of the first half against Scott County.
Johnson hit an off-balance three-pointer as time expired in the first half and 14 seconds into the third quarter made a set shot from about the same spot to give the Shamrocks their first lead, 25-22. It grew to 29-22 before Scott County mounted a rally, regaining the advantage with an 11-0 run to close the third.
A jumper by Johnson with 6:22 to play ended a Trinity scoring drought of nearly eight minutes. Scott County quickly responded but wouldn’t score again until there was 1:12 left in the game; Trinity scored 15 unanswered in that span. The Shamrocks outscored Scott County 21-7 in the final period.
“The beginning of the fourth quarter we came out fired up,” Johnson said. “We knew in our minds that we were gonna win the game, and that’s what we did.”
Scott County was ranked No. 1 in Dave Cantrall’s Rating the State the entire season but Trinity never lagged far behind, and for most of the season was in the No. 2 position. A reporter asked Szabo if this outcome was an upset.
“Yes,” Szabo said. “I believe it was.”
Johnson’s final stat line included 12 rebounds, four blocks and two assists. He was 5-for-7 from beyond the three-point line and played the entire 32 minutes for Trinity.
Hicks’ defensive game plan was geared around stopping Johnson, whom he believed had less offensive help around him than Covington Catholic’s C.J. Fredrick, who put up 32 points against Scott County in last year’s finals.
“We wanted to work him hard for 32 minutes and hopefully wear him down and cause him to miss some shots,” Hicks said. “But he did it on offense and defense. He blocked a lot of shots on defense and, God, he hit tough threes. Who in this gym hits any better?”
Michael Moreno led Scott County with 12 points and 12 rebounds. He was one of four senior Cardinals who for the fourth year in a row fell to the team that won the state title — Paul Laurence Dunbar defeated the Cardinals in the 2016 11th Region finals, Bowling Green eliminated them in the 2017 state quarterfinals and Covington Catholic beat them for the 2018 crown.
“I couldn’t be prouder,” Hicks said of his team. “… In the end there’s only going to be one champion, but every game in the state tournament is a championship.”
Hicks, who has had retirement rumors swirl around him all season, was asked if Sunday’s game was his final basketball game.
“I’ll make that decision on down the road. I’ll have a fishing pole in my hand when I decide that,” Hicks said with a grin. “There’s about 99-percent chance it is. I’ve really enjoyed it. It’s been a great ride.”
This story was originally published March 10, 2019 at 3:32 PM.
