After years of frustration, this might be Bourbon County’s best team in decades
They have nicknames like “Scrap” and “Bone.” They have a Division I baseball commit who can dunk. They play an all-out pressing, trapping, harassing style at a break-neck pace.
They might be the best Bourbon County boys’ basketball team in almost 30 years.
And they’re out to prove it.
“It’s amazing having all these good players,” said Brycen Collins, the Louisville baseball commit.
With 10 seniors, led by Amirion “AJ’ Joyce’s 18.9 points per game and bolstered by cousin Nakyir “Scrap” Joyce’s 13.7 and Collins’ 12.6, the Colonels are off to their best start (8-1) in decades. Junior wingman Jack Huckabay chips in eight points per game, Mukonkole “Koko” Lukonga leads the team in rebounding at 6.2 and Scrap’s brother Nakwan “Bone” Joyce is first off the bench.
The team averages better than 72 points per game and allows less than 58 and looks to be a serious contender in the 10th Region.
It’s been a long time coming.
Before last season, Bourbon County hadn’t had a winning record since 2006. It hasn’t been to a boys’ Sweet Sixteen since 1984.
“The 30 years thing, man, you feel it every day in Bourbon County,” said fourth-year Coach Lamont Campbell. “You feel it in the halls. You feel it in Walmart. People are excited about these guys. And these guys are excited to represent Bourbon County.”
Bourbon County Citizen-Advertiser sports writer Ivan K. Rice has been covering their high schools for more than 36 years. He believes these Colonels have a legitimate shot to win the region and the fledgling midseason Kentucky 2A Championships.
“Without a doubt, I can truly say this is the best Bourbon County team I’ve seen from top to bottom since Russ Day’s 1990 squad,” Rice said. “They are long, extremely quick and athletic and they love pushing the pace. They’re fun to watch and I’m glad I get the opportunity to cover them week after week.”
They come off a three-point loss to Henry Clay at the Blue Devils’ holiday tournament last week where they traded blows with an 11th Region favorite for the full 48 minutes, only losing thanks to a spectacular long-range three by Henry Clay’s Marques Warrick at the buzzer. After the game, the players only expressed more resolve to prove they belong in the Sweet Sixteen conversation. After all, they’d already beaten the Blue Devils a week earlier.
“This loss doesn’t mean too much to us,” Collins said. “It’s early in the season. We’re still not to our full capability. I think we’re going to be fine when it comes time for the playoffs.”
Bourbon County shot better than 49 percent in the loss to Henry Clay, including a stretch in the third quarter where it took a seven-point lead by going 11-of-13 from the field. When Collins rose over everyone for a put-back slam dunk, during that stretch, a pro-Bourbon County crowd who’d traveled on the Saturday before Christmas to watch these boys play an 8:30 p.m. tip-off, let out the largest roar of the night. Henry Clay had to shoot better than 56 percent to beat them and it came down to the last play.
“We’re not going to change who we are because of a last-second shot. We’re still coming,” said Campbell, who was a Henry Clay player and eight-year assistant for Daniel Brown there. “We’re going to press you. We’re going to get up in you. We’re going to fly around. We’re going to make plays.
The Colonels return to action Friday evening against Madison Central in the Traditional Bank Holiday Classic at Lexington Catholic. The tournament also features some of the top teams in the state, including Herald-Leader preseason No. 3 Madisonville, No. 6 Collins, No. 19 Bardstown, No. 20 North Oldham and host No. 22 LexCath.
“The good thing about losing is that it creates an edge,” Campbell said. “It creates a chip. If we got comfortable being 8-0 in a position we haven’t been in in 30 years, we now have that chip again and we want to go out and find somebody.”
This weekend
Traditional Bank Holiday Classic
What: Tournament featuring top teams from Lexington and the state.
Where: Lexington Catholic
When: Games begin at 1 p.m. Friday and continue through event finals at 7 p.m. Monday
Complete bracket: Online at https://bit.ly/2Szf2Q2
This story was originally published December 26, 2019 at 3:47 PM.
