‘It’s just another gym.’ Senior-rich Elizabethtown on best Sweet 16 run since 2000.
Elizabethtown is closer than it’s been to a Sweet 16 championship since it won it all in 2000.
The Panthers, No. 2 in the Cantrall Ratings among all participants coming into this year’s tournament, defeated Clark County (10th), 76-44 on Friday, to advance to the semifinals of the KHSAA Boys’ Sweet 16 presented by UK HealthCare Orthopaedic Surgery & Sports Medicine.
BOX SCORE: Elizabethtown 65, Clark County 44
E-town, one of the KHSAA’s oldest member schools, is in the midst of its 11th Sweet Sixteen run after winning the 5th Region for the 12th time in school history. This year is only its second appearance since 2000, when it defeated Lexington Catholic for the crown. The Panthers fell in the quarterfinal round the last time they made state in 2005.
Not this time. Elizabethtown jumped out to an 8-0 lead a minute into the game and never let up. The Cardinals cut its advantage to 16-14 with 2:19 to play in the first period but E-town pushed the edge back up to six before the frame ended.
“It’s always good to have a good start,” said E-town Coach James Haire, also the head coach in 2000. “We did come out well offensively but they were matching us, at times, bucket for bucket.”
Aden Slone got GRC within a possession, 22-19, on a three-pointer — the Cards’ only make among eight first-half tries — but E-town used an 11-0 run to build a double-digit advantage. The Panthers took a 37-24 lead into the locker room after Alandre Murphy worked for a layup near the buzzer.
Clark County couldn’t get closer than nine points in the second half. Despite shooting 50 percent from the field (19 of 38), the Cardinals were held 32 points below their average point total (76.3) on the season.
Elizabethtown ended with 27 made shots, 17 of them assisted. Jaquias Franklin had six of them, and also led the Panthers in scoring (22 points), rebounding (eight) and steals (four).
Forty-eight of E-town’s points came in the paint. The Panthers’ ball-moving prowess is not a coincidence: eight of their players are seniors, including all five starters — Franklin, Alandre Murphy, Khia Sherrard, Kam Sherrard and Camden Williams — and Jacob Moberly, the only other Panther to log double-digit minutes on Friday.
“They’ve been really, together, since kindergarten,” Haire said. “I have a picture together with five of ‘em in the same kindergarten class, and the other was next door. They’ve been together for a long time.”
Murphy ended with 21 points and six boards while Khia Sherrard also finished in double figures with 13 points along with four assists. Kam had seven points and three steals.
E-town (21-2) is riding a seven-game win streak into Saturday’s penultimate round, where it will face Ballard. Haire has been impressed by the Panthers’ ability to be unfazed by the spotlight brought on by Rupp Arena and folks reminiscing about the 2000 run, and their potential to replicate it.
“It’s just another gym,” Khia Sherrard said. “It’s bigger but we’ve got the same people out there supporting us that we would at any other game. It’s just like another game.”
GRC (20-5) will return all but one main-rotation player — senior Jared Wellman — from this year’s team. The Cardinals will vie for their third straight 10th Region title.
“If you can get down here and play well your first trip, the second trip you might really do something special,” Cards Coach Josh Cook said. “I’m excited for ‘em. I think they get it.”
Attendance figures
This year’s event has drawn decent crowds considering the limitations placed on the KHSAA by the COVID-19 pandemic health restrictions.
With Rupp Arena limited to 25 percent capacity under state guidelines and ticket holders, excluding students socially distanced in family groups, attendance for the first two days of the Sweet 16 has been off by about 8,000 per day.
For the four games Wednesday, attendance totaled 12,859, On Thursday, the four games drew 14,456. By comparison, the 2019 event, the last held since the 2020 Sweet 16 was canceled, had 21,254 in the arena on day one and 22,516 on day two.
This year’s best crowd, 4,346, came for Thursday’s game between Highlands and Muhlenberg County.
The financial impact of the decline on the KHSAA is uncertain because ticket prices year-over-year are not an apples-to-apples comparison. This year, tickets are being sold for individual games, rather than two-game sessions in an effort to limit the intermingling of fans from different regions and to clean the arena between games.
Boys’ Sweet 16
What: Sixteen-team tournament to decide Kentucky’s high school basketball state champion
When: Through Saturday
Where: Rupp Arena
Tickets: Seating is limited because of COVID-19. Tickets available for purchase at KHSAA.org.
Boys’ Sweet 16 scores, schedule
At Rupp Arena
Wednesday
Elizabethtown 87, Knott Co. Central 59
Bowling Green 85, University Heights 57
Ballard 70, Madison Central 61
Clark Co. 54, Oldham Co. 47
Thursday
Highlands 88, Muhlenberg Co. 60
McCracken Co. 68, Bullitt East 56
Boyle Co. 70, Paintsville 56
Ashland Blazer 56, Paintsville 38
Friday
Elizabethtown 65, Clark Co. 44
Ballard 61, Bowling Green 53
Boyle Co. vs. Ashland Blazer, (n)
Highlands vs. McCracken Co., (n)
Saturday
11 a.m. semifinal: Elizabethtown vs. Ballard
2 p.m. semifinal: Boyle County-Ashland winner vs. Highlands-McCracken Co. winner
8 p.m.: Championship game
This story was originally published April 2, 2021 at 2:55 PM.
