Senior point guard helps Clark County escape with Boys’ Sweet 16 semifinals win
Clark County’s Aden Slone scored 12 of his 14 points over two overtimes, including making eight of nine free throws, as the Cardinals escaped with a 54-51 victory in the 2022 UK HealthCare Boys’ Sweet 16 state basketball tournament semifinals Saturday in Rupp Arena.
“It’s an 11 o’clock game, and you had a battle last night. … You have to stay with your guys and just keep believing and believe there’s a purpose and a faith behind this that you’re going to be deserving in the end,” said Clark County coach Josh Cook, who led his team to a victory in Friday’s 1:30 p.m. quarterfinal less than 24 hours earlier. “These games, I think, are just making us more deserving.”
Slone, a senior point guard, had scored only two points over four quarters of play, but Lincoln County’s defense had been keying on Jerone Morton, Clark’s leading scorer, all game. The standout junior was held to just 11 points. Someone else needed to make some plays.
“I think that’s probably the most special thing about this team is that we all can go,” Slone said. “Whenever other guys aren’t hitting — It’s not that I don’t score because I don’t want to. Everybody wants to score — but we’ve got guys stepping up every game. So tonight was just my turn. Next game it could be somebody completely different. It just depends on what we need.”
Clark led by as many as 13 points in the first half and by 11 midway through the third quarter, but Lincoln County began making big shot after big shot thereafter.
Clayton Davis’ putback completed a 13-2 run for the Patriots to tie the game at 29-29 with 28 seconds left in the third quarter. A Slone pull-up jumper put Clark back in front 31-29 at the final regulation break.
Lincoln County took a 37-35 lead with 1:48 left in regulation on a Jaxon Smith basket. It was Lincoln’s first lead since 2-0 at the beginning of the game.
But Clark answered immediately as Morton drove into the lane and passed to Sam Parrish on the left baseline for an open three to put the Cards back in front 38-37 with 1:30 left. Parrish made both of his three-point attempts for the game. The rest of the team went 1-for-13 from long-distance. Parrish finished with a team-high 16 points.
“Sam’s got that ultimate belief that … the next shot is going in,” Cook said. “And he’s not afraid to shoot it, and he will shoot it. It was a great pass, a great find and having the confidence there to step in and make that shot was just tremendous.”
Lincoln’s Treman Alcorn made one of two free throws to tie the game at 38-38 with 1:12 left in regulation. Clark held for a last shot, but Morton missed a contested three-pointer as time ran out.
In the first overtime, Slone took over, getting to the foul line and helping stake the Cardinals to a 46-42 lead with 28 seconds left in the first OT. But a Slone missed free throw opened the door for Lincoln’s Jaxon Smith to keep the Patriots in it.
Smith had already cut the lead to two a few moments earlier and his step-back 17-footer rolled around the rim and in to tie the game at 46-46 as the horn sounded and the Lincoln County pep section roared.
“When I had to release that shot, I kind of tried to step out for three, but when I released my hands I knew it was going in,” said Smith, who finished with 14 points, 12 of them after halftime.
But Clark responded again in the second OT with a Morton layup and six more points from Slone, four from the free throw line, to lead by three with six seconds left.
This time, Clark didn’t allow Smith to get off a good shot.
Lincoln County (31-8), coached by Jeff Jackson, who led University Heights to a state title in 1992, came in as the tournament’s No. 8 team according to Dave Cantrall’s ratings and pushed No. 1 Clark County (36-1) to the limit. Alcorn led the Patriots with 19 points.
“Our kids really left everything that they have inside themselves out there on the floor,” Jackson said. “There’s no coach in Kentucky that would rather be anywhere than where he’s at right now with these kids up here. They played so hard. They competed at the highest level, and they represented themselves, the program, the school and our community in the highest regard all year. … They’ve taken me on a great ride, and I’m just very proud of our kids.”
This story was originally published March 19, 2022 at 3:55 PM.
