Junior center Tony Messer tipped in a basket at the buzzer to lift Belfry past Prestonsburg 70-69 in overtime in the 15th region tournament at the East Kentucky Expo Center in Pikeville Thursday night.
Messer scored 24 points, pulled down 18 rebounds and blocked eight shots for Belfry, now 10-17.
Freshman guard Jarredd Jarrell led Prestonsburg with 22 points, but missed a shot at the buzzer of regulation that would have extended Prestonsburg's season.
No. 1 Trinity 58, No. 5 Ballard 55 (7th): Trinity came from behind to beat Ballard in the semifinals and will face No. 13 St. Xavier in the finals Monday. St. Xavier beat Central 70-59 earlier.
Nathan Dieudonne had a game-high 21 points and 11 rebounds for the Shamrocks, who are 1-4 in region finals.
Trinity, now 30-3 (27-1 against Kentucky schools), trailed by 12 points with 7:48 remaining before a 10-1 run brought the Shamrocks close. Trinity, which has now won 13 in a row, took the lead on a basket by a Dieudonne and his free throws clinched the victory in the final seconds.
Owen County 48, Anderson County 40 (8th): Sawyer Williams, a 6-6 senior center, got 19 points and 11 rebounds as Owen County rose to 23-10.
Clay County 66, Harlan County 58 (13th): Tyler McDaniel scored 18 points and Clay County (23-10) hit 50 percent of its shots to beat Harlan County. Harlan County got 18 points from Chad Massingale and finished 27-6.
Pineville 56, Corbin 51 (13th): John Simpson had 18 points and 10 rebounds as Pineville (12-18) hit 60 percent of its shots, 72 percent in the second half, and prevented Corbin from getting its 20th win and advancing.
Lloyd Memorial 42, Highlands 39 (9th): Tyler Bray scored 23 points as Lloyd ended Highlands' season and the basketball career of Patrick Towles, who will play football at Kentucky next fall.
Towles had 13 points.
Boone County 51, Holmes 43 (9th): Zane McQueary got 12 points as Boone ran its record to 25-7. Dontel Rice got 13 points for Holmes, which ended its season 23-7.
Warren Central 59, Russellville 44 (4th): Nay Walker got 15 points as Warren Central improved to 24-8.
Oldham County 65, Grant County 33 (8th): After leading by only four at halftime, Oldham County had a 46-18 bulge in the second half and advanced with a record of 27-5. Sophomore guard Sam Gruber led the winners with 12 points.
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