Scott County nearly blows big lead, beats Covington Catholic in Sweet 16

LEXINGTON – For 30 minutes, Thursday’s rematch of last year’s boys basketball state championship game was a dud. And then it nearly produced the greatest comeback in Sweet 16 history.

Scott County High School led by 19 points with 1:34 remaining, saw its lead trimmed to 1 point just 71 seconds later and finally held on for a 64-61 victory over Covington Catholic in a first-round game of the Whitaker Bank/KHSAA Sweet 16.

A crowd of 12,205 at Rupp Arena – at least the ones that hadn’t left with the outcome seemingly decided – saw the Cardinals avenge a 73-55 loss to the Colonels in the 2018 state final.

When it was over, veteran Cardinals coach Billy Hicks couldn’t hide his relief.

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“It seemed like that ballgame lasted four hours,” he said.

Glenn Covington scored 15 points and Diablo Stewart and Bryce Long added 12 points apiece as Scott County (33-3) – ranked No. 2 in the state by The Associated Press – advanced to face Butler (26-7) in Friday’s 6:30 p.m. quarterfinal.

Michael Mayer had 18 points and 10 rebounds and Grant Disken added 16 points for No. 6 Covington Catholic (27-8), which trailed 41-24 after three quarters before scoring 37 points in the fourth.

“I’m so proud of our guys for making it a game,” Colonels coach Scott Ruthsatz said. “It takes a lot out of you to get to that point.”

After Terrin Hamilton hit two free throws to make it 60-41 with 1:34 remaining, the Colonels went on a run for the ages. While the Cardinals committed five turnovers and missed a layup, the Colonels went 5 for 5 from the field (4 of 4 from 3-point range) and 4 of 4 from the free-throw line.

Disken’s 3-pointer pulled CovCath within 60-59 with 23 seconds left.

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Hicks noted that Stewart, Scott County’s primary ballhandler, had fouled out at the 2:45 mark and that Michael Moreno was in and out of the game with four fouls.

“You saw how important Michael and Diablo are to us,” Hicks said. “When they’re out of the game, we’re very vulnerable to the press. You have to give CovCath credit. They seized on that.”

Ruthsatz lamented not having a timeout to call after Disken’s 3-pointer, and it may have allowed Scott County to make the play that saved it from the ultimate collapse. Moreno made a long outlet pass to Lorenzo Williams, whose layup gave the Cardinals a 62-59 lead with 15 seconds left.

After the teams traded free throws, CovCath had a final chance to tie but Joseph Moser’s 35-footer at the buzzer was well off.

Hicks downplayed the revenge factor after last year’s loss to the Colonels in the state final.

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“It’s the state tournament, first of all,” he said. “Nobody has more respect for Covington Catholic than we do. … I’m sure in our guys’ minds, our season ended last year in that locker room after they had beaten us. So we looked at it as another chance to come back and perhaps get a win.”

SCOTT COUNTY                12    11    18    23 – 64

COVINGTON CATHOLIC     3    13      8    37 – 61

Scott County (33-3) – Bryce Long 12, Lorenzo Williams 8, Michael Moreno 6, Diablo Stewart 12, Glenn Covington 15, Terrin Hamilton 6, Jaylen Barber 3, Kobi Harris 2.

Covington Catholic (27-8) – Tyler Fleek 8, Nick Thelen 8, Grant Disken 16, Jack Davin 6, Joseph Moser 3, Michael Mayer 18, Jay Jackson 2.

Jason Frakes: 502-582-4046; jfrakes@courier-journal.com; Twitter: @kyhighs. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: www.courier-journal.com/jasonf.