Trinity beats Cooper at buzzer in KOB

Cooper guard Brayden Runion, left, and Cooper guard Dante Hendrix, right, pressure the shot of Trinity guard Lucas Burkman. 16 December 2016

Brendan King’s first thought when he grabbed a defensive rebound in the final seconds of a tie game?

“Chuck it,” he said with a smile.

But King passed up the hero shot for a better play, making a pass to a streaking Lukas Burkman, whose layup beat the buzzer and gave the Trinity High School basketball team a 55-53 victory over Cooper on Friday in the first round of the Forcht Bank King of the Bluegrass Holiday Classic at Fairdale.

“I thought there was less time, but I saw Lukas open and threw it up and hoped he would get it,” King said.

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King’s only assist of the game helped Trinity (5-1) – No. 2 in the state in The Courier-Journal’s poll of coaches – advance to Sunday’s 6 p.m. quarterfinal against the Christian County-Fern Creek winner.

Jayden Scrubb, a 6-foot-4 junior, scored 15 of his 19 points in the second half to lead the Shamrocks. Burkman added 14 points.

Adam Kunkel scored 22 points and Bellarmine University signee Sean McNeil added 16 points, eight rebounds and four assists to lead No. 14 Cooper (4-2).

The Jaguars put together an 11-3 run to close the third quarter, capped by a Dante Hendrix 3-pointer that gave Cooper a 39-35 lead.

Here's the game-winning bucket by Trinity's Lukas Burkman. https://t.co/PThrQ5ephv

—
Jason Frakes (@kyhighs) December 17, 2016

But Scrubb got hot for the Shamrocks, nailing a left-wing 3-pointer that tied the score at 44 with 5:04 left. Scrubb hit 1 of 2 free throws with 9.5 seconds left to tie the score at 53 and set up the last-second drama.

McNeil missed an off-balance shot in the lane with five seconds left, and King grabbed the rebound. He took one dribble before lofting a pass to Burkman for the game-winner.

“I don’t know how fast I ran, but I heard I ran a pretty fast 40,” Burkman said of his sprint following McNeil’s miss. “My first thought was, ‘I have to score this goal.’ That was my whole mentality: ‘We’re not losing.’”

Jaguars coach Tim Sullivan said his team’s top focus was transition defense and that it had been solid until the final seconds.

“That’s why we talk about playing 32 minutes or 32-plus minutes, however long it takes to get the job done,” Sullivan said. “But I can’t fault our guys. Sean got a great look and slipped a little bit. The guys figured Sean was going to go score like Sean usually does, and our guys got caught watching.”

Franklin-Simpson 94, Fairdale 64: Senior Tavin Lovan scored 22 of his game-high 24 points in the first half and Carlesso Doaks added 19 points – hitting 5 of 5 3-point tries – as the No. 22 Wildcats (7-0) ripped the host Bulldogs (4-3).

Franklin-Simpson shot 70 percent (35 of 50), including 10 of 13 from 3-point range. A 26-10 run to close the second quarter gave the Wildcats a 51-31 halftime lead.

Lovan, who played sparingly in the second half, hit 8 of 13 shots and added eight rebounds, five steals, three blocks and three assists. He’s widely considered the top uncommitted senior in Kentucky.

Trey Radcliffe pitched in 17 points and six assists for Franklin-Simpson, which will face the Covington Catholic-North Hardin winner in Sunday’s 4:30 p.m. quarterfinal.

Glenn Queen scored 17 points to lead Fairdale.

Jason Frakes can be reached at (502) 582-4046 and jfrakes@courier-journal.com.

COOPER                              18           7             14           14 – 53

TRINITY                              13           14           8             20 – 55

COOPER (4-2)

Dante Hendrix 6p; Adam Kunkel 22p; Brayden Runion 5p; Chris McNeil 2p; Blaine Walters 2p; Sean McNeil 16p

TRINITY (5-1)

David Burton 6p; David Johnson 5p; L.J. Harris 2p; Justin Powell 5p; Brendan King 2p; Jay Scrubb 19p; Stan Turnier 2p; Lukas Burkman 14p

FRANKLIN-SIMPSON        23           28           28           15 – 94

FAIRDALE                           14           17           14           19 – 64

FRANKLIN-SIMPSON (7-0)

Trey Radcliffe 17p; Tavin Lovan 24p; Josiah Robey 2p; Ollie Eutsey 8p; Dee Ragland 6p; William Moody 3p; Dakota Thomas 8p; Carlesso Doaks 19p;Tavian Jones 2p; Jevon Covington 4p; Jordan Bass 1p

FAIRDALE (4-3)

Glenn Queen 17p; Jaxon Gaddie 5p; Mark Sullivan 11; Isaiah Roby 8p; Aundrey Chandler 2p; Seth Dewboys 8p; Stephen Moore 2p; Markelo Sullivan 3p; Craig Ash 8p