Dunbar’s Taveion Hollingsworth is an early favorite for Mr. Basketball. Dunbar’s Taveion Hollingsworth, right, shoots while defended by Doss’ Nick Anderson during the boys’ high school championship basketball game in the KHSAA Sweet 16 in Lexington, Ky., Sunday, March 20, 2016. Dunbar won 61-52. (AP Photo/James Crisp)
Taveion Hollingsworth didn’t quite reach the record he had in mind, but he was plenty good enough to propel the Paul Dunbar High School boys basketball team to a victory Monday in its final Forcht Bank King of the Bluegrass Holiday Classic contest.
Hollingsworth scored a career-high 47 points and added seven rebounds and four steals as the Bulldogs defeated Huntsville (Alabama) Lee 88-79 in a consolation game at Fairdale.
Hollingsworth said coach Scott Chalk informed him before the contest of the KOB single-game scoring record of 67 points set by Drew Kelly of Franklin (Tennessee) Centennial in 2008. Hollingsworth was on pace early – with 21 points in the first quarter and 32 at halftime – before settling for 15 more in the second half.
His 47 points rank fourth all-time in KOB history. He finished 17 of 23 from the field, hitting four 3-pointers, and 9 of 11 from the free-throw line.
“Some of my shots in the second half didn’t fall,” said Hollingsworth, a 6-foot-2 senior guard. “I was trying to get my score as high as I could and win the game. We had to get this win to get us motivated for the next tournament.”
No. 3-ranked Paul Dunbar (6-3), the defending state champion, finished 1-2 in the KOB after opening with back-to-back losses to Ballard and Doss. The Bulldogs lost three starters off last season’s team to graduation and lost a fourth when senior Dontell Brown suffered a torn ACL during football season.
A Western Kentucky University signee, Hollingsworth was ranked as the No. 1 player in the state in The Courier-Journal’s preseason poll of coaches. He’s averaging 28.9 points per game this season and is among the front-runners for Kentucky’s Mr. Basketball award.
“I can’t imagine there would be any question, especially because of the schedule we’ve played the last three years,” Chalk said. “There might be one or two teams that have played as tough of a schedule as us, but every year he’s played the best of the best and done it every night out.”
In other consolation-bracket games:
► Ballard 95, Allatoona 81: Clivonte Patterson scored 23 points and Jamil Wilson added 19 as the No. 6 Bruins (5-1) beat the Buccaneers (6-5) of Acworth, Georgia.
Ballard built a 53-41 halftime lead and led by as many as 17 points, 61-44, in the third quarter. The Bruins shot 58.3 percent (28 of 48) and scored 29 points off Allatoona’s 17 turnovers.
Trey Doomes paced the Buccaneers with 36 points, six rebounds and four assists.
Ballard will face Fern Creek at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday in the fifth-place game.
► Fern Creek 78, Franklin-Simpson 67: Chance Moore posted 29 points, nine rebounds, four assists and three steals to lead the No. 8 Tigers (8-1) over the No. 22 Wildcats (7-2).
Anthony Wales and Ahmad Price added 16 points apiece for Fern Creek, which shot 84.6 percent (22 of 26) from the free-throw line to seal the victory.
Tavin Lovan hit 26 of 32 free throws and posted 37 points, 12 rebounds and four steals to lead Franklin-Simpson. Darrian Childress’ layup pulled the Wildcats within 66-65 with 2:11 left, but the Tigers closed the game with a 12-2 run.
► Cooper 107, Fairdale 72: Bellarmine University signee Sean McNeil scored 21 points to lead the No. 14 Jaguars (5-3) over the Bulldogs (4-5). Jay Gaddie led Fairdale with 21 points.
Jason Frakes can be reached at (502) 582-4046 and jfrakes@courier-journal.com.
LEE 17 22 21 19 – 79
PAUL DUNBAR 27 20 16 25 – 88
LEE (8-7) – Markeitz Tyner 5p; Brandon Powell 3p; Diamonte Douglas 6p; Isaiah McCaulley 1p; DaShawn Grays 5p; Malik Burnett 27p; Kobe Brown 23p; Malik Langham 9p.
PAUL DUNBAR (6-3) – Javea Richardson 19p; Michael Corio 2p; JaQuice Gray 1p; Taveion Hollingsworth 47p, 7r, 4s; Jared Gadd 7p; Star Ifeacho 9p; Will Hairston 3p.
ALLATOONA 25 16 19 21 – 81
BALLARD 25 28 17 25 – 95
ALLATOONA (6-5) – Mike Johnson 12p, 4a; John Chester 2p; Colton Waggoner 2p; Rolan Wooden 4p; Tobi Adeyeye 11p; Chima Ogboi 8p; Jeremiah Sanabria 6p; Trey Doomes 36p, 6r, 4a.
BALLARD (5-1) – Tyrese Duncan 6p; Kereion Douglas 3p; Marshon Ford 14p, 3a; Tyron Duncan 3p; Dorion Tisby 6p, 3s; Antoine Darby 8p; Delonta Wimberly 6p, 6r; Jamil Wilson 19p, 4s; Clivonte Patterson 23p, 3s; Orlando Higginbottom 2p; Larrell Coleman 3p; Alexander Holley 2p.
FERN CREEK 18 15 17 28 – 78
FRANKLIN-SIMPSON 19 12 16 20 – 67
FERN CREEK (8-1) – Alvin Thomas 2p; Anthony Wales 16p, 4a; Ahmad Price 16p; Daiquan Jones 2p; Clint Wickliffe 2p; Darrian Childress 2p; Chance Moore 29p, 9r, 4a, 3s; Tony Rogers 9p.
FRANKLIN-SIMPSON (7-2) – Trey Radcliffe 10p, 4a; Tavin Lovan 37p, 12r, 4s; Ollie Eutsey 4p; Dakota Thomas 4p; Carlesso Doaks 6p; Jordan Bass 6p.
COOPER 27 32 27 21 – 107
FAIRDALE 19 14 18 21 – 72
COOPER (5-3) – Chris McNeil 15p; Adam Kunkel 19p; Dante Hendrix 7p Braydon Runion 11p; Sean McNeil 21p; Tripp Pittman 5p; Tyler Ollier 7p; Blaine Walters 6p; Noah Shidler 5p; Caleb Hampton 3p; Daniel Wasser 8p.
FAIRDALE (4-5) – Glenn Queen 18p; Stephan Moore 2p; Craig Ash 4p; Markelo Sullivan 9p; Ike Roby 7p; Jay Gaddie 21p; Alec Tran 2p; Mark Sullivan 1p; Jacobi Dixon 3p; Jarron Gaddie 5p.