Fern CreekÕs Anthony Wales (5) shoots the ball during the championship game of the Louisville Invitational Tournament between the Fern Creek Tigers and the Trinity Shamrocks.
A season already full of minor milestones hit a major one Saturday night for the Fern Creek High School boys basketball team.
Playing in the championship game of the Republic Bank Louisville Invitational Tournament for just the second time in program history, the Tigers captured their first title by knocking off Trinity 65-58 in overtime at Valley.
“It means a lot,” Tigers coach James Schooler. “It’s a major tournament against the best team in the state of Kentucky. It’s good for the city of Louisville.”
Anthony Wales scored 16 points and Tony Rogers added 11 as Fern Creek (18-2) – No. 6 in the state in The Courier-Journal’s Litkenhous Ratings – beat No. 3 Trinity (18-2) for the second time in three meetings this season.
Senior Chance Moore (9 points) earned L.J. “Butch” Charmoli MVP honors for the tournament, but it was a low-scoring junior guard who was the hero for the Tigers on Saturday night.
Entering the game averaging 2.5 points per game, A.J. Thomas finished with 10 points, two assists and two steals. His layup with 1 second left tied the score at 55 and forced overtime.
“It was shocking,” said Thomas, who may not have been in the game had Ahmad Price not fouled out at the 2:28 mark of the fourth quarter. “I did it for my team and my coaches and the whole community of Fern Creek.”
Schooler said he wasn’t surprised to see Thomas come up big.
“It’s proof that there’s no ‘I’ in team,” Schooler said. “At any given moment somebody is going to step up and make a big play. No matter if you’re the last man on the bench or the first man, we preach to you the same: Be ready for your moment. …
“I trust my kids. They all put in the same amount of work from June until now.”
David Johnson scored 16 points and Jay Scrubb added 12 to lead Trinity.
The Shamrocks led 50-43 after a pair of Johnson free throws with 4:33 left in regulation before Fern Creek began chipping away.
“We didn’t have great possessions down the stretch, and that cost us,” Trinity coach Mike Szabo said. “I’m proud of our guys. I thought we fought hard tonight. … They just had better possessions in overtime. They played better than we did tonight.”
Thomas hit a pair of free throws to pull the Tigers within 53-51 with 2:20 left. Trinity went into delay mode but committed a turnover with 1:10 left.
After a Thomas basket tied the score at 53 with 52 seconds left, Johnson was fouled with 7.3 seconds left and hit both free throws for a 55-53 edge. Thomas took the inbounds pass and drove the length of the court for the layup that forced overtime.
“He’s been working all summer and all year, so I’m used to seeing that,” Wales said of Thomas.
Moore’s two free throws gave the Tigers a 57-55 lead in overtime, and his steal and layup made it 59-55 at the 2:20 mark. Trinity hit just 1 of 9 shots in the extra period, and the Tigers nailed 6 of 6 free throws in the final 1:13 to seal it.
Schooler said the victory will give the Tigers plenty of momentum entering the final five weeks of the regular season.
“We just have to keep working until we get to the final milestone,” he said.
Jason Frakes can be reached at (502) 582-4046 and jfrakes@courier-journal.com.
FERN CREEK 65, TRINITY 58, OT
TRINITY (18-2) – Jacob King 8p; David Burton 2p, 6r; David Johnson 16p; L.J. Harris 6p, 6r; Justin Powell 5p; Jay Scrubb 12p; Lukas Burkman 9p.
FERN CREEK (18-2) – A.J. Thomas 10p; Anthony Wales 16p, 4s; Ahmad Price 8p; Daiquan Jones 2p; Clint Wickliffe 9p, 5r; Chance Moore 9p; Tony Rogers 11p, 5r.
L.J. “Butch” Charmoli MVP – Chance Moore (Fern Creek).
All-tournament team – Anthony Wales, Clint Wickliffe (Fern Creek); David Johnson, Jay Scrubb (Trinity); Jamil Wilson, Tyron Duncan (Ballard); Curt Lewis, Eric George (Valley); Caleb Williams (Eastern); Luke Ezell (Bullitt East); JacQuess Hobbs (Waggener); Dominique Knight (Central).