An otherwise ugly game ended beautifully for Tony Jackson and his North Hardin High School basketball teammates.
Jackson drove the lane and made a floater at the buzzer to give the Trojans a 49-47 victory Friday in the opening game of the Forcht Bank King of the Bluegrass Holiday Classic at Fairdale.
“He made a good strong move and finished the shot,” North Hardin coach Michael Cofer said. “Tony’s a great player and is able to make plays for himself.”
Johnson, a strong 6-foot-4 guard/forward ranked among the state’s top juniors, hit 9 of 17 shots and finished with 24 points, 19 rebounds, five blocks and three steals. The Trojans (7-1) – No. 18 in the state in The Courier-Journal’s preseason poll of coaches – advanced to face the Fern Creek-Bowling Green winner in Monday’s 7:30 p.m. quarterfinal.
Jamil Wilson scored 13 points and Brian Alvey added 10 for No. 9 Ballard (3-4), which shot just 26.2 percent (16 of 61) from the field and 50 percent (11 of 22) from the free-throw line.
“We probably missed 15 to 20 layups, so if you’re getting layups I don’t know what else to do,” Bruins coach Chris Renner said. “We’ve just been struggling with that right now. … You can’t shoot 50 percent from the free-throw line and 26 percent from the field and expect to win a KOB game. But we had a chance.”
Ballard closed the first half with a 10-3 run for a 21-15 lead and still led 32-29 on an Omardrick Douglas basket with 6:45 left in the third quarter.
But North Hardin responded with a 13-5 surge, taking a 42-37 lead on Jackson’s 3-pointer with 3:59 remaining. Cofer credited his defense for keying the run.
“Defense wins, and it made things real ugly,” said Cofer, whose team was coming off a 58-48 victory over rival John Hardin on Thursday. “I think we were a little fatigued from the start after (Thursday night’s) game, but those guys have a lot of heart and got some stops.”
After Wilson sank two free throws to tie the score at 45 with 1:13 left, Jackson nailed a jumper to give North Hardin a 47-45 lead with 57 seconds left.
Ballard’s Clivonte Patterson scored with 20 seconds left to tie the score at 47, setting up Jackson’s game-winner.
Patterson, a junior playing in his first game for Ballard, had six points and six rebounds but was 0 for 5 from the free-throw line.
* Paul Dunbar 89, Fairdale 58: No. 3 Paul Dunbar (7-0) jumped to a 15-0 lead, was up 24-8 after one quarter and never looked back in a rout of Fairdale.
Senoir Darius Williams hit 14 of 20 shots and scored 33 points to lead Paul Dunbar, which shot 59.7 percent (37 of 62) and attempted just four 3-pointers (making one). Taveion Hollingsworth (16 points, seven rebounds) and Jordan Lewis (15 points, five steals, four assists) also had big games.
Paul Dunbar will face the Trinity-Owen County winner in Monday’s 6 p.m. quarterfinal.
Glenn Queen scored 22 points to lead Fairdale (2-5), which shot 36.5 percent (19 of 52) and committed 24 turnovers.
Jason Frakes can be reached at (502) 582-4046 and jfrakes@courier-journal.com.
NORTH HARDIN 9 6 12 22 – 49
BALLARD 7 14 7 19 – 47
North Hardin (7-1) – Alexander 5, Simmons 1, Harris 7, Maxwell 10, Boone 2, Jackson 24.
Ballard (3-4) – Douglas 2, Patterson 6, Alvey 10, Wimberly 3, Wilson 13, Darby 5, Maina 2, Ramsey 2, Duncan 4.
3-point goals – Jackson 2; Alvey 2, Darby, Duncan.
PAUL DUNBAR 24 19 19 27 – 89
FAIRDALE 8 9 15 26 – 58
Paul Dunbar (7-0) – Lewis 15, Brown 4, Corio 2, Hollingsworth 16, Kelley 8, Clark 2, Gadd 7, Williams 33, Whiteside 2.
Fairdale (2-5) – Queen 22, Longacre 2, Sullivan 11, Allen 2, Tipton 6, Dewboys 4, Richardson 11.
3-point goals – Hollingsworth; Queen 3, Sullivan 3, Dewboys.