A soft-spoken junior, Devin Firman had no problem letting his shooting do the talking down the stretch of a tight game Saturday night.
Firman nailed a pair of 3-pointers in the final two minutes to break open a tie game and lift the Central High School boys basketball team to a 90-81 victory over top-ranked Taylor County in the first round of the Forcht Bank King of the Bluegrass Holiday Classic at Fairdale.
The Yellowjackets were deadly from 3-point range, hitting 14 of 28 for the contest. Firman was 6 of 10 and scored 26 points to lead the Yellowjackets.
“I wanted to take the big shots,” Firman said. “We had to get up on them.”
Firman led four Central players in double figures as Brandon Wells posted 16 points and eight assists, Anthony Southers had 14 points and nine rebounds and Dominique Gaines pitched in 13 points and five assists.
Central (4-2) advanced to face Bullitt East (7-0) in Monday’s 9 p.m. quarterfinal.
David Sloan hit 5 of 10 3-point tries and scored 42 points to lead Taylor County (3-2), which was No. 1 in the state in The Courier-Journal’s preseason poll of coaches. Xavier signee Quentin Goodin added 27 points, 14 rebounds, four assists and three steals but hit just 1 of 8 3-point tries.
Cardinals coach Richard Gatewood said shooting wasn’t the issue for his squad.
“They shot unbelievably from 3, and we didn’t help ourselves at all,” said Gatewood, whose team now has dropped two straight after a 75-62 loss to Adair County last week. “We scored 81 points but gave up 90, and that can’t happen. That’s why I got us in this tournament. You have to buckle down and get stops.”
Sloan’s jumper tied the score at 78 with 1:57 remaining before Firman answered with a 3-pointer 7 seconds later to give Central an 81-78 edge.
Dai’Von Thompson nailed a pair of free throws to give Central an 83-78 lead at the 1:22 mark. After a Taylor County miss, Firman nailed another 3-pointer for an 86-78 advantage with 58 seconds left.
Firman said the victory was proof Central’s No. 13 state ranking is too low.
“We know we’re good, so we should be up there in the top,” he said.
Bibby consistently has called this his most talented squad in his 12 seasons at Central. So he wasn’t surprised to see it knock off the state’s No. 1 team Saturday.
“Sloan and Goodin are the best in the business, but I think my guys are pretty good, too,” he said. “I work them like dogs in practice so they’re ready for situations like this. You don’t win games like this on Saturday night. You win them Monday through Friday.”
Jason Frakes can be reached at (502) 582-4046 and jfrakes@courier-journal.com.
CENTRAL 21 19 18 32 – 90
TAYLOR COUNTY 16 22 25 18 – 81
Central (4-2) – Wells 16, Douglas 9, Thompson 9, Davis 3, Southers 14, Firman 26, Gaines 13.
Taylor County (3-2) – Goodin 27, Sloan 42, Irvin 4, Quinn 6, Oliver 2.
3-point goals – Wells 2, Douglas 2, Thompson, Davis, Firman 6, Gaines 2; Goodin, Sloan 5, Quinn 2.