It wasn’t quite 2013 – when Chris Renner made his starters run sprints in the back gym after a poor start against Kentucky Country Day – but the Ballard High School boys basketball team faced another early-game scare in a 28th District Tournament semifinal Tuesday night.
This time it was Christian Academy threatening to pull the upset after taking a 16-5 lead late in the first quarter.
“I must be the worst first-round-of-the-district coach in the state of Kentucky because every year my teams don’t play well,” Renner said. “I’m running out of tricks.”
Behind Jamil Wilson and Brian Alvey, the host Bruins finally hit their stride Tuesday and pulled out a 65-49 victory over a pesky Christian Academy squad.
Ballard (21-9) – No. 10 in the state in The Courier-Journal’s Litkenhous Ratings – advanced to face Eastern in Friday’s 7 p.m. district final. Eastern beat Kentucky Country Day 59-54 in Tuesday’s other district semifinal.
Both Ballard and Eastern clinched spots in next week’s Seventh Region Tournament.
* Ballard-CAL: Renner benched his starters for the majority of the first quarter as CAL took the early lead.
Wilson responded in the second quarter, scoring 13 points as the Bruins took a 29-26 halftime advantage.
“He pushed the basketball, and people have a hard time guarding his speed,” Renner said. “We need him to do that when we’re struggling.”
The Centurions (14-14) had a second run in them, scoring nine straight points and taking a 35-33 lead on Cal Lewellyn’s layup with 3:55 left in the third quarter.
But the Bruins put the game away with a 23-3 run. Alvey scored 12 points during the surge, including a 3-pointer that made it 56-38 with 5:39 left in the game.
GALLERY | Ballard-CAL boys basketball
“I don’t think we respected CAL as much as we should have,” Alvey said. “They’re a really good team, and we kind of came out slow. We’ve fought through adversity all year, so we’re getting through it.”
Wilson finished with 20 points to lead the Bruins. Alvey had 13 points, and Clivonte Patterson pitched in 12 points and 11 rebounds.
Michael Woodward hit a trio of 3-pointers and scored 15 points to lead CAL.
“It was a little fool’s gold early because (Ballard) missed a couple of open shots, which helped us,” said CAL coach Chad Carr, who loses just three seniors to graduation. “We just ran out of legs, and they’re just so athletic and well-coached. We just have to get a little deeper next year.”
* Eastern-KCD: Chance Moore hit 17 of 18 free throws, including 14 of 14 in the fourth quarter, and scored a game-high 25 points as the Eagles (16-11) held on to beat the Bearcats (14-10).
“He’s been pretty clutch for us down the stretch making free throws for us all year,” Eastern coach David Henley said.
The Eagles led 24-10 at halftime and still led 55-44 with 1:09 remaining in the fourth quarter before KCD made a late push, pulling within 55-52 on Colin Ferguson’s 3-pointer with 23.6 seconds left.
GALLERY | Eastern-KCD boys basketball
But Moore sank four free throws in the final 23 seconds to seal the victory.
“Our guys played really well for 3 ½ quarters and at the end of the fourth quarter got kind of complacent,” Henley said.
Caleb Williams scored 12 points to join Moore in double-figures for the Eagles.
J.R. Mathis (23 points) and Ferguson (22 points) paced KCD.
Jason Frakes can be reached at (502) 582-4046 and jfrakes@courier-journal.com.
CHRISTIAN ACADEMY 16 10 12 11 – 49
BALLARD 7 22 17 19 – 65
Christian Academy (14-14) – Lagestee 2, Cheek 2, Frist 6, Jones 8, Woodward 15, Carr 6, Lewellyn 10.
Ballard (21-9) – O. Douglas 7, Patterson 12, Wimberly 5, Tyron Duncan 2, Wilson 20, Alvey 13, Maina 2, Darby 2, K. Douglas 2.
3-point goals – Jones, Woodward 3, Carr 2, Lewellyn 2; Wilson, Alvey 3.
KENTUCKY COUNTRY DAY 4 6 15 29 – 54
EASTERN 8 16 14 21 – 59
Kentucky Country Day (14-10) – S. Mathis 6, J.R. Mathis 23, Cavanaugh 3, Ferguson 22.
Eastern (16-11) – Knight 1, Wyche 4, Moore 25, Jones 2, Williams 12, Rushin 9, Wright 6.
3-point goals – Rushin; J.R. Mathis 4, Cavanaugh, Ferguson 2.