Oldham County falls in Eighth Region semifinal

Cobe Penny scored 19 of his 33 points in the fourth quarter as Anderson County (18-13) rallied to knock off Oldham County 59-55, the No. 14 team in The Courier-Journal’s Litkenhous Ratings, in an Eighth Region Tournament semifinal Monday.

The Bearcats trailed 35-25 with 3:08 remaining in the third quarter before jumping on the back of their 5-9 sophomore. He drove right down the lane to make a runner with 4:37 left to make it 43-43, and he was just getting warmed up.

The guard, who entered Monday averaging 19.9 points a game, hit his only two 3-pointers of the night just 53 seconds apart in the fourth quarter to turn a 48-46 deficit into a 52-48 lead with 2:12 remaining. The Colonels never led the rest of the way.

“Cobe Penny took the game over,” Bearcats coach Glenn Drury said. “It’s the type of player you’ve got to have when you’re in the postseason.”

Oldham County trailed just 54-52 with 25.2 seconds remaining, but the Colonels (23-9) missed out on two game-tying opportunities in a nine-second span when they missed three free throws, including the front end of a one-and-one. Penny then added two more to double the Bearcats’ lead with 15.2 seconds left.

After Brandon Johnson hit a three, officials ruled the Colonels Jacob Bates intentionally fouled Dillon Harper on the inbounds pass with 4.1 seconds remaining. That quashed any chance of a Colonels comeback.

“They turned the tides and they got aggressive,” said Oldham County coach Coy Zerhusen of Anderson County. “We got on our heel just a little bit. It was hard to get all the way back.

Anderson County routed South Oldham 73-44 in their regular-season matchup on Jan. 29, but Drury isn’t sure that’s a good sign.

“I know they’re good,” he said. “I know they’re real good. I know every one of them can shoot it, every one of them can drive it. Every one of them can finish it. We got to come back off a big win and turn around and try to play again tomorrow night.”