A long four weeks of high school basketball postseason coverage began on Feb. 22 with the start of district tournaments and ended Sunday with Paul Dunbar’s victory over Doss in the championship game of the Boys Sweet 16.
Along the way, I covered our helped cover 45 games. Here are my picks for the top five moments involving Louisville-area teams.
5. Down 18 points entering the fourth quarter, the Male girls team rallied to force overtime and then defeated Sacred Heart 63-62.
Three days later, Male’s attempt to repeat as the Seventh Region champion was derailed by Manual. But what a comeback the Bulldogs made against Sacred Heart.
Here is Steve Bittenbender’s story on the game: http://usatodayhss.com/2016/male-comes-back-from-18-down-to-beat-sacred-heart
4. Most figured the race for the Sixth Region boys title would come down to Bullitt East and Doss, and that ended up being the case. I had picked Bullitt East to take the title, but Doss proved to be the better team and won 58-54 to repeat as Sixth Region champion. The Dragons went all the way to the Sweet 16 final before falling to Paul Dunbar.
Here’s my story on Doss’ victory over Bullitt East: http://usatodayhss.com/2016/doss-overcomes-rough-off-season-repeats-as-sixth-region-champ
3. Down 10 points in the fourth quarter, Trinity rallied to force overtime and then beat rival St. Xavier 52-48 to take the Seventh Region title. It was a heartbreaking defeat for the Tigers, who were seeking their first regional title since 1995.
Here’s my story on the game, plus a nice video from Marty Pearl: http://usatodayhss.com/2016/trinity-rallies-past-st-x-for-seventh-region-title
2. Butler beat Franklin County to win its second Girls Sweet 16 title in three years, but many believed the real championship game came in the quarterfinals when the No. 2 Bearettes beat No. 1 Elizabethtown. Butler’s Janna Lewis hit the game-winning shot with 1 second left.
Here’s my story and a video of Lewis’ game-winning shot: http://usatodayhss.com/2016/lewis-hits-game-winner-as-no-2-butler-tops-no-1-etown
1. Trinity-Ballard games rarely fail to disappoint, and the rivalry produced its most memorable shot when Jake Ramsey sank and 88-footer at the buzzer to force overtime in the Seventh Region semifinals. Trinity went on to win 67-62 in overtime.
Here’s a link to my story on the game and a video of Ramsey’s shot: http://usatodayhss.com/2016/ramseys-88-footer-forces-overtime-but-trinity-wins-it