By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
A large crowd turned out for the 37th District boys’ basketball championship game between Campbell County and Scott on Friday expecting am epic battle like the last game between the two teams that was decided on a last-second shot.
The rematch also ended in dramatic fashion. In the final seconds, Campbell County senior Cole Hegyi was fouled on a basket that tied the score and made the free throw to give his team a 59-58 victory at Campbell County Middle School.
“It’s amazing,” Hegyi said as his team cut down the nets for the school trophy case. “Hitting a game winner, there’s nothing like it.”
Campbell County won the regular season game against Scott, 57-55, on a buzzer-beater by senior Garren Bertsch. But he wasn’t the player who got the ball for the final play in Friday’s game.
“They drew it up for me to cut to the middle (of the lane) and then have Drew (Wilson) and Tanner (Clos) on the sides for me to pass to one of them,” Hegyi said.”But I saw they weren’t going to be open so I took (the shot) myself and hoped for the best.”
The win gives the Camels a 28-4 record going into the 10th Region tournament that begins Wednesday at Harrison County High School. Scott (18-11) also advances to the regional, but teams from the same district are placed on opposite sides of the bracket. That means they would both have to make it to the regional final to meet again.
Scott coach Steve Frommeyer said the emotional loss in the district final should give his team an incentive to make a run at the regional title game on March 7.
“If this (loss) doesn’t fuel them for the next 10 days I honestly don’t know what will,” Fromeyer said. “They had a perfect opportunity (Friday). We missed some free throws, we missed some layups and we lost their shooters a couple times. However, in the end, it’s really hard to be upset because they play so hard all the time.”
Scott led by six points, 51-45, with less than five minutes left in the fourth quarter. But Campbell County scored on its next five possessions and tied the score, 56-56, on a free throw by Bertsch with 1:02 remaining.
The Eagles ran the clock down to 23 seconds and called a time out to set up a play. After the inbound pass, Campbell County tried to double-team Scott’s ball-handler, but that left Jaycob Pouncey open for a layup that put his team ahead, 58-56, with 7.5 seconds left.
Campbell County called a time out and coach Russell decided to get the ball to his nephew, Hegyi, and have him drive to the basket on the final play.
“That play at the end, I just figured they wouldn’t expect Cole to come to the middle and do that,” Russell said. “It just worked. Sometimes it does, and sometimes it doesn’t.”
Bertsch scored a game-high 19 points for the Camels, followed by Hegyi with 18. Scott senior guard Jake Ohmer finished with 16 points, 10 below his season average. He had a hard time getting open for shots with Clos chasing him all over the floor and didn’t make a 3-pointer until late in the fourth quarter.
“You have to try to do something because he’s so good,” Russell said of defending Ohmer. “We didn’t want him to go off from the 3-point line like he did last time (we played them). The only thing is we have to do a better job working on their other guys because they stepped up.”
The Eagles put a lot of pressure on the ball playing defense, but they only scored 13 points off turnovers by the Camels. Pouncy got a breakaway basket off a steal at the beginning of the fourth quarter, but that was the last one of the game.
“We gave up a few (turnovers) that I wished we wouldn’t have given up, but we did a pretty good job of it because that’s a big part of their game — turn teams over and score easy buckets,” coach Russell said.
One of Scott’s starting players, Tim Jolley, left the game in the third quarter after taking a blow to the head and he remained on the bench. Fromeyer yelled at the officials because no foul was called on that injury. He also got upset late in the fourth quarter when guard Nelson Perrin was called for a foul after getting to the ball first on a rebound and then tussling with an opponent to keep it.
Frommeyer didn’t want to comment on the officiating, but the scorebook showed an equal assessment on fouls. Campbell County made 14 of 18 free throws and Scott was 13-for-19 at the line.
This is the fourth straight year that Campbell County has won the district championship. Hegyi was named the tournament’s most valuable player with Clos and Hegyi joining him on the all-tournament team. Scott’s all-tournament nominees were Ohmer and Perrin.
SCOTT 18 11 15 14 — 58
CAMPBELL CO. 17 13 8 21 — 59
SCOTT (18-11): C. Ohmer 1 2 4, J. Ohmer 5 5 16, Jolley 4 2 10, Perrin 3 3 9, Pouncy 5 0 11, Dumlao 2 1 6, Pusa teri 1 0 2. totals: 21 13 58.
CAMPBELL COUNTY (28-4): Clos 5 0 12, Jolly 2 0 4, Wilson 1 2 4, Bertsch 6 6 19, Hegyi 6 4 18, Day 0 2 2. totals: 20 14 59.
Three-pointers: S — J. Ohmer, Pouncy, Dumlao. CC — Clos 2, Hegyi 2 Bertsch.
NEWPORT CENTRAL CATHOLIC 68, NEWPORT 62
NewCath made 20 free throws to account for most of its second-half scoring in the 36th District final and took home the championship trophy for the eighth consecutive year.
The Thoroughbreds ended up with a 22-7 scoring advantage at the foul line. Junior guard Brenden Hall was 13-for-16 at the line and made four 3-point goals to account for 25 of his 28 points. Newport’s leading scorer was junior guard McKell Burries, who made four treys and finished with 32 points.
Both teams advance to next week’s 9th Region tournament. The first-round match-ups will be decided during a draw to be held at 10 a.m. Sunday at Holmes High School.
LLOYD 72, DIXIE HEIGHTS 44
Lloyd outscored Dixie Heights, 44-17, in the second half to win the 34th District championship for the first time since 2012.
Junior guard Jamal Neal scored 13 of his game-high 19 points during the Juggernauts’ second-half surge. The team’s other double-figures, Sterling Hamilton (13) and Isaiah Voet (10), also got most of their points in the second half.
Dixie Heights entered the game with a 49.0 defensive average and gave up its second highest point total of the season. Both teams advance to next week’s 9th Region tournament at BB&T Arena. The draw will be held at 10 a.m. Sunday at Holmes High School.
COOPER 60, RYLE 25
Cooper posted its third victory over Ryle this season in the 33rd District championship game and the margins in all three games has been 30 points or more.
Both teams advance to next week’s 9th Region tournament at BB&T Arena. The draw will be held at 10 a.m. Sunday with first-round games set for Wednesday and Thursday.
Boys’ basketball district playoff schedules
32nd DISTRICT at WILLIAMSTOWN HIGH SCHOOL
Saturday
Championship: Walton-Verona vs. Williamstown, 7 p.m.
35th DISTRICT at HOLY CROSS HIGH SCHOOL
Saturday
Championship: Covington Catholic vs. Holy Cross, 7 p.m.