By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
After an impressive run in the All “A” Classic small-school playoffs, Walton-Verona boys’ basketball players turned their attention to a new set of goals. They accomplished one of them Friday with a 51-29 win over Grant County that clinched the top seed in the 32nd District post-season tournament.
“I always think it’s important after the All ‘A’ to have a rival to go against because that gets you a little more motivated,” said Walton-Verona coach Grant Brannen. “It was good to play Grant County right afterwards for (our players) to be ready. They knew we were going after that No. 1 seed and I can’t remember the last time we did that.”
The win lifted the Bearcats’ record to 18-5 and they moved one step closer to their other goal of winning every game on their home court this season. They’re now 11-0 there with two home games left. Their other accomplishment was remaining one of the top defensive teams in the state by holding Grant County to just 29 points. That lowered their defensive average to 46.5 points per game.
The fact that Walton-Verona has done all that with mostly first-year starters in the lineup has made this a special season for Brannen, who took charge of the program four years ago.
“I knew we were going to be better than what everybody thought,” Brannen said. “We had some young guys who were hungry and they developed, to their credit.”
Walton-Verona won the 8th Region All “A” Classic championship to qualify for the small-school state tournament and made it to quarterfinals last week. Some teams experience a letdown after that, but not the Bearcats
They took control of Friday’s game with a 21-7 scoring run in the second quarter that opened up a 30-13 lead. The only starter who did not score during that decisive period was 6-foot-8 sophomore center Dionte Miles, who went to the bench after picking up his second foul with 6:39 on the clock.
The Bearcats missed Miles’ shot-blocking ability more than anything, but they played defense so well without him that Grant County made just one field goal while committing seven turnovers in the second quarter.
“We get after it (on defense),” Brannen said. “That’s our identity. I think we’re No. 3 or No. 4 in the state right now in defensive average. It helps having Dionte in there, but to our kids’ credit when he got in foul trouble in the second quarter we still guarded them tough. We take a lot of pride in that.”
In the third quarter, Walton-Verona junior guard Zach Clinkenbeard made a pair of 3-point goals that accounted for half of his game-high 12 points. The final basket in that quarter was a pull-up jumper by sophomore guard Curry Shazier that gave the Bearcats a commanding 46-23 lead.
Brannen started putting in reserve players after that and they gave up only five points in the fourth quarter. Grant County ended up shooting 20 percent (9 of 44) from the field compared to Walton-Verona’s 45 percent (18 of 40).
“We definitely take a lot of pride in our defense,” said Walton-Verona senior guard Evan Anderson. “Our defense really drives our offense because it starts our transition. That’s what kind of team we are, we like to run in transition, and that starts with our defense.”
Top-seeded Walton-Verona will play No. 4 seed Simon Kenton in the four-team 32nd District bracket that begins in three weeks. The winner will qualify for the 8th Region Tournament no matter what happens in the district final.
“(Simon Kenton) beat us earlier in the year and we haven’t beaten them in past years very much,” Anderson said. “So we’re going to be ready for that game and come out ready to play.”
GRANT COUNTY 6 7 10 6 — 29
WALTON-VERONA 9 21 16 5 — 51
GRANT COUNTY (13-11): McClure 3 0 7, Adkins 2 3 7, Ingguls 2 0 5, Wilson 0 5 5, Tuggle 1 0 2, DaWalt 1 0 2, Souder 0 1 1, Totals: 9 9 29.
WALTON-VERONA (18-5): Clinkenbeard 4 2 12, Moran 1 4 6, Anderson 2 2 6, Miles 1 4 6, Bonne 2 0 4, Grubbs 2 0 4, Lay 2 0 4, Pardee 2 0 4, Jones 1 1 3, Shazier 1 0 2. Totals: 18 13 51.
Three-pointers: GC — McClure, Ingguls. WV — Clinkenbeard 2.