By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
Jake Ohmer has been among the leading scorers in Kentucky boys’ high school basketball for three consecutive years, but the Scott senior guard never drew the attention he needed to garner all-state honors. That could change after his performance in the Whitaker Bank/KHSAA state tournament on Wednesday.
Ohmer scored 41 points and snagged 17 rebounds in Scott’s 77-65 win over Harlan County before a large crowd at Rupp Arena. He’s the first player to score more than 40 points in a state tournament game since 2000 and he led the Eagles to their first-ever state tournament victory by doing it.
“It feels good,” Ohmer said of his impressive state tournament debut. “But I’m more glad about how our team played together and just how we came out and got the win. That’s all I’m worried about.”
The win moves Scott (22-12) into the quarterfinal round to play Perry County Central (28-7) at 1:30 p.m. Friday. That gives the Perry County Central coaching staff some time to figure out how to contain Ohmer, who scored 30, 46 and 28 points in his team’s three 10th Region tournament victories before pouring in 41 on Wednesday.
But Scott head coach Steve Fromeyer is quick to point out that the Eagles didn’t get this far by being a one-man show.
“It’s not Jake Ohmer and the four misfits,” Fromeyer said. “That’s not what this team is. We have good pieces around him to fill the whole pie.”
Vince Dumlao was the Eagles’ other double-figure scorer in Wednesday’s game with 11 points. Nelson Perrin finished with five points, five assists, four rebounds and two steals. Tim Jolley and Chad Ohmer managed to get eight points each, even though they both got into foul trouble in the second half.
But the night belonged to Jake Ohmer, who tied the record for most points in a state tournament game by a Northern Kentucky player. Jack Jennings of Holmes scored 41 points against Ballard during the 1988 state tournament.
Scott ended up shooting 48.9 percent (23 of 47) from the field and outscored Harlan County, 21-6, from behind the 3-point line. Ohmer was 13-of-25 from the field overall and 5-of-9 from 3-point range. On three of his missed shots, he got the rebound and scored.
The Eagles also did a good job on defense. They forced 10 turnovers, limited the taller Harlan County team to seven second-chance points off rebounds and their man-to-man coverage harassed the Black Bears so well that they ended up shooting 37.9 percent (22 of 58) from the field.
“People will look at this and see (Ohmer) got 41 points and say we didn’t play really good defense on him,” said Harlan County coach Michael Jones. “That’s not it. We just didn’t execute on offense. We just didn’t put the ball in the hole.”
Ohmer scored 13 points during an 18-7 run in the second quarter that gave Scott a 36-19 halftime lead. Early in the third quarter, he made a layup and two 3-point shots on three consecutive possessions to push the margin to 48-30.
Harlan County mounted rallies that cut the lead to nine points late in the third quarter and eight points twice in the fourth quarter. But Scott responded well to those challenges and got the lead back into double digits each time.
“If we’d come out in the first half and played with the intensity that we played with in the second half there could’ve been a different result,” said coach Jones. “That’s nothing against Scott. They played really well and have a good ball club.”
Harlan County senior guard Cameron Carmical scored 19 of his 25 points in the second half. He made all 10 of his free throws in the last two quarters, including a pair that cut Scott’s lead to eight points, 69-61, with 1:54 left on the clock.
“I felt like at the end I did hit a couple of shots that might have sparked a run, but we just never could get over the hump,” Carmical said.
A large crowd of Scott fans watched their team get the program’s first state tournament win on Wednesday. There may be even more fans in the stands at Rupp Arena on Friday afternoon when the Eagles try to continue their historic post-season run.
“I’m happy that everyone got to come, watch and experience what we all wanted to experience since I was a freshmen,” Ohmer said. “I’ve been playing with these kids since I was in sixth grade and it’s just cool to be able to play with all them my senior year and get down here the way we wanted.”
HARLAN CO. 12 7 24 22 — 65
SCOTT 18 18 19 22 — 77
HARLAN COUNTY (31-4): Carmical 7 10 25, Creech 1 4 6, Spurlock 1 0 2, Simmons 7 0 14, Turner 3 0 6, Price 3 5 12. Totals: 22 19 65.
SCOTT (22-12): C. Ohmer 1 6 8, J. Ohmer 13 10 41, Jolley 4 0 8, Perrin 1 3 5, Pouncy 1 2 4, Dumlao 3 3 11. Totals: 23 24 77.
Three-pointers: HC — Carmical, Price. S — J. Ohmer 5, Dumlao 2.
WHITAKER BANK/KHSAA BOYS’ STATE BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT
(at Rupp Arena, Lexington)
THURSDAY — Lower bracket
Louisville Fern Creek vs. Hopkinsville, noon
Louisville Ballard vs. Taylor County, 1:30 p.m.
Collins vs. Elliott County, 6:30 p.m.
COOPER vs. Meade County, 8 p.m.
FRIDAY
Bowling Green vs. Scott County, noon
SCOTT vs. Perry County Central, 1:30 p.m.
Lower bracket quarterfinal games, 6:30 and 8 p.m.
SATURDAY
Upper bracket semifinal game, 6:30 p.m.
Lower bracket semifinal game, 8 p.m.
SUNDAY
Championship game, 2 p.m.