By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
LEXINGTON — A basketball team with no previous state tournament experience, a first-year head coach and no starter taller than 6-foot-1 is among the final four contenders in the Whitaker Bank/KHSAA boys’ state tournament at Rupp Arena.
Scott defeated Perry County Central, 74-52, in a quarterfinal game on Friday to stay in contention for the state title despite all those drawbacks. This is the Eagles’ first appearance in the state tournament since 1989 and they got here by winning the 10th Region championship game on a last-second shot. They were not ranked among the top 10 teams in the state at any time this season.
“Nobody knows who the Scott Eagles are, but I’ll tell you this — they do now,” coach Steve Fromeyer said after his pint-sized players beat a Perry Central team that had two 6-foot-9 post players and a 6-foot-4 point guard.
The quickness of the Scott players and their tenacity on defense negated that size advantage. The Eagles made 15 steals and scored a whopping 28 points off 23 total turnovers committed by their opponent.
“The difference in the game is when we started turning up the heat (on defense),” Fromeyer said. “That’s who we are. That’s how they’ve played the whole year long and the whole time they’ve been in high school. It’s exciting that on a big stage they can execute those kinds of things in our game plan.”
Jake Ohmer had another big game for Scott. In addition to scoring 32 points with six 3-point goals, the senior guard had 10 rebounds, six assists and four steals. Seven of his rebounds came on the defensive glass and several of his outlet passes led to breakaway baskets by his teammates.
“They’ve got one of those teams that can get out and run on you,” said Perry Central coach Shannon Hoskins. “They’re explosive and with a guy like (Ohmer) who can shoot the three that way, they’re dangerous.”
Scott (23-12) will face its biggest test of the tournament in a semifinal game against Bowling Green (34-2) at 6:30 p.m. Saturday. Bowling Green knocked off Scott County, the top-ranked team in the state power rankings, 68-53, in the quarterfinals on Friday to post its 27th consecutive win.
“You don’t get to this point and not play somebody incredible,” coach Fromeyer said. “Bowling Green is very good. They’re quick and athletic and rebound so well. It’ll be a tough game for us, but no different than the first two. Everybody we play, there’s always something they do that makes it difficult for us.”
It looked like Perry Central’s size would cause major problems for Scott in Friday’s quarterfinal game, but it didn’t turn out that way.
The Commodores did score 40 points in the paint with 6-foot-9 post players Idris Akinyemi and Princewell Anosike getting a combined total of 31 points. But getting the ball inside to those two seniors proved to be difficult, especially in the third quarter when Scott went on a 23-10 run to take a commanding 56-37 lead.
In that quarter, the Eagles made seven steals and scored off each one. Ohmer swiped the ball four times and scored 11 points to lead the decisive run. His younger brother, Chad, got nine points, including a tip-in in the final seconds of the period.
“It was awesome,” Chad said of the run. “We were just finding each other and hitting our shots.”
Both teams ended up shooting 50 percent from the field in the game, but Scott had a 24-6 scoring advantage from behind the 3-point line. The Eagles also had 12 second-chance points off rebounds while the bigger Perry Central team had just eight points on put-backs.
“All of the people that guarded their bigs did really good,” Jake Ohmer said. “We just fronted them and tried to make them work and be physical with them.”
The older Ohmer was 11-for-23 from the field overall, 6-for-10 from behind the 3-point line and 4-for-4 at the free throw line to give him 32 points. He has netted 177 points in two state and three regional playoff wins for a 35.4 average.
“I just try to come out and play my game,” he said. “Last year, I let people get in my head. This year, I just try to play with my teammates and share the ball.”
If he continues to play well, the Eagles have a shot at upsetting Bowling Green in the semifinals and making it to the championship game for the first time ever.
“Nobody thought we could make it this far and we’re here, so why stop,” Chad Ohmer said.
SCOTT 14 19 23 18 — 74
PERRY CENTRAL 15 12 10 15 — 52
SCOTT (23-12): Jolley 2 0 4, C. Ohmer 5 2 14, J. Ohmer 11 4 32, Perrin 3 4 10, Pouncy 3 1 7, Dumlao 2 2 6, Joyce 0 1 1. Totals: 26 14 74.
PERRY CENTRAL (28-8): Tobler 5 1 11, Akinyemi 9 0 18, Anosike 5 3 13, Back 2 0 5, Hill 1 0 2, Cornett 1 0 3. Totals: 23 4 52.
Three-pointers: S — J. Ohmer 6, C. Ohmer 2. PC — Cornett, Back.
WHITAKER BANK/KHSAA BOYS’ STATE BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT
(at Rupp Arena, Lexington)
SATURDAY – Semfinals
Bowling Green vs. Scott, 6:30 p.m.
Cooper vs. Fern Creek, 8 p.m.
SUNDAY
Championship game, 2 p.m.