By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
It’s time to talk about Scott High School retiring the No. 2 jersey that senior guard Jake Ohmer has worn during his remarkable varsity basketball career. They really should have one neatly folded and placed in a trophy case near the entrance to the gym with a list of his accomplishments.
In addition to setting career and single-game team scoring records, Ohmer made the biggest shot in the history of the program in the 10th Region championship game on Tuesday at Mason County Fieldhouse.
He chased down a loose ball in the right corner and put up a last-second 3-point shot that hit the back of the rim and dropped through the nets to give the Eagles a 78-77 win over Campbell County.
This is the first time that Scott has won a 10th Region basketball title. When the Eagles were competing in the 9th Region, they won the 1989 tournament, but that was long before any of the current players or students was born.
A large group of those students came running out on the court after Ohmer’s game-winning shot to celebrate the victory over Campbell County, a district rival that had won the previous two games between the teams by scoring in the final seconds.
After Campbell County edged Scott, 59-58, in the 37th District two weeks ago, Scott’s first-year head coach Steve Fromeyer said the emotional loss should give his team an incentive to make a run at the regional title, and that’s what they did.
The Eagles (21-12) will be back in the state tournament for the first time in 28 years on Wednesday, March 15, for a first-round game against 13th Region champion Harlan County (31-3) at 6:30 p.m. at Rupp Arena in Lexington.
Ohmer scored 30 points in the regional final. He got 14 in the first quarter when the Eagles took a 26-13 lead and they stretched the margin to 41-21 in the second quarter. But Campbell County finished the quarter with a 10-2 run to make it 43-31 at halftime.
In the third quarter, the momentum shifted and Campbell County slowly chipped away at the lead. The Camels got it down to 58-51 going into the fourth quarter and then went on a 19-7 run to go on top, 70-65, with a little over three minutes remaining.
After Campbell County senior guard Cole Hegyi made one of two free throws to give his team a 77-75 lead with 0:13 on the clock, Scott called a timeout to set up a play. The Eagles got the ball up court and Jaycob Pouncy launched a 3-point shot that hit off the right side of the rim. Ohmer got to the ball in the corner, faked a shot trying to draw a foul and then took an off-balance jumper that went in just before the final horn sounded.
Each team had five double-figure scorers. Ohmer’s 30 points gave him a three-game total of 104, second highest in 10th Region tournament history. The 46 points he scored in a semifinal win over Paris was the tournament’s second-highest single game total. His scoring average this season now stands at 27.1 per game.
Campbell County’s scoring leaders were Hegyi with 20 points and junior guard Joel Day with 17. Sophomore forward Reid Jolly scored nine of his 10 points in the third quarter to help the Camels launch their comeback.
CAMPBELL COUNTY 13 18 20 26 — 77
SCOTT 23 20 15 20 — 78
CAMPBELL COUNTY (30-5): Hegyi 8 2 20, Day 4 8 17, Clos 5 3 13, Bertsch 4 4 12, Jolly 4 2 10, Wilson 1 0 3, Geiman 0 2 2. Totals: 26 21 77.
SCOTT (21-12): J. Ohmer 11 6 30, Jolley 4 5 13, C. Ohmer 5 2 13, Perrin 4 3 12, Dumlao 3 3 10, Pouncy 0 1 1. Totals: 27 19 78
Three-pointers: S — J. Ohmer 2, C. Ohmer, Perrin, Dumlao. CC — Hegyi 2, Wilson, Day.