By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
All of the advance tickets that Scott High School received for the Eagles’ first-round game in the Whitaker Bank/KHSAA boys’ state basketball tournament have been sold. T-shirts printed for the team’s first trip to the “Sweet 16” since 1989 were also snapped up in a hurry. A community pep rally is set for 6 p.m. Tuesday in the gym to give the team a boisterous send-off.
Amid all the excitement brewing around school, Scott coach Steve Fromeyer and his staff have been trying to get the players prepared to face 13th Region champion Harlan County at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at Rupp Arena.
“They’ve won 31 games for a reason,” Fromeyer said of his team’s first-round opponent. “They’re big, really strong and rebound the heck out of the ball. They’ve got three kids who can really score and one of them is as good as any player we’ve played against all year long.”
Harlan County (31-3) is making its first trip to the state tournament in the nine-year history of the program after upsetting Corbin, 67-65, in the 13th Region title game.
The Black Bears’ leading scorer is senior guard Cameron Carmicle with a 19.6 average. He scored 23 points in the regional final, going 7-for-11 from the field with five 3-points goals.
Two of the three losses on Harlan County’s record were to Corbin during the regular season. The other loss was to Perry County Central, the team that won the 14th Region title.
Scott (21-12) earned a berth in the state tournament by winning the 10th Region championship game against Campbell County, 78-77, on a last-second 3-point shot by senior guard Jake Ohmer. He scored 30 points in that game to raise his season average to 27.1.
Campbell County had beaten Scott twice during the regular season and both of those games were decided in the final seconds as well. The Eagles had never won the 10th Region title since a statewide realignment in 2005-06 moved them into that region. Scott went to the 1989 state tournament as the 9th Region champion and lost in the first round.
Harlan County has a higher power rating than Scott based on their records, margins of victory and quality of opponents they faced. But neither team’s players have any previous state tournament experience at Rupp Arena.
“It’s going to be about who can make shots in that environment and who has a better first quarter, in my opinion,” said Fromeyer, who had his team practice on the college-sized court at BB&T Arena on Monday.
“The first quarter will be huge in probably all eight (first-round) games,” added Fromeyer. “One team is usually going to come out and be too high. Hopefully, it’s not us.”
The first-year head coach also said the Eagles need to dictate an up-tempo pace in the game by playing aggressive defense and not let Harlan County run a patterned half-court offense.
“If we can heat people up (with our defense), we’ll be able to create turnovers and missed shots, and hopefully that will create points for us,” Fromeyer said.
WHITAKER BANK/KHSAA BOYS’ STATE BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT
(at Rupp Arena, Lexington)
WEDNESDAY — Upper bracket
Bowling Green vs. Graves County, noon
Pikeville vs. Perry County Central, 1:30 p.m.
SCOTT vs. Harlan County, 6:30 p.m.
Scott County vs. Pulaski County, 8 p.m.
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
Upper bracket quarterfinal games, noon & 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.