By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
Even though their season scoring leader was limited to one field goal, the Walton-Verona Bearcats defeated Louisville Holy Cross, 58-32, in the opening round of the Kentucky All “A” Classic boys’ state basketball tournament on Thursday at McBrayer Arena in Richmond.
Walton-Verona senior point guard Brennan Stanley, who entered the game with a 15.1 scoring average, went 1-for-6 from the field. But his teammates picked up the slack and outscored Holy Cross in every quarter to get their sixth straight win.
The Bearcats (15-4) move on to the quarterfinals of the small school state tournament and play Clinton County (15-7) at 9:30 p.m. Friday.
Walton-Verona shot 46.9 percent (23 of 49) from the field in the win over Holy Cross. The leading scorers for the Bearcats were senior guard Zach Clinkenbeard and junior forward Kameron Pardee with 11 points each. The team also got 22 points from five players who came off the bench.
While Stanley had a problem putting the ball in the basket, he still played a key role in the victory. He had six assists with no turnovers, five steals and three rebounds. The Bearcats’ leading rebounders were Clinkenbeard with eight and Pardee with six..
Holy Cross shot 27.5 percent (11 of 40) from the field and committed 15 turnovers. None of the Cougars had more than five points and the team ended up with its lowest scoring total of the season.
Clinkenbeard scored eight of his 11 points in the second quarter to help Walton-Verona open up a 26-11 halftime lead. In the third quarter, 3-point goals by Pardee, Austin Lay and Curry Shazier sparked a run that put the Bearcats ahead, 39-18, going into the final period.
Reserve players came off the bench to score 12 of the team’s 19 points in the fourth quarter. In the final minutes, junior guards Garrett Jones and Johnny Martin made the final two 3-point goals for the Bearcats.
LOU. HOLY CROSS 4 7 7 14 – 32
WALTON-VERONA 11 15 13 19 – 58
LOU. HOLY CROSS (12-8): Vasquez 2-2 0-0 5, McDonald 2-4 0-0 5, Davis 2-2 0-0 4, Bearden 2-7 0-0 4, Streble 1-8 2-4 4, Thornsberry 1-5 0-0 3, Crawley 0-7 3-3 3, Emberton 1-1 1-1 3, Convenuto 0-3 1-3 1, Totals: Totals 11-40 7-11 32.
WALTON-VERONA (15-4): Pardee 4-7 2-5 11, Clinkenbeard 4-9 1-3 11, Shazier 3-5 0-0 8, Lay 3-8 0-0 7, Jones 2-4 0-0 5, Grubbs 2-2 0-0 4, Brook 2-3 0-0 4, Stanley 1-6 0-2 3, Martin 1-2 0-0 3, Bonne 1-1 0-0 2. Totals: 23-49 3-12 58.
3-point goals: HC — Thornsberry, McDonald, Vasquez. WV — Clinkenbeard 2, Shazier 2, Stanley, Jones, Lay, Martin, Pardee.
FRIDAY’S KENTUCKY ALL “A” CLASSIC GAMES
GIRLS
Shelby Valley (17-3) vs. Nicholas County (15-5), 8:30 a.m.
WALTON-VERONA (15-5) vs. Williamsburg (14-6), 10 a.m.
West Carter (17-2) vs. Edmondson County (18-3), 11:30 a.m.
HOLY CROSS (13-7) vs. Murray (19-2), 1 p.m.
BOYS
BEECHWOOD (13-8) vs. Knott county Central (14-1), 5 p.m.
Lexington Christian (14-6) vs. Louisville Collegiate (18-4), 6:30 p.m.
Mayfield (17-4) vs. Somerset (18-3), 8 p.m.
WALTON-VERONA (15-4) vs. Clinton County (15-7), 9:30 p.m.