By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
RICHMOND — Walton-Verona made a impressive comeback in the championship game of the Kentucky All “A” Classic boys’ state basketball tournament, but the Bearcats weren’t able to get the historic win that they wanted.
Lexington Christian defeated Walton-Verona, 47-41, in a game between two small-school programs looking for their first state basketball championship on Sunday afternoon at McBrayer Arena.
Walton-Verona players sat on the bench with dejected looks on the faces during the post-game awards ceremony. There was no need to pose for photos with the state runner-up trophy.
“You always want to go out and win,” said senior Zach Clinkenbeard. “That’s what we have in our guys, the fight and the will to win. We all could’ve done things better and know at the end of the day we probably could’ve been taking that other trophy home.”
Ranked among the top 20 teams in state power rankings, Lexington Christian used its height advantage effectively and opened up a 32-16 lead early in the third quarter. But Walton-Verona came charging back and pulled to within one point, 39-38, with 2:13 left on the clock.
Less than one minute later, Lexington Christian’s 6-foot-7 senior forward Carter Hendrickson was fouled. With the large crowd of Walton-Verona fans making noise to rattle him, he missed the front end in a bonus free throw situation, but two Walton-Verona players collided going for the rebound and knocked the ball out of bounds.
On the ensuing inbound play, the ball was passed to Hendrickson as he cut through the lane and he made a layup to give his team a 41-38 lead.
“Sometimes it’s just the way the ball bounces,” Walton-Verona coach Grant Brannen said of his team’s unfortunate turnover on the rebound. “I really would’ve liked to seen us have that possession, down one and try to get (a shot) up. But (our) guys have a will to win and I’m proud of their effort.”
The Bearcats missed field goal attempts on their next two possessions. They fouled to stop the clock and the Eagles made four free throws to extend their lead to 45-38. After Garrett Jones buried a 3-pointer for Walton-Verona’s last basket, Lexington Christian made another pair of free throws to post a six-point win.
Lexington Christian’s height advantage was evident in the final statistics. The Eagles had a 28-14 rebounding advantage and scored 22 points in the paint compared to 10 for the Bearcats.
Hendrickson and his two 6-foot-6 teammates, Kyle Rode and Austin Hall, made 13 of the Eagles’ 16 field goals and collected a combined total of 23 rebounds. They were also the reason the team’s zone defense worked so well. Walton-Verona shot 36 percent (13 of 36) from the field with just three offensive rebounds.
“They’re so long inside they take you out of your (offensive) sets,” coach Brannen said. “I thought we did a good job executing some things in the second half to get some open looks, but when the shots weren’t falling in the first half I thought we got a little stagnant.
Once we kind of picked up the pressure and got after them a little bit we made a nice run. They just made a few more shots than us at the end.”
Walton-Verona scored 13 straight points in the third and fourth quarters to get back in the game. During that run, Clinkenbeard, junior guard Grant Grubbs and senior guard Brennan Stanley each made a 3-point shot against the Eagles’ zone defense.
“They were 6-7, 6-6 and 6-6 across the board and that’s difficult to match up to,” Clinkenbeard said of the opponents’ height inside. “But we got in a groove in the second half. We started to penetrate and kick (the ball) out and knock down some shots, and that really helped. We were able to get more in the flow of the offense and put some shots in.”
Rode was named the state tournament’s most valuable player after getting 17 points and nine rebounds in the championship game. Clinkenbeard had 10 points, four assists, two rebounds and three steals for the Bearcats.
Clinkenbeard, Stanley and junior center Kam Pardee were the Walton-Verona players named to the state all-tournament team.
In the locker room, Brannen said he congratulated his players for being the first Walton-Verona boys’ basketball team to play in a state championship game. Their exciting run through the small school playoffs has invigorated the Bearcats’ fan base with three weeks remaining until the post-season playoffs begin.
“I told them they’ve taken our community by storm,” Brannen said. “Everybody was here (Sunday). The whole community. They got it out on Twitter and what-not and everybody was here. When you’ve got guys who play like this, they’re fun to watch and fun to coach.”
LEXINGTON CHRISTIAN 16 9 10 12 — 47
WALTON-VERONA 8 8 11 14 — 41
WALTON-VERONA (17-5): Stanley 2-5 2-2 8, Clinkenbeard 4-10 0-0 10, Pardee 2-7 1-1 5, Grubbs 1-3 2-2 5, Jones 3-7 0-0 9, Shazier 1-2 2-2 4. Totals: 13-36 7-9 41.
LEXINGTON CHRISTIAN (17-6): Dalton 2-4 2-2 7, Hendrickson 6-11 2-3 15, Hacker 1-4 0-0 3, Rode 5-8 6-6 17, Hall 2-5 0-0 5. Totals: 16-34 10-11 47.-0
3-pointers — WV — Jones 3, Clinkenbeard 2, Stanley 2, Grubbs. LC — Dalton, Hendrickson, Hacker, Rode, Hall.
STATE ALL TOURNAMENT TEAM
Lexington Christian – Kyle Rode (MVP), Will Hacker, Austin Hall, Carter Hendrickson. Walton-Verona – Zach Clinkenbeard, Kameron Pardee, Brennan Stanley. Knott County Central – Isaac Caudill, Kolton Hofsess. Mayfield – Carson Guthrie, Connor Guthrie. Clinton County – Jackson Harlan. Louisville Collegiate – Chez Moore.