By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
Senior guard Brennan Stanley broke out of his scoring slump Saturday night and provided the spark Walton-Verona needed to defeat Mayfield, 56-38, in the semifinals of the Kentucky All “A” Classic boys’ state basketball tournament at McBrayer Arena in Richmond.
Stanley scored 10 points during a 16-4 run in the final five minutes of the third quarter that gave the Bearcats a 40-28 lead and they stayed on top the rest of the way.
Walton-Verona (17-4) will play Lexington Christian (15-6) in the championship final at 2 p.m. Sunday. This is the first time that either team has ever made it to the title game in the small school state tournament.
Stanley, a transfer student who joined the Walton-Verona basketball team this season, had just one field goal in each of his team’s first two state tournament games this week.
But he stepped up when the Bearcats needed him after Mayfield tied the score, 24-24, with 5:15 left in the third quarter of Saturday’s game.
After Austin Lay hit a 3-point shot to start the Bearcats’ decisive run, Stanley scored the team’s next 10 points.
He made two jump shots, a 3-pointer and then got fouled while making a basket and sank the free throw. On the team’s final possession of the quarter, Curry Shazier buried a 3-point shot off an assist by Stanley to make it 40-28.
Walton-Verona made only one field goal in the fourth quarter, but the Bearcats converted 14 of 17 free throws to maintain the lead. Stanley was 4-for-4 at the line during that final period and finished with 14 points. He also had five assists and five rebounds during the game.
Junior forward Kameron Pardee had 10 points and eight rebounds for the Bearcats. Senior forward Zach Clinkenbeard’s stat line included eight points, nine rebounds, seven assists and two blocked shots.
Lexington Christian defeated Knott County Central, 54-44, in the state tournament’s other semifinal game on Saturday. The Eagles’ leading scorer was junior forward Kyle Rode with 17 points. Senior center Carter Hendrickson had 11 points and 15 rebounds.
In their team’s three tournament victories, Rode has netted 50 points while Hendrickson has scored 43 points and collected 26 rebounds.
WALTON-VERONA 7 15 18 16 – 56
MAYFIELD 10 11 7 10 – 38
WALTON-VERONA (17-4): Stanley 4-10 5-5 14; Pardee 4-8 2-2 10; Clinkenbeard 2-10 4-6 8, Lay 3-5 1-3 8, Shazier 2-8 2-2 7, Grubbs 1-2 2-2 4, Jones 1-2 0-0 3, Bonne 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 18-46 16-20 56.
MAYFIELD (18-5): Matthews 3-6 5-6 11, Jones 3-6 2-2 8, Carson Guthrie 1-10 4-4 6, Connor Guthrie 1-6 2-2 5; Harrison 2-3 0-0 4, Daniel 1-1 2-2 4. Totals: 11-37 15-16 38.
3-pointers: WV — Shazier, Jones, Stanley, Lay. M — Connor Guthrie.