Bowling Green

 

There is life after losing a superstar. Ask Bowling Green, which finally broke a lengthy Sweet 16 drought the year after losing Chane Behanan to the University of Louisville.

 

"We had a nice team, but so did Warren Central, and we just couldn't get over the hump," said Purples coach D.G. Sherrill. "We had a nice group of kids, too, but they didn't get as much notoriety as they deserved because we had a McDonald's All-American on the team."

 

That is no longer the case. The Purples (29-6) are back on the state's biggest stage with a balanced club led by 5-10 sophomore guard Nacarius Fant, who averages close to 15 points per game and shoots nearly 75 percent from the free throw line. Fant, an all-state wide receiver for Bowling Green's Class 5A state championship team, was the MVP of the 4th Region tournament.

 

"Nacarius has great range, he can really pull the three and he's our best player off the bounce," Sherrill said. "He's great in the open floor and in transition and he can score in bunches. He's a little undersized, but he has the complete game on the offensive end.

 

"Whatever you ask of a guard, he can do. He could be our point guard but we need him to score, so we run him at the two to set him up for shots and get him some looks."

 

Guard Dareon Simmons, a 5-10 senior, averages about 11 points per game, and the Purples have several players in the 6-8 point range in guards Scooter Hollis and Blue Tisdale, 6-5 swingman Clay Stivers and 6-3, 210-pound strongman Jalen Hunter, who has had 10 double-doubles this season.

 

Simmons "is an old-school guard," Sherill said. "He's real crafty with his offensive game, finding seams and gaps, and he may be our best finisher in transition."

 

Hollis was the Purples' quarterback in the fall and will play football in Columbia.

Another interesting piece is Joseph Ayers, a rail-thin (6-8, 153) sophomore that is related to former Ohio State head coach Randy Ayers.

 

"Hunter has paid his dues, playing behind (Behanan) the last two years," Sherril said. "Stivers has some size and Joseph is going to be a nice player. He is just now getting his coordination and into his body."

 

The Purples primarily go with four guards to take advantage of their quickness and athleticism, and Sherrill hopes they don't have a case of stagefright for their first-round game with an Oldham County club that has state tournament experience.

 

"Most of my kids, this is their first time at Rupp," Sherrill said. "I think we'll know in the first 3-4 minutes whether we're contenders or pretenders."

 

 

Oldham County

 

Defense. It's the staple of Oldham County's game, one that has taken the Colonels to the Sweet 16 for the second year in a row.

 

"We're first in the state at 45 (points allowed) a game," said coach Jason Holland. "We like to mix it up defensively and take way the things our opponent likes to do.

 

"It works for us. We're 25-1 when we score 50 points. The only loss was to a team in Florida (in a Christmas tournament)."

 

Any assessment of the Colonel starts with 6-4 senior forward Tyler Wesley, who leads the team with averages of 11 points and nine rebounds. Wesley and guard Kerry Smith "have been all-region since they were sophomores and we put shooters around them so you really can't focus on them on the offensive end.

 

"We run a lot of motion stuff, and if you take those guys away, the other ones can step up."

 

Wesley also averages close to six blocked shots per game and Holland "likes our chances if we can keep him on the floor. (Bowling Green) can be exploited in the post, and he can help us relieve their pressure because it's hard to trap him because of his size. Defensively, he can change a lot of shots."

 

Holland says the emergence of juniors Sam Gruber, Jacob Kopp and Garrett Masters have "pushed us from a very good team to a great team. Masters plays the point of our 1-3-1, and when we do that we can put some (length) on the floor. And Masters can score in transition when he gets the steal — he had eight straight in the regional final."

 

Gruber is an outstanding perimeter shooter, hitting 50 percent from 3-point range for a big chunk of his 11-point average. He is also an 88 percent shooter from the foul line.

 

"I think we have one of the best first-round games," Holland said, referring to his team's battle with Bowling Green. "For us, it's about controlling the tempo and handling their pressure. We'd like to be able to turn them over and give them some problems."

Seems like a clash of styles between these two. Thanks for posting!