Friday, March 12, 1999
Highlands falls short in Sweet 16
Three seniors score all of 'Birds' points
BY RAY SCHAEFER
Enquirer Contributor
LEXINGTON, Ky. — Having just three scorers in a basketball game usually doesn't add up to a win. It didn't for Highlands, either.
The three-time Ninth Region champion Bluebirds lost to Henderson County 62-60 in Thursday's opening round of the boys Sweet 16 state tournament at Rupp Arena.
Henderson County meets Third Region champion Muhlenberg North in the quarterfinals at 7:30 p.m. today. The Stars eliminated 12th Region champion Boyle County, 47-43.
“I could look back and mope around about it and be sad about this,” Highlands senior forward Derek Smith said. “But it's been a fun ride for me. It's been really exciting.”
Smith led all scorers with 31 points. Senior forward Jared Lorenzen added 17 points, and senior guard Joe Herald added the other 12.
Though Highlands got no other scoring, Smith, Lorenzen and Herald were still almost enough. They scored Highlands' final five points of the third quarter to tie the game at 44-44; Smith and Lorenzen grabbed 13 rebounds apiece; and after Henderson County ran off 13 straight points in the first five minutes of the fourth quarter, Lorenzen scored eight and Smith added six.
“When we looked up (and) we were down 13, it kind of takes the breath out of you,” Lorenzen said of the run and the finish. “But we went out, we had the five seniors out there. We kind of looked at each other. We didn't want to go down in the first round by 13.”
Lorenzen's bucket with seven seconds left made it 62-60, and he grabbed a rebound after Henderson County senior forward Brian Bivens missed two free throws with four seconds remaining. But his halfcourt shot at the buzzer missed right.
“We knew we were in for a battle,” Highlands coach John Messmer said. “Henderson County has a lot of firepower they can send at you.”
But in the first quarter, Highlands — or more specifically Smith — handled the Colonels. Smith, who had 12 points in the quarter, scored four in the opening minute, followed by Herald's three-pointer and Lorenzen field goal when Smith was double-teamed.
Not much Henderson County tried succeeded. Junior forward Ervin Miller didn't score the Colonels' first bucket until the 5:04 mark, the team shot 4-of-10 from the field and Smith finished the quarter with 3-of-3 from the field and 6-of-7 from the free throw line for 12 points.
The result: a 20-8 Highlands lead that grew to 22-8 on Smith's dunk 14 seconds into the second quarter.
Then, Henderson County woke up.
Miller and senior forward Brent Gibson, who led the Colonels with 15 points, accounted for a 6-0 run to pull Henderson County to within seven at 22-14 left. Herald scored and Lorenzen scored a minute later to give Highlands a 25-17 advantage.
Henderson County didn't have a lot of success going at Smith, so the Colonels shot over him. Bivens hit a three, senior guard Tim Barnes hit two and Gibson hit one to close the Highlands lead to 29-26 with 2:10 left in the half.
Miller then converted Herald's turnover into a three-point play to tie the game at 29-29. Smith hit a free throw, but with two seconds to go in the half, Miller grabbed an offensive rebound and gave the Colonels a 31-30 lead.
What adjustment did the Henderson County make at halftime? Nothing major — just stay with their 1-3-1 and 1-2-2 full court and halfcourt presses — schemes Highlands hadn't seen all year.
“Toward the end they kind of got to us a little bit,” Lorenzen said. “We were trying to shoot up a three and get back as fast as we could.”
HIGHLANDS (60) — Lorenzen 6-10 5-8 17, Herald 3-15 5-6 12, Smith 9-15 11-14 31. Totals: 18-49 21-28 60.
HENDERSON COUNTY (62) — Miller 4-9 3-8 11, Gibson 7-11 0-1 15, Fisher 3-4 3-4 11, Barnes 6-16 0-0 14, Bivens 5-6 0-2 11. Totals: 25-50 6-15 62.
Highlands ....... 20 10 14 16—60
Henderson Co. ....... 8 23 13 18—62
Three-point field goals: H 3-of 19 (Lorenzen 0-2, Herald 1-5, Smith 2-4, Gibson 0-5, Barone 0-3); HC 6-of-9 (Miller 1-2, Fisher 2-2, Barnes 2-3, Bivens 1-2). Fouled out: H-None. HC-None. Rebounds: H 35 (Smith 13, Lorenzen 13), HC 30 (Miller 13). Assists: H 6 (Lorenzen 2, Herald 2), HC 13 (Barnes 7). Turnovers: H 13 (Lorenzen 3, Herald 3, Smith 3), HC 13 (Barnes 5). Total fouls — H 18, HC 20. Records: H 25-7, HC 25-5.
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