Thursday, March 15, 2001
Clay County 81, South Floyd 65
By STEVE BAILEY
AP Sports Writer
LEXINGTON, Ky. — Jeremy Asher had 21 points and 18 rebounds as Clay County beat South Floyd 81-65 in the first round of the boys state basketball tournament Wednesday.
The Tigers (25-7), Region 13 champions, won their 12th straight game and advanced to face Russellville, a 59-45 winner over Highlands, in the quarterfinals on Friday.
Tim Parks had 15 points, Richard Walker 13 and 11 rebounds, Angelo Smith 11 and Josh Mathis 10 for Clay County, the 1987 state champion.
Rusty Tackett had 29 points and 13 rebounds, and Michael Hall added 22 points to lead 15th Region champion South Floyd (21-11), which competed in its first-ever Sweet Sixteen.
The Tigers outshot the Raiders 44 percent to 32 percent and outrebounded them 59-39 in their third trip to the Sweet Sixteen in the past four seasons.
South Floyd missed its first 11 shots as Clay County jumped out to an 18-5 lead by the end of the first quarter. The Raiders hit only 2-of-17 shots, got outrebounded 18-9 and turned the ball over five times in the first eight minutes.
South Floyd rebounded with a 9-2 run to start the second quarter and pull within 20-14 with 6:18 remaining in the half.
Up 24-19, Clay County scored six straight points to extend its lead to 30-19. Tackett then scored the next five points to narrow the gap to 30-24 with 2:10 to play.
But the Tigers scored the last nine points of the half — seven by Parks — to lead 39-24 at halftime.
A 7-2 South Floyd run to open the second half cut the margin to 41-31. The Tigers responded with a 9-0 run to push the lead to 49-31 with four minutes to play in the third quarter.
Down 55-40 with two minutes remaining in the third quarter, South Floyd outscored the Tigers 13-3 over the next four minutes — including two long 3-pointers by Hall — to cut the lead to 58-53 with 6:48 to play.
But the Raiders would get no closer as Clay County offensive rebounds and free throws down the stretch killed any hopes of a comeback.
CLAY CO. (25-7) - A. Smith 4-9 3-5 11, Griffin 2-7 2-2 6, J. Asher 10-25 1-2 21, Mathis 3-11 4-4 10, Walker 4-8 5-8 13, Sizemore 1-1 1-2 3, Bowling 0-2 0-0 0, Parks 6-7 3-7 15, N. Smith 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 31-71 19-30 81.
SOUTH FLOYD (21-11) - M. Hall 9-26 1-1 22, Tackett 12-26 0-1 29, J. Meade 1-6 5-7 7, Newman 1-5 0-0 2, Ray 0-0 0-0 0, H. Hall 0-0 0-0 0, T. Hall 1-7 2-2 5, Johnson 0-1 0-0 0, Skeans 0-1 0-0 0, Slone 0-1 0-0 0, A. Hall 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 24-74 8-11 65.
Halftime—Clay Co. 39, South Floyd 24. 3-point goals—Clay Co. 0-6 (Griffin 0-3, Asher 0-1, Mathis 0-1, Bowling 0-1), South Floyd 9-36 (M. Hall 3-12, Tackett 5-15, J. Meade 0-2, Newman 0-1, Slone 0-1, T. Hall 1-5). Fouled out—None. Rebounds—Clay Co. 59 (Asher 18), South Floyd 39 (Tackett 13). Assists—Clay Co. 6 (Griffin 2), South Floyd 11 (Meade 3). Total fouls—Clay Co. 24, South Floyd 16. A—N/A.
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Clay County 81, South Floyd 65
