Thursday, March 15, 2001
Louisville Male 54, Oldham Co. 40
By STEVE BAILEY
AP Sports Writer
LEXINGTON, Ky. — Larry O'Bannon scored 18 points and Michael Bush had 15 as Male beat Oldham County 54-40 in the first round of the boys' state basketball tournament Wednesday.
The two combined to shoot 15-of-25 from the field and grabbed 18 rebounds as the Region 7 champion Bulldogs (30-3) advanced to face Region 12 champion South Laurel, a 64-63 overtime winner over Campbell County, in Friday's quarterfinals.
O'Bannon made 8-of-12 shots and grabbed 12 rebounds, while Bush shot 7-of-13 and added six rebounds and two blocked shots.
Donte Smith led the Region 8 champion Colonels (27-5) with 17 points and nine rebounds.
For the game, Male shot 50 percent from the field while holding Oldham County to just 28 percent, including a dismal 1-of-14 from 3-point range. The Bulldogs also outrebounded the Colonels 35-28, including a 26-16 margin at the defensive end.
Oldham County jumped out to a quick 19-13 lead behind Smith and Eric Johnson, who combined to score 12 of the Colonels' first 19 points. Johnson hit from the outside while Smith energized the crowd with a variety of powerful dunks.
Down 21-17 with 4:25 to play in the first half, O'Bannon and Bush scored every point during a 10-1 run to put Male on top 27-22 with under a minute to play. Smith's fall-away shot at the buzzer cut the Bulldogs' lead to 27-24 at halftime.
Male increased its lead throughout the second half, pushing the margin to seven at 39-32 on Bush's 3-pointer at the three-minute mark of the third quarter and to 50-36 on O'Bannon's 3-point play with 3:46 to play in the game.
OLDHAM CO. (27-5) - Garrett 0-3 0-0 0, Viehman 0-4 0-0 0, E. Johnson 1-10 2-2 4, Heimke 2-3 0-0 4, N. Johnson 2-7 0-0 4, Winters 0-2 0-0 0, Koenig 1-1 0-0 2, Cotton 1-5 2-2 5, Smith 7-13 3-4 17, Liedtke 1-6 2-3 4. Totals 15-54 9-11 40.
MALE (30-3) - Mathies 1-5 4-7 6, Burks 1-4 0-0 2, O'Bannon 8-12 2-4 18, Bush 7-13 0-1 15, Carter 4-8 0-0 8, Ballard 1-2 3-4 5. Totals 22-44 9-16 54.
Halftime—Male 27, Oldham Co. 24. 3-point goals—Oldham Co. 1-14 (Garrett 0-3, Viehman 0-2, E. Johnson 0-3, Cotton 1-5, Smith 0-1), Male 1-4 (Burks 0-1, Bush 1-3). Fouled out—Names—E. Johnson. Rebounds—Oldham Co. 28 (N. Johnson, Liedtke 5), Male 35 (O'Bannon 12). Assists—Oldham Co. 3 (Heimke 2), Male 6 (Mathies, Bush, Carter, Haury, Powers, Ballard 1). Total fouls—Oldham Co. 15, Male 12. A—N/A.
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Louisville Male 54, Oldham Co. 40
