Paintsville’s Jaxon Watt had played all of regulation and nearly all of overtime without scoring a single point.
His third attempt at a put-back went in just ahead of the final buzzer in the extra period to send the Tigers back to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2008, beating bitter cross-town rival Johnson Central, 48-46, in the 15th Region championship game played at the Appalachian Wireless Arena on Saturday night.
Paintsville, now 15-8, will face Boyle County (21-4) at 5 pm on April Fool’s Day at Rupp Arena. The Golden Eagles season ends at 21-4.
Colby Fugate finished with a game-high 26 points, including the first 15 of the second half. Baron Ratliff added nine.
The Golden Eagles were led by Cory VanHoose’s 15 points. Ryleh McKenzie and Connor LeMaster followed with eight each.
At Pikeville
(15th Region championship)
SCORE BY QUARTERS:
PV (15-8)….10 10 12 14 (2) – 48
JC (21-4)……7 18 11 10 (0) – 46
Scoring:
Paintsville (48) – Braxton Tharp 1 1-2 3; Colby Fugate 9 8-8 26; Jaxon Watts 1 0-0 2; Baron Ratliff 3(1) 0-0 9; and Connor Fugate 1(1) 3-3 8. Totals: 15(2) 12-15 48.
Johnson Central (46) – Ryleh McKenzie 2(1) 1-1 8; Isaiah May 1 2-2 4; Grant Rice 2(1) 0-1 7; Cory VanHoose 4(1) 4-4 15; John King 1 2-2 4; and Connor LeMaster 1(2) 0-0 8. Totals: 11(5) 9-10 46.
Next up: Paintsville (15-8) vs. Boyle County (21-4), Sweet 16, Rupp Arena, 5 pm, Apr. 1; Johnson Central’s season ends.
FRIDAY NIGHT
(Semifinals)
Johnson Central….72
Betsy Layne………55
Johnson Central’s hot shooting from the floor carried the Golden Eagles to a 72-55 win over Betsy Layne in the 15th Region tournament semifinal-round matchup played at the Appalachian Wireless Arena on Friday night.
Cory VanHoose led a trio in double figures with a game-high 21 points as Johnson Central improved to 21-3. Isaiah May tossed n 15 and Ryleh McKenzie added 13
Brady Robinson paced the Bobcats, whose season ended at 13-9, with 18 points and Chase Mims net 12 while Byron Tackett tallied 11. Andrew Kidd chipped in eight.
At Pikeville
(15th Region tournament)
SCORE BY QUARTERS:
BL (13-9)……14 14 14 13 – 55
JC (21-3)……19 13 21 19 – 72
Scoring:
Betsy Layne (55) – Andrew Kidd 3 2-6 8; Brady Robinson 3(2) 6-10 18; Jake Rainey 2 2-2 6; Chase Mims 4 4-6 12; and Byron Tackett 0(3) 2-2 11. Totals: 12(5) 16-26 55.
Johnson Central (72) – Ryleh McKenzie 5(1) 0-1 13; Isaiah May 3(1) 6-7 15; Grant Rice 1 2-3 4; Cory VanHoose 7 7-8 21; John King 3 0-0 6; Josh Slone 1 0-0 2; Connor LeMaster 0(2) 0-0 6; Mason Lawson 1 0-0 2; and Kamen Slone 0(1) 0-0 3. Totals: 21(5) 15-19 72.
Paintsville…..55
Belfry………..51
Paintsville’s one-two punch of Connor and Colby Fugate carried the Tigers to a 55-51 victory over Belfry in the 15th Region tournament semifinal-round matchup played at the Appalachian Wireless Arena on Friday night.
The two combined for 44 of the Tigers’ 55 points and moved Paintsville to 14-8 and a berth in the championship game. Connor tallied 24 and Colby added 20.
DeMahjae Clark led the Pirates with 16 points and Tyler Chaffin tossed in 13.
Belfry’s season ended at 17-10.
At Pikeville
(15th Region tournament)
SCORE BY QUARTERS:
PV (14-8)………8 10 13 24 – 55
BF (17-10)….…8 10 14 19 – 51
Scoring:
Paintsville (55) – Braxton Tharp 0(1) 4-4 7; Colby Fugate 5(2) 4-4 20; Jaxon Watts 2 0-0 4; and Connor Fugate 4(2) 10-11 24. Totals: 11(5) 18-19 55.
Belfry (51) – Sal Dean 2 1-2 5; DeMahjae Clark 4(1) 5-6 16; Tyler Chaffin 2(2) 3-3 13; Bol Kuir 2 2-6 6; Caleb Spears 1 2-2 4; and Steven Banks 3 1-2 7. Totals: 14(3) 14-21 51.