There was a time when John Hardin Basketball and the 5th Region championship went hand and hand. Since they began playing basketball after their inaugural season, the Bulldogs had won five Championships and made five trips to the KHSAA Boys state Basketball Tournaments with all three different coaches. In fact, after winning their first Region Title in 2006 under coach Artie Braden, the Bulldogs went through a 5-year championship drought, they would experience a nine-year period which may have marked them as the most dominate program in the Region winning four Titles including a four-year period (109-wins to 19-losses) which could be marked as one of the best ever in the Region. Since Jared McCurry stepped down after the 2021 season, Austin Jones went from assistant to head coach and with it the weight of high expectations with a very talented returning group.
The Bulldogs would be a favorite to reach the final day of the Tournament despite the disappointments in the playoffs the past two seasons. Following a 35-1 2018-2019 season, the Bulldogs looked like the favorite to repeat, but the Bardstown Tigers surprised them in the Final Four with an overtime defeat ending those dreams and then the following season (the pandemic year), fought hard in the Region final against reigning Region champ Elizabethtown, but simply could not overcome the Panthers or could take the lead in the end.
Although they would lose scorers Anthony Bowen and Darius Williams, John Hardin would move on and got great seasons from seniors Amarion Doctor, Jalen Tyus, Corey Brown and Devon Rogers as they breezed through the regular season and managed to knock off Elizabethtown in the district final.
Ironically, despite winning the District Tourney, the Bulldogs drew Bardstown in their bracket and would be slated to meet them in the semi-finals if they got that far and guess who was waiting for them at the end.
Elizabethtown took a similar path to the Region final, but unlike their last two visits they were almost totally a different team. They graduated seven seniors from the team which reached the State Final last season and although they returned guard Alandre Murphy (the fifth-year season), this team would deal with plenty of growing pains early. Still, the play of transfer Ayden Evans, the consistent play of guard Greg Hall, Max Peeler became a dependable three-point shooter, Trey Durbin played well and the inside threat of Greg Hall helped Evans make am easier transition. Although they struggled sometimes, the Panthers finished the regular season on a high note, reached the District finals and would once again find themselves in the Region Tournament, where they survived a late surge by LaRue County in the opener and knocked off Campbellsville in the final Four to once again surprise everyone reaching the Region championship game for the third straight season.
Meanwhile, John Hardin struggled early, but finally subdued a stubborn Taylor County team and then proved that their February 10th win over Bardstown wasn’t a fluke with a 15-point win in the Semi-finals thus reaching the Region Championship game for the second straight season.
It’s never easy trying to beat a team three times in a season especially a team like Elizabethtown, which had played them three times already, but the Panthers had knocked them off in their first meeting, yet lost the next two. For the Bulldogs, there was an odd omen in that the past two years, the team which had won the first meeting between the two would drop the next several meetings. In fact, John Hardin was awaiting their fourth such game in 2020 before Bardstown had other ideas.
The crowd for the Championship game was an early arriving group which continued to grow as the minutes ticked off before tipoff and sure enough, both teams gave them plenty to shout about.
Both team’s continued to match each other in a furious first quarter as first Hall hit a three and got another basket for E-Town, while Doctor tried to match him driving to the basket three times and scored seven of the team’s 14-points in the opening quarter with three baskets and a free throw.
John Hardin continued to strike again as Doctor would score six more in the second quarter as the Bulldogs went up 21-16 and 24-17 until Murphy’s dunk cut it to 24-19 with 1:53 remaining until the half.
The game looked like it was in the Bulldogs control as they appeared to finally seize command, however that was not the case. The Panthers came out inspired and went on a 12-9 run and finally took the lead with 1:05 left in the third on a Durbin free throw at 40-39. For a moment, it looked like the Panthers game, but just like that it changed again. John Hardin retook the lead and went up 48-43 with 4:03 left in regulation, but the Panthers simply would not go away and kept cutting into the lead until they tied things up at 50-50 on Ben Ryan’s free throws and had a chance to take the lead with seconds remaining, but were unable to do so.
The Overtime period was pretty much all Bulldogs although they would only outscore their opponent, 6-3, they would still make each point count. Jalen Tyus would extend the Bulldogs lead to 53-50 after Rogers made one free throw and after Max Peeler hit a three to cut it to 55-53, Tyus scored again on another drive and finally another free throw finally finished the scoring at 58-53.
For the Bulldogs, it was a sign of major relief as they survived another tight game against the then reigning Region Champs whom they had now dethroned. Corey Brown, Tyus and Doctor all had big games to get the win. Brown scored 11-points, Doctor led all scorers with 21-points and Tyus had 11, but it was his two baskets in overtime that gave John Hardin the cushion to finally pull away.
Devon Rogers seemed to be just as relieved. He was a freshman on the varsity squad as was Tyus when the team made their last State Tournament appearance during the 35-1 season and was unable to get back to Rupp. During that time, he and Tyus both relived the Bardstown debacle in 2020 and last year’s close loss to the Panthers in the final and knew that this was their last shot before moving on.
As he cut down the net at Nelson County high School last Tuesday night, Jones later gave credit to the returning class which fueled the drive for their sixth Region Championship and the long pipeline of talent which constantly keeps the program at or near the top. You can’t get this far without talented athletes and John Hardin has had plenty the past five seasons and despite losing plenty this season, only time will tell if that continues.
As a parting shot, I chatted with Mark Wells during the net cutting ceremony. Wells took over the head coaching job for several seasons after Artie Braden stepped down and was coach during two of the team’s state tournament appearances before he became principal of the school. When asked what it was like to watch another net cutting for the program, I asked about the long line of success with the team, and he remarked that this was six Region titles during the school’s twenty-something years of existence under four different head coaches.
If this season was any indication, Rupp Arena will probably have to get use to the Bulldogs playing there in March as it seems to be becoming a habit.
