By Jim Mashek – Sporting Times
Turner Buttry and his Bowling Green High School teammates had left Rupp Arena, in hopes of getting some peace and quiet.
In Buttry’s case, it wasn’t happenin’.
Not after he hurled a 70-foot shot through the basket as the first half came to a close in the KHSAA Sweet Sixteen tournament, a moment that seemed to propel the Purples to an impressive 85-57 victory over University Heights Academy on Wednesday afternoon.
Buttry led Bowling Green with 20 points and added four assists and three rebounds as the Purples coasted to victory over the outmatched Blazers (15-10). Now the Purples will take aim at some taller timber — that’s being literal, mind you — in the Ballard Bruins.
Maker Bar, the 6-foot-9 native of the Sudan, averages 15.2 points and 10.2 rebounds per game, and he’s just a junior. BGHS veteran coach D.G. Sherrill has some experienced post players in Jacobi Huddleston and Jordan Dingle, but the Purples have other players to contend with, too. Guard Gabe Sisk averages 18.6 points per game.
On Wednesday night, though, it was Turner Buttry’s world, and we were all just livin’ in it.
Huddleston pulled down a rebound in the final two seconds of the first half and flipped it to Buttry, who unleashed a buzzer beater about 70 feet from the basket before the buzzer sounded.
It fell in, of course, and a few hours after the game, Buttry learned his shot had been voted No. 1 in the “Top Plays” segment of ESPN’s Sportscenter.
“My phone was glitching,” Buttry said with a laugh from Rupp Arena, where he was watching the Boyle County-Paintsville game on Thursday afternoon. “That’s a once-in-a-lifetime thing. People started texting me, phone calls, you name it.
“I don’t know how many messages I got, to be honest with you.”
Buttry was quick to credit Huddleston’s outlet pass, and allowed that he often works on deep shots in the final seconds of a game, half or quarter. This was easily the longest field goal, however, in Buttry’s career.
Buttry, who has committed to play college basketball at Eastern Kentucky University, said he heard from EKU head coach A.W. Hamilton and some of his future teammates, too.
“I’ve heard from all the coaches and most of the players,” he said.
The winner of Friday’s quarterfinal will face either Elizabethtown (21-2) or George Rogers Clark (21-4) in semifinal play at 10 a.m. CDT on Saturday, with the championship game to tip off about nine hours later.
Ballard defeated the Purples 61-45 on February 26 at BGHS.
Buttry points out that Bowling Green was without Dingle, a power forward headed for the University of Kentucky on a football scholarship, as well as sixth man Conner Cooper. Cooper and Dingle were teammates on the BGHS football team that won the KHSAA Class 5A state championship in December.
Sherrill emphasized that Ballard has a complete team, adding that Bruins coach Chris Renner is a skilled tactician and motivator.
“Ballard has everything. Size, athleticism, they’re strong and skilled,” Sherrill said. “Coach Renner is the best in the state at getting his team ready for big games.
“Bar is a game changer. He provides them with the ability to apply pressure on the perimeter, because they have a rim protector. He’s very skilled and presents a significant challenge.”
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