By Jim Mashek – Sporting Times
Photos by Chuck Feist – ST
LEXINGTON — It started with Bowling Green forward Jacobi Huddleston quickly inbounding the ball in the final two seconds of the half.
It ended with BGHS junior guard Turner Buttry unleashing an amazing shot before the buzzer sounded, a shot from the left side of the court about 70 feet from the basket. It fell through the net and there would be no denying the Purples in this one.
Bowling Green 85, University Heights Academy 57.
Bowling Green steamrolled through its first-round game in the KHSAA Sweet Sixteen on Wednesday afternoon at Rupp Arena, It couldn’t have gone much better for the Purples, who improved to 24-2 with the victory.
Bowling Green will face either Ballard or Madison Central in quarterfinal play on Friday, with the game to tip off at 1 p.m. CDT.
“This is a very unselfish basketball team,” BGHS coach D.G. Sherrill said. “Their biggest mission is to push this as far as they can.”
The Purples have made it a point to focus strictly on the next opponent, rather than the Sweet 16 field itself.
“I think we all played great,” BGHS senior swingman Isaiah Mason said. “When we play our game, and take it one game at a time, we seem to click pretty well.”
Mason had another strong all-around game, finishing with 16 points, six rebounds, three assists and two blocks in 24 minutes.
Someone tried to get Sherrill to bite on the possibility of playing Ballard, which was one of the two teams to defeat the Purples this season.
“They’re a very good basketball team. They’re very aggressive, Sherrill said.
University Heights, which finished its season with a 15-10 record, was helplessly overmatched on the boards. Bowling Green finished with 49 rebounds, to the Blazers’ 25. The Purples also shot 50 percent from the field, as well as 50 percent (9 for 18) from 3-point range.
Buttry led the way there, hitting six of eight shots to finish with a game-high 20 points. The Eastern Kentucky commit also finished with four assists and three rebounds.
Bowling Green extended its win streak to 12 games, quickly pulling away in the second quarter to build a comfortable lead. The margin of victory allowed Sherrill to go to his bench about midway through the fourth quarter.
“I think their size was really a factor tonight,” UHA coach Grant Shouse said. “They were able to reach up above us a few times to get rebounds.”
Huddleston may have turned in one of this best performances this season, finishing with 14 points, 10 rebounds and six assists — all in just 25 minutes. BGHS forward Jordan Dingle, who will enroll at the University of Kentucky in June as a freshman football recruit, added four rebounds and seven points.
“Every possession, Jordan plays really hard,” Sherrill said. “He brings a physical presence.”Ultimately, though, everyone was talking about Buttry’s show-stopping shot as the first half came to a close. He almost flung the ball as he caught it, in one motion toward the basket.
“What an amazing shot! Turner’s taken a few of those, at the ends of quarters and halves this year,” Sherrill said. “That was the first one to go through the net. It gave us a little breathing room going into the second half.”
The Bowling Green student section went wild when reserve guard Curtis Lin hit an outside shot shortly after entering the game in the fourth quarter. Teammates M.J. Wardlow, Bradley Gurley and Elijah Starks also scored before the final horn sounded.
Sherrill will emphasize rest during the Purples’ off day on Thursday. Should they advance on Friday, they’ll need two wins on Saturday, about nine hours apart, to take their first state championship since 2017.
