By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
Brossart basketball teams won 10th Region All “A” Classic boys and girls championship games on Monday to sweep the small-school titles for the first time since 2014.
In the girls game, Brossart rolled to a 55-31 win behind strong post play by Marie Kiefer. The sophomore forward scored 25 points and snagged 13 rebounds to post her fourth double-double of the season.
Brossart sophomore Marie Kiefer had 25 points and 13 rebounds in the 10th Region All “A” Classic girls championship game. (Photo by Tim Cooper)
The boys game went down to the wire. In the final 10 seconds, Brossart players made four pressure-packed free throws and got a crucial turnover on a charging foul to come away with a 47-42 win.
Both teams advance to the Kentucky All “A” Classic small-school state tournament at Eastern Kentucky University’s McBrayer Arena in Richmond.
In a girls first-round game on Wednesday, Brossart (15-5) will play Bardstown Bethlehem (16-2) at 5 p.m. The boys tournament begins Thursday and Brossart (14-7) will face University Heights (17-3) in the final first-round game at 9:30 p.m.
University Heights tied for No. 5 in this week’s Associated Press statewide boys basketball poll. The Blazers are led by senior guard KyKy Tandy, a Mr. Kentucky Basketball candidate who’s averaging 27 points per game.
Brossart trailed for most of the second half in the low-scoring boys regional final. But the Mustangs went on a 16-7 run in the fourth quarter to open up a 39-34 lead. The run started with back-to-back 3-point goals by Bryson Wieland and Ethan Eilerman and ended with a trey by Stephen Verst.
Paris cut the margin to 43-42 on a stick-back basket by Caleb Johnson with less than a minute left on the clock. On their next possession, the Greyhounds missed a potential go-ahead basket and Brossart sophomore Carson Schirmer was fouled on the rebound.
Ethan Eilerman
After Schirmer made two free throws that put his team ahead, 45-42, the Mustangs got the ball back when Eilerman picked up a charging foul. Verst was fouled on the ensuing inbound play and made two free throws with six seconds left to secure the five-point victory.
Brossart made 13 of 14 free throws to account for most of its 24 points in the fourth quarter and ended up outscoring Paris, 19-10, at the foul line. Eilerman and Johnson shared game-high scoring honors with 17 points each. Verst finished with 11 points.
The Brossart girls team entered their regional final with the second best defensive average (35.3) in the state and improved on that statistic by holding Paris to eight points or less in each quarter.
Brossart scored 12 unanswered points in the first half and had a 26-16 lead at the break. The Mustangs put the game away in the third quarter when Kiefer got 10 of her 25 points during a 17-7 run that extended the lead to 43-23.
Brossart had three players on each of the regional all-tournament teams. Kiefer, Mariah Frommeyer and Madison Crowe were the girls nominees. Eilerman, Verst and J.D. Schumacher were named to the boys team.
BROSSART 13 13 17 12 — 55
PARIS 8 8 7 8 — 31
BROSSART (15-5): Kiefer 25, Frommeyer 9, Cropenbaker 6, Crowe 4, Schultz 5, Jump 4, Rowe 2.
PARIS (10-8): Strings 9, Tye 5, Garrard 7, Jackson 5, Kemper 3, Cowan 2.
BROSSART 6 8 9 24 — 47
PARIS 6 12 9 15 — 42
BROSSART (14-7): Eilerman 17, Verst 11, Schirmer 6, Jump 4, Schumacher 4, Wieland 5.
PARIS (5-11): Nebbitt 2, Strings 4, Clark 4, Johnson 17, Washington 15.
Kentucky All “A” Classic state tournament
GIRLS SCHEDULE
Wednesday
Covington Holy Cross vs. Middlesboro, 8:30 a.m.
Metcalfe County vs. Louisville Holy Cross, 10 a.m.
Danville vs. Murray, 11:30 a.m.
Louisville Brown vs. Owensboro Catholic, 1 p.m.
Brossart vs. Bardstown Bethlehem, 5 p.m.
Walton-Verona vs. University Heights, 6:30 p.m.
Wolfe County vs. Berea, 8 p.m.
Paintsville vs. West Carter, 9:30 p.m.
Friday
Upper bracket quarterfinal games, 8:30 and 10 a.m.
Lower bracket quarterfinal games, 11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m.
Saturday
Semifinal games, noon and 1:30 p.m.
Sunday
Championship game, noon
BOYS SCHEDULE
Thursday
Campbellsville vs. Mayfield, 8:30 a.m.
Lexington Christian vs. Owensboro Catholic, 10 a.m.
Middlesboro vs. Knott County Central, 11:30 a.m.
Walton-Verona vs. Louisville Holy Cross, 1 p.m.
Danville vs. Elliott County, 5 p.m.
Clinton County vs. Shelby Valley, 6:30 p.m.
Newport vs. Kentucky Country Day, 8 p.m.
Brossart vs. University Heights, 9:30 p.m.
Friday
Upper bracket quarterfinal games, 5 and 6:30 p.m.
Lower bracket quarterfinal games, 8 and 9:30 p.m.
Saturday
Semifinal games, 6 and 7:30 p.m.
Sunday
Championship game, 2 p.m.
