By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
St. Henry entered the All “A” Classic boys state basketball tournament with the highest computer power rating in the 16-team field and lived up to expectations with an impressive 78-49 win over Campbellsville in the final first round game on Thursday night at McBrayer Arena in Richmond.
Earlier in the day, Brossart’s late comeback fell short in a 57-52 loss to Frankfort. It was the ninth time in 15 appearances that the Mustangs were eliminated in the opening round of the boys small school state tournament.
Junior forward Jude Bessler was one of St. Henry’s four double-figure scorers. (File photo by Dale Dawn)
St. Henry (13-3) took a 23-16 lead in the first quarter against Campbellsville (8-10) and pulled away from there. The Crusaders ended up shooting 52.5 percent (32 of 61) from the field with 23 assists, went 11-for-11 at the free throw line and had a 40-26 rebounding advantage.
The team’s leading scorer was junior center Cody Teeten with 17 points, followed by junior guard Wyatt Vieth with 16 points, junior forward Jude Bessler with 14 and senior forward Luke Maher with 12
Vieth also had five rebounds, four assists, four steals and one block in his team’s first state tournament game since 2008.
St. Henry came into the tournament with a 77.1 power rating. The Crusaders’ next opponent will be Somerset, which has the next highest power rating at 71.7. Somerset (17-2) brings a nine-game winning streak into their quarterfinal showdown at 9:30 p.m. Friday.
In the second game on Thursday, Frankfort outscored Brossart, 16-5, in the second quarter to take a 30-17 lead. The Mustangs mounted a comeback in the fourth quarter and cut the margin to four points twice in the final 1:08. But the Tigers made seven of their last eight free throws to secure the win.
Brossart (15-3) was 1-of-5 from the field in the second quarter and ended up shooting 37.5 percent (15 of 40) for the game. Junior guard Stephen Verst scored 10 of his game-high 23 points during the Mustangs’ fourth quarter rally, getting three of the team’s five 3-pointers during that period.
Frankfort (9-12) shot 57.1 percent (20 of 35) from the field and had four double-figure scorers. The Tigers hit 64 percent of their shots in the first three quarters before going 2-of-7 from the field in the final quarter.
The girls quarterfinal round will open the All “A” Classic schedule on Friday. Walton-Verona (14-4) will play Shelby Valley (13-5) in the fourth game at 1 p.m.
Live broadcasts of the All “A” Classic games are being provided online by koolhits1057.com and scoring summaries are posted on the allaclassic.org website.
ALL “A” CLASSIC BOYS STATE TOURNAMENT
(at EKU McBrayer Arena in Richmond)
Thursday — Upper bracket
Owensboro Catholic 62, West Carter 33
Frankfort 57, Brossart 52
Metcalfe County 48, Louisville Holy Cross 47
Murray 60, University Heights 33
Thursday — Lower bracket
Hazard 42, Louisville Collegiate 39
Paintsville 67, Harlan 60
Somerset 46, Gallatin County 37
St. Henry 78, Campbellsville 49
Friday
Owensboro Catholic (12-6) vs. Frankfort (9-12), 5 p.m.
Metcalfe County (13-7) vs. Murray (15-3), 6:30 p.m.
Hazard (15-2) vs. Paintsville (10-8), 8 p.m.
Somerset (17-2) vs. St. Henry (13-3), 9:30 p.m.
Saturday
Semifinals, 6 and 7:30 p.m.
Sunday
Championship game, 2 p.m.
ALL “A” CLASSIC GIRLS STATE TOURNAMENT
(at EKU McBrayer Arena in Richmond)
Friday
Bardstown Bethlehem (18-2) vs. West Carter (13-5), 8:30 a.m.
Glasgow (15-3) vs. Danville (13-4), 10 a.m.
Owensboro Catholic (14-7) vs. Murray (9-9), 11:30 a.m.
Walton-Verona (14-4) vs. Shelby Valley (13-5), 1 p.m.
Saturday
Semifinals, noon and 1:30 p.m.
Sunday
Championship game, noon
