The Best Seat in the House

Notes and thoughts from day 1 of the boys 12th Region Tournament at Pulaski County:

• Lincoln County defeated Southwestern 54-36; Pulaski County defeated East Jessamine 66-62. Lincoln plays Pulaski in Monday’s first semifinal.
• Some Lincoln fans were worried about the Patriots’ first-round game against 5-22 Southwestern, and I thought they were wrong to be. Clearly they were not wrong, because Lincoln found itself in a dogfight for three quarters before pulling away. Southwestern’s slowdown style helped keep the Warriors close in what Lincoln coach Jeff Jackson called “a grinder game” until the fourth quarter, when they went 1-for-12 from the field.
• Ethan Spurlin led Lincoln with 22 points and 13 rebounds. Ryan Young and Noah Keeton also scored in double figures for the Patriots with 13 and 12 each. Trevor Jones was the only double-digit scorer for Southwestern with 17.
• Pulaski’s win was also closer than I thought it would be in an entertaining game. The Maroons did manage to open a nine-point lead in the fourth quarter, but East Jessamine still battled back to make it interesting until the final minute. East also beat Pulaski badly on the boards, 33-21, but Pulaski helped its cause by hitting 17 of 19 free throws — including 11 of 12 in the fourth quarter — and commiting only seven turnovers.
• Adam Dixon led Pulaski with 18 points, and Shawn Whitis scored 17. Darius Jackson scored 19 for East Jessamine, and Daniel Gainey had 17.
• Wednesday’s session had exactly the same matchups as in the first session of the 2006 regional at Pulaski, but with different results. In those games, Southwestern beat Lincoln and East Jessamine beat Pulaski.
• In tonight’s lower bracket games, Wayne County plays Somerset at 6:30 p.m. and West Jessamine plays Boyle County at 8:30 p.m. Boyle beat West Jessamine 65-53 on Dec. 11, and Wayne defeated Somerset 63-50 on Feb. 12.
• Boyle fans should be advised that if the first game is a quick one, the second game will start early. Wednesday’s second game started at about 8:15 p.m. The second game is 30 minutes after the first, regardless of the time of day.
• The Other 15: Corbin claimed a surprisingly easy 80-62 win over Clay County in the opening game in the 13th Region. Corbin is the top-rated team in that region, but Clay is always a tough out. With all due respect to South Laurel, I’ll pulling for Jackson County to spring the upset of the Cardinals tonight at Knox Central. … In the 10th Region, defending champion George Rogers Clark trailed Campbell County by nine points at the start of the fourth quarter before rallying for a 63-61 win. In the other 10th Region game, Mason County reached triple digits for the second straight game with a 101-54 rout of Deming. Darius Miller had 22 points in 13 minutes. … In the girls 7th Region, Sacred Heart checked out in the first round with a 69-62 overtime loss to Fern Creek. DuPont Manual, Mercy and Ballard all advanced.