The Best Seat in the House

News and notes from day 4 of the boys 12th Region Tournament at Lincoln County:

• West Jessamine defeated Mercer County 51-48 for the 12th Region championship.
• West Jessamine (26-7) won its second consecutive regional title and the third for a Jessamine County school. The Colts play Muhlenberg County at noon March 18 in the first round of the Boys Sweet Sixteen. Muhlenberg (20-10) defeated Apollo 64-50 on Monday for the 3rd Region championship.
• The Colts beat Mercer (22-10) for the third time in four meetings this season, but only after the Titans gave them all they could handle over the final 14 minutes or so. Mercer trailed by 11 points in the second quarter and by nine points at halftime and was still behind by nine early in the third quarter, but the Titans hit five 3-point goals in that period — including three by Kasey McRay — to cut the deficit to four.
• Mercer pulled to within 47-46 on a 3-pointer by Matthew Honchel with 4:07 to play, then got four chances to take the lead over the next four minutes but couldn’t convert any of them. West Jessamine ended a four-minute scoring drought when Jarrod Polson’s 3-point play with 59 seconds left made it 50-46. The Titans got two chances to tie the game with 3-point attempts in the closing seconds, but both of those shots missed the mark.
• Mercer was 5 for 14 from the field in the fourth quarter and shot 37 percent (19 for 51) overall and went 9 for 22 from 3-point range, while West Jessamine shot 45 percent (20 for 44) overall and was 6 for 11 from long distance. The Colts hit only four of eight free throws and were 1 for 5 in the fourth quarter, and the normally dependable Polson was just 1 for 4 at the line in the final period. The Titans were just 1 for 3 at the foul line.
• Polson was named the tournament’s most valuable player after scoring 88 points in West Jessamine’s three tournament games. He led the Colts in the title game with 31 points, going 12 for 16 overall from the field and 4 for 4 from 3-point range. Dylan Pohl added seven points for the Colts, and Bradley Strait had seven rebounds. McRay led Mercer with 16 points, going 5 for 7 from 3-point range, and reserve Austin Sagraves added 14 points. Aaron Lee had a game-high 10 rebounds.
• Mercer missed its opportunity to win the school’s second regional title but finished with its best record since the 1986-87 season, when it was also 22-10. Until this season, the Scotties/Titans hadn’t won more than 19 games in any season since ’87.
• The boys all-tournament team: Jacob Bodner, Boyle County; Clay Cinnamon, Mercer County; Zach Eastham, Pulaski County; David Elliott, West Jessamine; Kyle Hopper, Wayne County; Kyle Jeffries, Casey County; Tyler Jenkins, Pulaski County; Cory Jones, Boyle County; Aaron Lee, Mercer County; Kasey McRay, Mercer County; Dylan Pohl, West Jessamine; Jarrod Polson, West Jessamine (most valuable player); Tevin Raines, Danville; Zack Roark, McCreary Central; Gus Sherrow, West Jessamine.
• Once again, thanks to everyone who regularly visited this blog for 12th Region Tournament info over the last 10 days. I appreciate your interest, welcome your comments and hope you’ll check back often between now and this time next year for more news on Advocate-area high school teams.