All A CLASSIC: Tiger defense keys QF win

FRANKFORT — Bardstown didn’t have to be pretty Friday in its quarterfinal win in the Touchstone Energy All A Classic over Glasgow. In fact, the Tigers were downright nasty ugly on defense, forcing the Scotties into a dismal 18 percent shooting night while advancing to Saturday’s semifinals against Heath (15-7) after press time for this edition at Frankfort’s Farnham Dudgeon Civic Center

“We switched it up to a 2-3 (zone) and that threw them off a bit,” senior Drew Starks said.

And while good defense is normally a Tiger strong suit, a zone defense isn’t always coach James “Boo” Brewer’s favorite method.

“My guys really talked me into playing something (out of the ordinary) … I’m not normally playing a zone,” he said. “We’re normally a man-to-man team. We kind of decided, ‘Let’s see if we can throw them off-balance.’ And they did a good job.”

Bardstown (17-6) struggled yet again to find a good flow on offense in the first half, managing just 23 points before the break. But the Tigers allowed just 15 points by the Scotties (15-5), limiting the 4th Region champs to a 3-for-18 first half from the field.

“We wanted to get them back for football,” said Starks, who scored 10 points. Glasgow, featuring several basketball players on its football roster, beat Bardstown 15-9 in November in the Class 2A football playoffs on the way to the state finals.

“It was kind of revenge,” said Bardstown senior Anthony Myrks — a wide receiver on the Tiger football team. “We’re one step closer to our goal.”

With the defense keeping Glasgow in check, Bardstown was able to exercise patience on the offensive end and making the Scotties work on defense before point guard Anthony Myrks would look for opportunities to penetrate.

And when Myrks penetrated, good things usually happened. The senior scored 14 points and attempted 10 free throws and dished out four more assists.

Three of those came in the third quarter, as Myrks found Jordan Brewer, Devonte Grundy and Marcus Cosby on three-pointers during a 14-5 spurt to begin the second half, swelling the Tiger lead to 37-20.

“The coaches told me to just control the tempo of the game,” Myrks said. “We have a bunch of good shooters. When I try to penetrate, I try to look for them for open threes.”

The Scotties never came closer than 14 after that, as the Tigers limited them to 11-of-60 overall from the field. After sputtering some on offense before halftime, Bardstown improved to 46 percent after the break and 42 percent (20-for-47) overall. The Tigers won the battle on the glass, 40-37.

Grundy paced the Tigers with 15 points and 11 boards, while Cody Ramos added four points and six rebounds as well as four of Bardstown’s seven blocked shots. Drew Starks added 10 points.

Steely Harris had 15 for Glasgow.

Courtesy of Peter W. Zubaty. The Kentucky Standard