2012 Toyota Classic Championship Game : Scott Co vs Woodford Co Recap

SCOTT COUNTY  71, WOODFORD COUNTY 52

 Senior Isaiah Ivey scored 22 points while classmate Tamron Manning added 18, Quin Richardson chipped in with 17, and Trent Gilbert contributed 12 as the Scott County Cardinals won the championship of the 2012 Toyota Classic with a  70-52 victory over Region 11 rival Woodford County.  The title is the eighth in 17 years for the Cardinals, who last won in 2010.

The opening quarter was characterized by an absence of outside shooting and a preponderence of layups and free throws with the Jackets hitting just three of 13 from the floor and the Cards only three of 10.  Woodford County opened the scoring with a pair of David Greenwell free throws.  Tamron Manning followed with a pair of his own for Scott County to tie the game at 2-all.  The teams traded layups and with the score 8-4 in favor of the Yellow Jackets, a pair of Josh Harris foul shots and a layup by Isaiah Ivey tied the game at eight.  Ivey’s foul line jumper – the first made jump shot of the period - with two seconds to play in the quarter gave the Cardinals a 10-8 lead at the end of one.

The shooting improved in period two – both in range and in percentage – for both teams.  Scott County hit 43% from the field for the quarter but were outshot by Woodford, who blitzed the nets for six of 10.  The Cardinals built a lead of 28-16 with 2:54 left in the half and withstood a late-quarter Woodford surge sparked by Greenwell, who tallied 10 points in the period – including two for two from long range -  to lead at the half, 28-25.  Neither team cracked the 40% field goal rate for the half as Woodford’s 39% edged Scott’s 38% only because Scott County missed one more field goal than the Yellow Jackets.

The Yellow Jackets closed to within one point, 28-27, in the first 10 seconds of the third quarter on a spectacular alley-oop reverse dunk by 6-7 senior Jay Jackson, who was fouled on the play by Scott County’s Trent Gilbert.  Jackson missed the free throw and the Cards immediately went on a 5-0 run to lead 32-27.  A three-pointer by Greenwell cut the Cardinal lead to 32-30 and a three by Landon Young put Woodford ahead, 33-32.  Ivey countered to make it 34-33 in favor of the Cards. 

After several minutes of back-and-forth scoring, the Cardinals upped their lead to 43-36 as Quin Richardson stole the ball, threw a behind-the-back outlet pass to Tamron Manning who flushed a dunk with less than three minutes left in the third.  But Woodford would chip away at what became a nine-point lead to trail by six, 49-42 at the end of three.  Greenwell hit two of three – including another three-pointer – to finish the period with 20 points while Ivey and Manning finished the quarter with team-highs of 13 points, one more than the dozen of Richardson.

The Cards increased their lead to 10, 53-43, in the first minute of the final period.  A three-point play by Gilbert put Scott County ahead by 14 and the Cardinals eventually led by as many as 21 down the stretch.  Greenwell finished with 22 points to lead Woodford while Rodney Gross’ 10 rebounds led the Yellow Jackets.