Bailey's OT Game Winner Powers Bowling Green Past Adair County in Sweet 16
Deuce Bailey‘s layup with nine seconds remaining in overtime powered the No. 14 Bowling Green Purples to a 52-51 victory over the No. 8 Adair County Indians in the opening game of the UK Healthcare Boys’ Sweet 16 at Rupp Arena on Wednesday.
Trailing by one point and time ticking down, Bailey went one-on-one to drive in for the game-winner.
“I kind of just (saw) a matchup that I liked,” Bailey said. “Took my opportunity (to) just try to get to the basket and take a good shot.”
Bailey is no stranger to making big plays in big moments. He quarterbacked the Purples to back-to-back 5A football state championships and is signed to play on the gridiron at Missouri State.
“I’ve always got five guys on the court that score the basketball, and I’ve got supreme confidence with my guys making a play.” Bowling Green head coach DG Sherrill said. “Deuce was the preseason 4th Region Player of the Year. He’s going to play college football but he’s a college basketball (caliber) player. Why wouldn’t I want the ball in his hands?”
Brayton Banks led the Purples with 16 points, including the game-tying bucket late in regulation, while Kadyn Carpenter added 13. The Purples avenged a 71-67 loss to Adair County that happened back in December. Isaiah Cochran and Connor Loy led Adair County with 14 points each. Loy added nine rebounds and eight assists to flirt with a triple-double. The pair helped the Indians finish regulation on a 14-6 tear to mount a furious comeback.
“Loy is a load. He’s a fabulous player,” Sherrill said after the game.
Game Recap
First Quarter
To start the game, Bailey and Carpenter hit back-to-back treys to put Bowling Green up 6-0. Jace Wardlow later added a triple for the Purples, but Cochran powered the Indians’ run with five points and five boards in the quarter. Brayton Coomer’s bucket gave Adair County a 13-11 lead before a Banks jumper near the end of the quarter pulled the Purples even.
Bowling Green 13, Adair County 13
Second Quarter
After Adair County jumped out to a 17-14 lead, the Purples got back-to-back transition buckets from Luke Idlett and Carpenter to reclaim the lead. They finished the half on a 6-2 run. Cochran led all scorers with eight points. Adair County won the rebounding battle 18-10 but shot 0-5 from downtown and 9-for-20 from the field. Bowling Green was only 8-for-23 from the field.
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Bowling Green 20, Adair County 19
Third Quarter
Bowling Green picked up the defensive intensity and cleaned up on the glass to build a 30-23 lead. Banks outscored the Indians by himself in the quarter, knifing into the lane and finishing around the hoop. Wardlow stretched the lead to 34-26 with a pair of layups in the final two minutes of the quarter.
Bowling Green 34, Adair County 26
Fourth Quarter
Bowling Green continued to be in control, but the Indians pulled within 40-36 after a Loy jumper followed by a Coomer layup assisted by Loy with 3:16 remaining. Joseph Hurt stopped the bleeding for Bowling Green with a bucket, but Loy quickly countered with an and-one opportunity. He missed the free throw, but Cochran came up with the rebound and cashed in the layup to slice the Purple lead to two. Banks hit a pair of free throws with 1:48 left to make it 44-40 Bowling Green.
The Indians missed but Coomer grabbed the board and got an old-fashioned 3-point play. Bowling Green was then called for a flagrant foul on an offensive elbow. Loy cashed in one of two free throws to tie the score at 44. Cochran scored with a minute remaining to give the Indians their first second-half lead.
Banks answered with a bucket to tie it up. Then Loy held the ball for 40 seconds and called timeout with 3.5 seconds remaining in the tie game. Loy got a clean look from deep out of the timeout, but it missed off the front rim. They had a tip on the rebound but that missed too.
Bowling Green 46, Adair County 46
Overtime
Idlett’s putback put Bowling Green up but Lane Grant countered with a triple for the Indians. Bowling Green missed a three but forced a turnover to get the ball back down 49-48. They called timeout with 1:01 left. Banks drew a foul and nailed both free throws. Loy answered with a pair from the charity stripe with thirty seconds left, setting the stage for Bailey’s heroics.
Next Up…
Bowling Green (29-6) moves on to the quarterfinals where they will face the winner of No. 22 Ashland Blazer (23-7) and No. 4 Calloway County (31-3) on Friday at 11:00 AM ET at Rupp Arena. Ashland and Calloway County play tonight at 8:30 PM ET. The Purples are looking to pull off the rare combination of football and basketball state championship in the same school year.
Adair County (30-6) will look to rebuild as they’ll lose four seniors from the starting lineup, including Loy and Cochran.
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