Bowling Green Rolls Past South Oldham to Sweet 16 Finals

The No. 14 Bowling Green Purples defeated the No. 12 South Oldham Dragons 73-51 in the semifinals of the UK Healthcare Boys’ Sweet 16 at Rupp Arena on Saturday afternoon.  

After surviving a potential game-winning shot in regulation to win in overtime in both their first and second-round games, the Purples didn’t have to sweat it out as much today. Bowling Green, which came in first in the state in three-point shooting (46.7%) was money from deep (8-for-14) in the victory. South Oldham, who hit 29 three-pointers in their first two Sweet 16 games, was only 8-for-35 on the day, thanks in large part to Bowling Green’s swarming defense.

“We just wanted to contain threes,” Bowling Green coach DG Sherrill said postgame. “That was our entire focus. We only had a 24-hour turnaround. They shoot the three so well. We talked all morning about running them off that line. No catch and shoots. We did a good job of guarding that three-point line.”

Joseph Hurt led the way with 26 points on a sizzling 10-for-13 from the field. Braylon Banks added 11 points, seven assists, and six boards and Luke Idlett finished with 12 points and three steals. He was 4-for-7 from downtown.

“Usually all our players can score,” Hurt said postgame. “It was just my night tonight. I feel like I did pretty well. Teammates got me the ball for wide-open shots.”

Julian Miles led South Oldham with 18 points, five rebounds and five assists. He was the only Dragon in double figures. William Burnside added nine points and nine rebounds.

“What a great season it was by South Oldham,” Dragons coach Steven Simpson said postgame. “We didn’t have legs today. We just kept saying during every timeout that we need one South Oldham run. We didn’t get it, but it wasn’t for a lack of preparation or for a lack of effort. I feel fortunate and blessed by God to be around these guys.”

Hurt outscored the Dragons by himself in the first quarter (nine to eight) as the Purples limited South Oldham to zero made triples in the quarter. Burnside went to work inside with six points in the quarter to keep the Dragons within striking distance.

Joseph Hurt is 4-for-5 from the field (including this triple). He leads Bowling Green with nine points.

Bowling Green 14
South Oldham 8
End 1Q pic.twitter.com/1YLByKTV3l

— Troy Howell (@teeroyhowell) March 29, 2025

Bowling Green caught fire from deep in the second quarter. At one point, Idlett, the state’s top three-point shooter by percentage (58.8%), buried back-to-back triples to extend the lead to 32-20 and force a South Oldham timeout. Miles answered with five quick points and Jake Fithian added a triple to pull the Dragons within seven. The Purples finished the half strong though, with a Jace Wardlow bucket followed by another triple from Idlett to give Bowling Green a 37-26 halftime lead.

Luke Idlett’s -the state’s top 3-point shooter by percentage – hits his 4th triple in 5 attempts right before half to give Bowling Green a 37-26 lead over South Oldham headed into halftime. pic.twitter.com/GUmqma82bo

— Troy Howell (@teeroyhowell) March 29, 2025

Midway through the third quarter, South Oldham pulled within 40-34 on a Miles triple, but a Deuce Bailey layup and Banks turnaround after a sweet ball fake extended the Purples’ lead back to double digits. The Dragons went cold from deep and never got it closer than eight the rest of the way. Bowling Green turned up the defensive intensity and Banks drilled a fourth-quarter triple to give the Purples their largest lead of the game at 55-40 and Bowling Green rolled the rest of the way.

Great move by Banks extends the Bowling Green lead to 44-34. 3Q pic.twitter.com/nnE6c4nbFG

— Troy Howell (@teeroyhowell) March 29, 2025

Next Up…

Bowling Green (29-6) moves on to the finals where they will face the winner of No. 15 Montgomery County (24-10) and No. 2 Great Crossing (33-4) tonight at 7:30 here at Rupp Arena in a short turnaround. Great Crossing features 7-foot-1 Kentucky commit Malachi Moreno and Montgomery County has been on a tear since point guard Cayden Reed got eligible in late January.

“We will play UK next,” Sherrill said postgame. “We don’t care. We are playing in the state championship game. (Due to playing the first game, it’s) Advantage us, as far as preparation. It is going to be a phenomenal game, a phenomenal opponent. We may get beat by 20 but they are going to have to beat us. We are coming to play basketball.”

The Purples are looking to pull off the rare combination of football and basketball state championship in the same school year. Bailey quarterbacked them to the 5A state football championships in 2023 and 2024. They are seeking their second state basketball title. Eighth-grade point guard Zion Harmon and future Austin Peay star Terry Taylor led them to the 2017 state championship. If they win it will be the second state championship in three years for the 4th Region — crosstown rival Warren Central brought home the hardware in 2023.

South Oldham (31-6) will look to rebuild with their top four scorers graduating. They will look to build around Kolton Wuchterl, who set the record for most 3-pointers in a Sweet 16 game with 10 on Friday against Jeffersontown.

“We will come back stronger,” Wuchterl said. “These guys have left something that not many teams can do. It will really, really hard to get back here, but with coach and the guys coming back, I think we have a good chance.”