Elizabethtown holds on to Defeat McCracken County in Sweet 16

etown — Les Nicholson | Kentucky Sports Radio

The Elizabethtown Panthers defeated the No. 21 McCracken County Mustangs 48-44 on the first day of the UK Healthcare Boys’ Sweet 16 at Rupp Arena.

Junior big man Ayden Evans had 21 points, seven blocks, four rebounds, and three steals for the Panthers. He had a couple of monster slam dunks and blocked a McCracken County 3-ponter with four seconds left to preserve the victory.

Evans with his 7th block to preserve a 4-point lead for Etown in the final seconds! pic.twitter.com/EfU9eHctFs
— Troy Howell (@teeroyhowell) March 15, 2023

Evans is currently playing in the post, although he is projected to play on the wing at the next level.

“He is a pleasure to coach,” Elizabethtown Coach James Haire said. “Does anything you ask him to do. He is developing every day. I see growth every single day.”

“You don’t get anything easy,” McCracken County coach Dustin Roberts said about Evans. “He is a game changer with the shot blocking. Very athletic and very good timing.”

Obian Howard, who made two clutch free throws and came up with a key steal, finished with 10 points. After an up-and-down start to the season, the Panthers are clicking at the right time, having won eight straight games.

“This group has come so far from the first game to now,” Coach Haire said. “We are playing together better. We are making better decisions.”

McCracken County (29-6) was back in Rupp Arena after a one-year absence. Connor Miller led the Mustangs with 15 points and 12 rebounds. Jack McCune added 14 points. Roberts cited turnovers and outside shooting as the key factors in the loss today.

“Really proud of our guys,” Coach Roberts said. “They had a great season. Had a lot of adversity.”

How do the Mustangs manage to make it to Rupp Arena so often? Roberts cited the atmosphere around the program.

“I think the biggest thing is the culture in our program. We try to emphasize the ‘we’ not ‘me’. We have very good kids. They take care of business in the classroom. They are well liked in the community.”

Next Up for Elizabethtown

The Panthers (31-9) move on the quarterfinals where they will face No. 16 Woodford County (21-12) on Friday at 11 AM. The Yellow Jackets took down Jeffersontown in overtime of the opening game of the Sweet 16.

“They are very athletic. They do guard very well,” said coach Haire about the Panthers’ next opponent.

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First Half Breakdown

Elizabethtown got 10 points from Evans to take a 14-12 lead at the end of the first quarter. McCracken County held Evans scoreless in the second quarter while their stars Ian Hart (9 first half points) and McCune (7 first half points) helped the Mustangs build a 24-18. Howard gave the Panthers a 1-point lead and a ton of momentum going in to the second half with a pair of 3-pointers, including one from way downtown at the halftime buzzer.

Wow Obian Howard with back-to-back 3-pointers including this one at the halftime horn gives Etown a 25-24 lead over McCracken County pic.twitter.com/Q69d3BNyjM
— Troy Howell (@teeroyhowell) March 15, 2023

McCracken County dominated the first half boards (16-6) and field goal percentage (58% to E-Town’s 36%) but the Panthers were 5-of-9 from downtown and a perfect 4-of-4 from the charity stripe. They also forced 11 Mustang first half turnovers.

Halftime Score: Eliabethtown 25 McCracken County 24

Third Quarter

The Panthers extended their lead to 32-28 on a short jumper by Trey Durbin and a pressure defense trap that forced a Mustang timeout. McCracken went right to McCune, whose straight-line drive resulted in an and-1.

And-1 play from Jack McCune. He added the FT to bring McCracken Countywith 1. Etown leads 32-31. 3Q pic.twitter.com/SYSjKLTULa
— Troy Howell (@teeroyhowell) March 15, 2023

The Mustangs continued to hang around thanks to some nifty backdoor cuts, and took the lead on a Jack Bradley floater. A Hart block and pair of free throws by Miller extended the Mustang lead to three before TaQuan Townsend’s layup before the buzzer brought the Panthers to within 37-36.

Score at End of Third Quarter: McCracken County 37, Elizabethtown 36

Nail-Biting Sweet 16 Fourth Quarter

Evans got things going with a impressive slam dunk and followed that up with a steal and another dunk to give the Panthers a 42-37 lead with less than six minutes remaining.

Wow Evans with the slam! Etown leads McCracken 40-37. Early 4Q pic.twitter.com/TrGKOGAtzs
— Troy Howell (@teeroyhowell) March 15, 2023

After two McCracken County free throws, Jajaun Williams answered with a Panther bucket. McCune got the Mustangs to within 44-41 with a short jumper. McCune came up big on defense with a block to give the ball back to McCracken County. Bradley cashed in two free throws before Evans answered with a pair for the Panthers with 1:19 remaining.

McCracken had a 3-pointer to tie the game, but the shot was an air-ball. McCune hustled to block what appeared to be a wide-open layup, but the Panthers claimed the offensive rebound. E-Town missed the front end of the bonus and the rebound resulted in a jump ball with the arrow favoring McCracken County.

Trailing by three, the Mustangs called timeout with 32 seconds remaining. Miller rebounded Hart’s miss and was fouled on the put-back attempt. He made 1-of-2 and the Mustangs were forced to foul Howard with 20 seconds remaining. Howard cashed in both free throws and forced a tie-up with 14 seconds left, giving the ball back to the Panthers who held on for the victory.