Frederick Douglass Finishes on 17-0 Run; Stuns Male in Sweet 16 Quarterfinals
I hope you didn’t leave early.
The No. 2 Frederick Douglass Broncos came back from the dead to knock out the No. 6 Male Bulldogs 58-54 in the quarterfinals of the 2023 UK Healthcare Boys’ Sweet 16 Tournament at Rupp Arena. Trailing 54-41 with 4:23 left in the game, the Broncos finished the game on a frantic 17-0 run to pull off the epic comeback. An Armelo Boone 3-pointer from the wing got Douglass within one point with 1:53 remaining. After that, the sophomore knocked the ball out of Male’s hands right to fellow sophomore Aveion Chenualt. The Broncos called timeout with 57 seconds remaining trailing 54-53.
“I feel like that when we got that steal, we knew it was our time to go on a run and take over the game,” Chenault said.
A Logan Busson bucket, his only one of the game, gave the Broncos a one-point lead. Another Boone deflection straight to Chenault gave the Broncos the ball back. Male fouled with 23 seconds remaining and Chenault hit one-of-two free throws. Male missed another shot and fouled Boone with six seconds remaining, who cashed in both to complete the 17-0 run.
What did Scarberry say during a timeout when his team was facing a double-digit fourth-quarter deficit?
“I don’t know if I can repeat everything,” he said. “We switched to a full court press which we haven’t been really doing all year. We kept attacking the rim. Our defense really sparks our offense. We thought we could make the game faster, that is when we are at our best.”
Boone led the way with 19 points, Tylon Webb added 16, and Chenualt chipped in 13 points. The trio combined to make 22 of 25 free throws.
“To step in as sophomores and make those free throws on a big stage, that shows how great those kids are,” Scarberry said about Boone and Chenualt.
The Bulldogs (26-11), which also lost a heartbreaker in the first round of the Sweet 16 last year, saw its 15-game win streak come to an end. Male seemed to have the game in hand tonight, using a 17-4 run to take a 46-35 lead in the fourth quarter that they were not able to hang on to. Cole Edelen, who is one of the top freshmen in the state, led Male with 17 points and ten assists.
What went wrong for Male?
“We had three (uncalled) fouls there at the rim at the end,” Male coach Tim Haworth said. “I thought we got fouled and they didn’t call it. We weren’t playing stall ball. We wanted our guys to be aggressive.”
Haworth said with three chances he would hope to convert them or at least draw a foul call.
Male will look to make another run at its fifth state championship next year with starters Cole Edelen, Max Gainey, and Jayson Gasaway set to return. The Bulldogs haven’t won the state championship since 1975.
“Super proud of these guys,” Haworth said. “We started off 3 and 7, we beat Ballard twice, Trinity and Cov Cath. This is one of my all-time favorite teams. No drama. We stuck together. Super proud to coach this group.”
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Next Up for Douglass
The Broncos (33-2) move on to the semifinals where they will face either No. 5 George Rogers Clark (29-5) or No. 4 Lyon County (32-5) on Saturday at 1:30 PM. Douglass has won 30 straight games dating back to December. They are seeking to join Louisville Trinity (2011-2012) and Covington Catholic (2017-2018) on the list of teams that have won state football and basketball championships in the same school year.
Game Recap
The Broncos raced out to a 5-0 lead thanks to a Boone 3-pointer and a Webb bucket in transition. Despite poor early shooting, the Bulldogs pulled to within one, 10-9, at the first media timeout after forcing four early Broncos turnovers. Male took a 14-11 lead at the end of the first quarter thanks to a 3-pointer and driving layup from Meechie White.
Boone drained his second triple to tie the game at 14. Kai Simpson, the Broncos’ senior leader, picked up his third foul early in the quarter and sat on the Douglass bench for the rest of the half. Both teams continued to go back and forth with Male holding a slim lead until Cole Edelen connected with Gasaway for a layup to give the Bulldogs its largest lead of the game at 23-19.
Douglass converted six free throws down the stretch to pull within 26-25 at the half. The Broncos were an impressive 11-for-13 from the stripe in the first half while Male was only 4-for-8. Boone had nine first-half points while Webb added eight for Douglass. Cole Edelen led Male with eight first-half points, four assists and two steals.
Jack Edelen started the second half with a corner 3-pointer. Douglass answered with a 6-0 run, going ahead 31-29 on a Chenualt layup. That’s when the Bulldogs went on their big run. Gasaway and White added easy buckets at the rim to put the Bulldogs up 33-31 before Simpson picked up his fourth foul of the game on a charge. He was limited with foul trouble all night and eventually fouled out with two minutes remaining.
Male extended the lead to 37-31 after two Cole Edelen baskets, sandwiched around another Douglass charge. A driving layup from Chenault finally stopped the Bulldogs’ 8-0 run and forced a Male timeout with 3:21 remaining in the third quarter. Cole Edelen answered with a 3-pointer before Jack Edelen added a transition layup. Boone countered with a bucket for Douglass, but Shammai Gates pushed the Male lead to 44-35. Douglass was called for yet another offensive foul as White finished at the rim on the other end to cap the 17-4 run.
The Broncos managed to eventually cut the Male lead to 54-48 inside the final four minutes of the fourth quarter on a Boone 3-pointer, Webb transition bucket, and two Webb free throws. Jack Edelen picked up his fourth foul after another Douglass steal, with Chenualt hitting both free throws to pull Douglass within four. After a Bulldogs’ miss, the Broncos got the ball back with two minutes left and that’s when Douglass completed the incredible comeback.
The Broncos won despite taking 19 fewer shots than Male but had advantages at the line and on the boards.
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