South Oldham overcomes Jeffersontown in 76-75 nail-biter, moves on to Sweet 16 Semifinals

On Friday, the South Oldham Dragons and Jeffersontown Chargers battled for a spot in the UK HealthCare Boys Basketball Sweet 16 Semifinals. Despite an immense effort from both teams, only one could come out on top. And after defeating the Chargers 76-75, South Oldham moves on to the Semifinals on Saturday.

Despite a Jeffersontown lead, both teams came out cold. With three minutes to go in the first, the Chargers and Dragons were shooting a combined 5-18 (27%) from the field. To end the first, J-Town’s Camron McDaniels was called for an intentional foul. South Oldham’s Julian Miles went 1-2 from the line and Kolton Wuchterl drained a three to cut the Chargers’ lead to one.

Early in the second, Wuchterl made two more baskets to give the Dragons a four-point lead. At this point, he led all scorers with 11 points in 10 minutes of play. Three Jeffersontown turnovers in a row gave South Oldham a 6-0 run to take a nine-point lead. Early on, it seemed like the Dragons were running away with this one.

The Chargers went completely cold, not making a single field goal for seven straight minutes. But South Oldham didn’t use that time to take a break. The Dragons continued pushing, quickly going up 15 over Jeffersontown.

Finally, the Chargers found some kind of rhythm. After a scoop and score by Damere Clark, Jeffersontown went on a 9-0 run to cut the Dragons’ lead to six heading into the half.

The Dragons didn’t even score in the second half until the six-minute mark, allowing the Chargers to take the lead early in the quarter. The two teams began trading the lead back and forth almost every possession. Both teams were hot from the field, despite the defensive effort.

In the back end of the third quarter, Jeffersontown took a slight lead, but South Oldham fought back with confidence. However, that wasn’t stopping J-town’s McDaniels from carrying his team to a five-point lead going into the fourth. The Chargers outscored South Oldham 31-20 in the third quarter.

The fourth quarter was much of the same. While neither team was scoring at the same level as the third quarter, the Dragons and Chargers were trading baskets on almost every possession. Just as it looked like the Chargers might have the game in the bag, South Oldham hit three three-pointers in a row to tie the game and take the lead. Then, Jeffersontown’s Dayvonne Harrison made a three to take the lead once again, by one point.

With two minutes left in regulation, both teams were heating up.

At the 40-second mark, South Oldham took the lead and forced Jeffersontown into a timeout. The Dragons didn’t have fouls to give, so any contact would send the Chargers to the line for a chance to take the lead. South Oldham had the possession arrow, and thanks to a jump ball, the Dragons got the ball back with 20 seconds to go.

Down one, Jeffersontown was forced to foul. South Oldham’s Julian Miles went 0-2 from the free throw line and gave Jeffersontown a chance to win. However, Damere Clark was called for a walk right underneath the Chargers’ basket, practically handing South Oldham the win. It was an unfortunate way to end the season, but for the South Oldham Dragons, it was the perfect comeback.

South Oldham’s Kolton Wuchterl led all scorers with a whopping 34 points, including 10 three-pointers. Jake Fithian added 15 and Julian Miles added 11.

On Saturday, the South Oldham Dragons will take on the Bowling Green Purples in the Semifinals of the KHSAA Sweet 16 at 11:00 a.m. EST.