2008 Basketball

GIRLS Going into the state tournament, most people around the state thought 7th Region champ duPont Manual was the team to beat. The Butler Bearettes of the 6th were an afterthought. Then in the semi-finals, Butler and Manual squared off and the Bearettes defeated the Crimsons 58-46. Butler coach Eddy Wilson knew his girls had what it took to win. "We were always the second chosen," Wilson says. "We had to earn people's respect. They were a tight group. They all came together and held each other accountable. If you weren't rebounding or taking care of the ball they held each other accountable, which made it easier for me." Going into the championship game against Franklin-Simpson, Butler had a lot of momentum, but they had a major setback. An injury in the game against Manual left Miss Basketball and Vanderbilt signee, Tia Gibbs, unable to play in the second half of the final game. "Tia got injured in the second half against Manual," Wilson says. "In the first quarter of the championship game, she said she was having trouble focusing. Then halfway though the second quarter her hands started shaking and she said her head was hurting, so we took her out of the game. It ended up being dehydration, but we had to play the second half of the championship game without her." Even without Tia, Butler was able to defeat Franklin-Simpson 58-57 in a thriller and win their first state championship since 1980. "I knew our girls were prepared," Wilson says. "We just told them they had to keep doing what we had been preaching all year. Now looking back, I'm so proud of those girls. We were losing when Tia went out and they could have given up, but they went out there and fought as hard as they could. A lot of teams that aren't mentally strong would have folded if their best player went down, but our girls rallied together and we brought home a state championship trophy." BOYS >6th Region Back on Feb. 22 the Central Yellowjackets had a 10-11 record. The season looked like it was over, but someone forgot to tell Doug Bibby's squad. Bibby and his players reeled off five wins in a row to capture the 6th Region Championship and make an appearance in the KHSAA Sweet 16. Central defeated Fairdale 55-54 in the 6th Region title game led by the clutch play of senior LeeVaughn Morris who hit two free throws at the end of regulation to send the game into overtime. Then, with the game tied, he missed a shot, got his own rebound and put it back in to give Central the lead with 1.5 seconds left. Central was headed to Rupp Arena. >7th Region Going into the post-season, the Jeffersontown Chargers were a heavy favorite to win the 7th Region championship, but several close games in the first few rounds of the playoffs left fans wondering if it would happen. Jeffersontown won a thriller in the first round of the 7th Region playoffs against Manual. They trailed the Crimsons by nine points with 1:39 left in the game, but with the help of senior Nick Gagel. Jeffersontown went on a 14-3 run at the end of the game to defeat Manual 75-73. The Chargers then beat Ballard 57-55 and Eastern 58-53 to punch their ticket to Rupp Arena. >8th Region The Shelby County Rockets made their way to Rupp Arena thanks to an 8th Region title that featured wins over Owen County, South Oldham and a one-point victory over Gallatin County. The Rockets went on to defeat Lincoln County in round one and Hazard in round two of the Sweet 16. Only Mason County, the tournament winner, broke their streak in the semi-final. >Indiana The New Albany Bulldogs blazed their own trail to the Indiana state tournament in Indianapolis. Under the leadership of Braydon Hobbs, the only state all-star player from the Louisville area, the Bulldogs logged resounding wins against East Central and Evansville Reitz, before succumbing to tournament winner Brownsburg in the semi-state.