Mason County head coach Brian Kirk.
If Terrell Henry wasn’t hitting five-foot jumpers, he was driving the free throw lane for a layup.
And if Mason County’s senior forward wasn’t dropping a left-handed 10-footer, he was knocking down a 3-pointer from the left corner, grabbing seven rebounds, serving three assists, blocking a shot or pilfering a pass.
Wednesday was an altogether good night for Henry and the Royals. His 26 points, seven rebounds, three assists, a block and a steal guided his team to a 70-56 win over Louisville Butler in the semifinals of the Mason County Invitational Tournament at The Fieldhouse.
“I like to take pride in my defense,” Henry said. “I like to get my teammates involved. I like to see my assist numbers high; I like to crash the glass and get as much rebounds as I can.”
Mason County not only improved to 8-0 – the Royals captured the MCIT tournament a day early. McCracken County – a 53-47 semifinal winner over Henry Clay – was supposed to be Thursday’s championship opponent, but school officials in Paducah told the Mustangs to come home in advance of Thursday’s predicted rain and snow.
Royals coach Brian Kirk’s enthusiasm wasn’t dampened.
“I’m just very proud of our guys, the way they competed,” Kirk said. “They were focused for 32 minutes, shared the ball extremely well, took the open shots, made the unselfish pass, the right pass. Just a complete, total team effort from our guys.”
Not having a finals opponent hardly detracted from Mason County’s win. The Royals got 17 points and six rebounds from Riley Mastin and 12 points, two assists and a steal from Braylon Hamilton.
The Royals’ team totals were equally nice – 25 of 41 from the field for 61%, out-rebounding Butler, 28- 20, and limiting the Bears to 42.3% from the field.
Hamilton even a bit of basketball ballet – a baseline reverse layup that made you want to YouTube Julius Erving’s similar shot in Game 4 of the 1980 NBA Finals, when “Dr. J” glided by the Los Angeles Lakers’ Mark Landsberger on the right side and avoided Kareem Abdul-Jabbar while airborne behind the backboard before swooping his right arm around for the score.
“All the time, all the time,” Hamilton said when asked if he practices the reverse layup. “Both hands. I’ve got the finish down, I’m telling you.”
Butler (8-2), meanwhile, may have enjoyed advantages in three categories: making 13 of 14 free throws, converting 11 Mason County turnovers into 13 points, and surrendering just four miscues.
Henry’s night started with the 5-footer just 15 seconds into the game. The Bears’ Terry Walker (who led his team with 17 points) countered with a layup and Dayton Williams’ free throw.
Mason County’s 9-4 run for an 11-7 lead midway through the opening quarter had variety: Henry’s layup, Hamilton’s 3 and Mastin’s offensive rebound and 8-foot baby hook in the paint, and Carter McClanahan’s field goal over Walker.
Walker’s seven points over 56 seconds gave Butler a 14-11 lead before it was time of 82 seconds of Henry heroics. In order: a left-handed 10-footer with 1:22 to go, a 3 from the left corner with 35 ticks remaining, and a field goal and free throw a few seconds later.
That’s eight points, good enough for a 19-14 Mason County lead.
“Really, honestly, we did what I thought we needed to do,” Butler coach Kevin Geary said. “We kind of contained his drives a little bit. He’s so strong and physical; he was able to get to his spots consistently.”
Hamilton’s 3 from the left corner, Mastin’s layup and 3 and Khristian “KG” Walton’s long, far one gave the Royals a 30-18 advantage, which grew to 34-20 at halftime on Philip Bierley’s off-balance 8-footer in the paint and two free throws.
The Royals expanded their lead to 57-38 after three quarters with a 10-7 run.
Mason County is off until Tuesday, when a date with Bracken County awaits in the White, Greer & Maggard Holiday Classic at Lexington Catholic.
BUTLER FG FT REB TP
Williams 4-12 1-2 3 9
Walker 7-14 2-2 5 17
Russell1-5 3-4 0 6
Meriwether 4-11 0-0 1 8
Hayes 3-4 2-2 0 8
Sullivan 1-2 0-0 1 2
Clark 0-1 0-0 7 0
Perkins 0-1 0-0 0 0
Renford 1-1 0-0 0 2
Jones 1-1 0-0 0 2
Lyles 0-0 2-2 0 2
Team 3
TOTALS 22-52 10-12 20 56
FG Pct.: 42.3. FT Pct: 83.3. 3-point FG: 2-13 (Williams 0-5, Walker 1-1, Russell 1-1, Meriwether 0-4, Sullivan 0-1, Perkins 0-1). PF: 11. Fouled out: None. Turnovers: 4.
MASON CO. FG FT REB TP
Henry 10-12 5-5 7 26
Bierley 1-3 3-4 5 5
Walton 2-5 0-0 4 5
Hamilton 4-8 2-2 0 12
Mastin 6-9 3-3 6 17
McClanahan 2-4 0-0 0 5
Butler 0-0 0-0 0 0
Horch 0-0 0-0 0 0
Owens 0-0 0-0 0 0
Routt 0-0 0-0 0 0
McClain 0-0 0-0 0 0
Team 6
TOTALS 25-41 13-14 28 70
FG Pct.: 61.0. FT Pct: 92.9. 3-point FG: 7-19 (Henry 1-2, Bierley 0-1, Walton 1-3, Hamilton 2-5, Mastin 2-5, McClananhan 1-3). PF: 10. Fouled out: None. Turnovers: 11.
BUTLER 14 6 18 18 – 56
MASON CO. 19 15 23 13 – 70
Technical fouls: None.
–
McCracken County 53, Henry Clay 47 – Before taking the 324-mile return journey from The Fieldhouse to Paducah, the Mustangs erased a 22-18 halftime deficit by outscoring the Blue Devils, 35- 25, in the second half.
McCracken County improved to 9-0. Jack McCune led the Mustangs with 27 points, and Jackson Klope added 10.
Henry Clay fell to 5-3. Henry Lynch’s 13 points led the Blue Devils, and Mason Hawkins added 11.
Thursday’s tentative revised schedule features: Augusta vs. Greenwood for seventh place at 11 a.m., Butler vs. Henry Clay for third at 12:30 p.m. and Highlands vs. Fleming County for fifth at 2 p.m.
MCCRACKEN CO. 9 9 18 17 – 53
HENRY CLAY 15 7 11 14 – 47
McCracken Co. (53) — Miller 9, Bradley 2, Purvis 2, McCune 27, Hart 7, Klope 10. 3-Pt. FG: 1
(McCune). FT: 16-20. Fouls: 16. Fouled out: None.
Henry Clay (47) — Konlin Brown 8, Kayson Brown 9, Lynch 13, Garrett 4, Hawkins 11, Spalding 2.
3-Pt. FG: 5 (Konlin Brown, Lynch 3). FT: 10-13. Fouls: 15. Fouled out: No
