Lawrence Co. heads to Rupp looking to make some noise
Lexington, Ky The 15th Region champion Bulldogs of Lawrence Co. will be making the county’s first ever appearance in the 2016 Whitaker Bank/KHSSA Sweet Sixteen. The tournament will kickoff on Wednesday at Noon in Lexington at Rupp Arena Lawrence Co. will play at Noon on Thursday.
Bulldogs Parade! Click to watch
The Dawgs ( 29-4 ) have won 10 straight games with their last loss coming on January 30th at the Big Sandy Arena 76-70 against two time defending West Virginia state champion Huntington High. LC swept through postseason play going 5-0 with the closest game was a 68-58 victory over Phelps while playing without leading scorer Timmy Dalton ( coaches decision ). The Dawgs have really picked it up on defense holding their opponents to 56 ppg in the postseason while scoring 78.2 ppg in five wins.
Lawrence Co. Head Coach Travis York won 15th Region coach of the year.
Lawrence Co. is led by five players that have been playing together for four years and have a combined record of 89-39. Back to back 60th district champs, three region appearances in a row and back to back region championship games.
This team has done things that no other team in Lawrence Co. history has done. Robert Dalton has scored over 2,018 career points, Brandon Richardson 1,925 Timmy Dalton 1,921 Austin Chaffins 1,674 and Grant Kiser 1,317 points. All five starters averaged at least 10 points per game this season.
Timmy Dalton 18.7 and 6.0 rebounds, Robert Dalton 17.7 and 7.5 rebounds, Austin Chaffins 15.2 and 4.7 rebounds, Brandon Richardson 13.6 and 5.2 rebounds, Grant Kiser 10.0 and 4.0 rebounds.
Big Man Josh Ratliff, Tanner Black and Alex Gilliam add depth.
LC is shooting 48.6% from the field, 33.6% from three and 69.3% from the foul line.
Lawrence County’s first round opposition will be 6th Region champ the Dragons of Louisville Doss ( 27-5 ) who are coached by Blair Williams. The Dragons have won 11 games in a row and are back to back 6th region champions.
Doss beat Williamsburg 56-50 in the first round of the sweet sixteen last year before falling to Covington Catholic 61-48.
The leading scorer for Doss is Kenyi Bryant with 15.5 ppg he also pulls down 4.3 rebounds. Kelshawn Knight-Goff gets 13.1 and is the team’s leading rebounder at 7.2, Jaylon Hall, who played in the state tourney last year averages 10.3 and 5.3 rebounds
Doss is shooting 49.1% from the field, 33.4% from three and 63.0% from the line on the year.
Gametime 12:00 noon Thursday, March 17, 2016
Lawrence Co. Head Coach Travis York
COACH’S COMMENTS
“… Our season really changed when we started focusing on defense and the kids really bought in and you can tell it by watching us.” Rebounding is another key to the second half of our season, we have done a better job on both ends giving ourselves extra possessions.” Doss is really good, very athletic and they play hard, should be a very good game, they are a lot like us.” Can’t wait to see our crowd in Rupp Arena I have heard they are coming from everywhere.” The boys are ready to go and show the state what they are made of.”
Lazer photos by Josh Ball