Dawgs remarkable season comes to an end at the hands of Louisville Doss; LCHS players will be remembered forever
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Lexington, Ky Lawrence Co. Basketball’s dream season came to an end on Thursday afternoon at Rupp Arena vs the Doss Dragons 66-57 in the first round of the KHSSA Sweet Sixteen. The Dawgs finished with a school record 29 victories. They broke many team and individual records through out the year.
The Dawgs got off to a slow start falling behind 9-3 but battled back behind a two handed slam from Timmy Dalton to pull within 11-8 at the end of the first quarter.
Doss started the 2nd quarter strong and led 19-10 with 6:12 to go before half and the Dawgs looked a little rattled. LC fought back behind a 9-0 run to tie the game up with just under a minute before to go.
But Doss scored the last four points of the first half to lead 23-19 at half. Lawrence Co. was out rebounded 25-8 and gave up 6-0 second chance points in the first half. The Bulldogs also missed a couple of easy chances in the half and free throws didn’t come easy, either.
In the 3rd quarter the pace of the game picked up and so did Brandon Richardson who hit four three pointers in the quarter even though he was battling a nose bleed pretty much the entire game. The Dawgs outscored the Dragons 24-20 in the 3rd and pulled even at 43 going to the final period.
In the 4th a Robert Dalton layup and foul gave LC a 46-45 lead before Doss answered with eight straight points to take a 54-46 lead. After a timeout Grant Kiser got a bucket while being fouled. He missed the free throw but Timmy Dalton got the rebound and flipped the ball to Austin Chaffins who drove the lane, got fouled, made the basket and the free throw for a five point possession and the Huge Lawrence Co. crowd roared in appreciation as the lead was cut to 54-51.
It was 57-55 after a Timmy Dalton put back with under two minutes to play the next sequence changed the game as Lawrence Co. was called for an intentional foul which gave Doss two free throws and the ball to put the score at 59-55. After the inbounds the Dawgs fouled again and the Dragons hit both free throws to put them up six.
On the next trip for the Dawgs it looked like they had a basket and foul but it was waved off and a foul elsewhere on the court and the officials really drew the ire of LC coach Travis York.
The fans rang down from the Rupp Arena crowd as they were not pleased with the officials.
That really took the wind out of the sails of the players and the pro Lawrence Co. crowd. Doss put the game away at the foul line as Jaylon Hall hit 13-15 for the Dragons and they move on to the quarterfinals.
Lawrence Co. was led by Timmy Dalton with 16 points, 9 rebounds and 3 steals, Brandon Richardson had 15 points on 5-11 three’s and 5 rebounds, Robert Dalton had 12 points and 3 steals, Austin Chaffins had 6 points and 3 assists, Grant Kiser had 6 points and 2 rebounds, Shawn Moore chipped in with 2 points. Josh Ratliff and Alex Gilliam played but did not score.
Lawrence Co. shot 34.5% ( 19-55 ) from the field, 30.8% ( 8-26 ) from three and 55.8% ( 11-20 ) from the foul line.
Louisville Doss shot 47.7% ( 21-44 ) from the field, 12.5% ( 2-16 ) from three and 71.0% ( 22-31 ) from the foul line. Jaylon Hall had 23 points to lead the Dragons.
Doss 11 12 20 23 66
LC 8 11 24 14 57
Doss will face Taylor Co. tonight at 6:30
The Lawrence Co. seniors finished their high school careers on the floor that they dreamed of playing as kids.
They took the Bulldog fans on an incredible ride the last four years and the fan showed up in droves and filled one of the most famous arenas in America with a sea of red.
It was a sight to see and those kids were the reason as they laid it all on the line the last four years. As one fan said… this is the only time Rupp Arena looks good in red.
Lawrence Co. fans traveled from miles away to watch these players. This team will never be forgotten as basketball players or young men as they have this whole community swelling with pride.
Lawrence Co. Head Coach Travis York
COACH’S COMMENT
“… Tough loss, we had a great time while we were here but didn’t plan on going home today, great community support from our fans, great atmosphere to play in.” Good Doss team they are very athletic, long good on the defensive end and rebounding they really killed us on the boards especially in the first half.” Told our boys to hold their heads high they done something that no other team from Lawrence Co. has ever done.” I thought that was our best defensive half of the year but we couldn’t keep them off the boards and limit second chance opportunities, like I said they are so long.” The intentional foul really was a tough call because we were trying to foul that player and keep Jaylon Hall off of the line.” So proud of our effort and thankful for the last two years with this team.”
Lawrence Co. Senior Robert Dalton
“… From day one freshman year we knew this team was going to doing something special and we did, we lived out our dream and made it to Rupp.” Of course we wanted to go farther but we gave it are best shot.”
Lawrence Co. Senior Brandon Richardson
“… We gave it all we had and played so hard, early foul trouble hampered us.” I committed a couple stupid fouls.”
Lawrence Co. Senior Austin Chaffins
“… So proud of all of my teammates for what we have accomplished.” We all wanted to win the championship, but we gave it our best shot and will never forget my brothers.”
It was a joy to cover this team and I want to thank the players, coaches and fans for everything that they have done. –BO