Published: March 07, 2008 12:25 am            

Elliott, Rose Hill advance to boys' semis

Thursday night's 16th Region boys' basketball tournament action featured a triple-double and a near triple-double as Rose Hill Christian defeated Rowan County, 62-37, ending the Vikings' season, and Elliott County shrugged off a slow start to down Greenup County in the opener, 79-53, at Morehead State University's Ellis T. Johnson Arena.

Game two was all Chad Jackson. The Rose Hill Christian sophomore guard scored 31 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and collected 10 steals as his Royals rolled past Rowan County. Rose Hill (20-10) jumped out to an early lead and the Vikings were never able to catch up. The Royals scored nine of the game's first 11 points and led 13-4 at the end of the first quarter. Rowan County (8-19) continued to struggle on offense in the second period as the Royals extended their advantage to 25-11 at halftime. The Vikings made a run in the second half, cutting the deficit to nine points twice in the third quarter, before trailing by 12 by its end (38-26). Rowan County stayed within 11 points with 5:41 to play, but the Royals scored 12 straight to pull away to eventually claim a 25-point win.

Blake Pettit tallied a double-double with 14 points and 13 rebounds in his final game as a Viking. Jon Sergent came off the bench to add 11 points. Robbie Barber was the only other Royal to reach double figures in scoring with 16 points. Scott Gambill contributed seven points and seven rebounds in a reserve role. On a positive note, the Vikings held Kentucky committment Dakotah Euton to four points on 1-of-10 shooting. Rose Hill held advantages in most every statistical category, including field goal percentage (43.8 to 37.2), rebounds (35 to 31), assists (17 to nine), steals (17 to one), turnovers (24 to nine) and points off turnovers (28 to seven).

In the opening game, Greenup County (8-21) took a 7-2 lead in the game's first four minutes and eight seconds, but Elliott County (24-3) went on a scoring flury with six points in the final 1:11 of the first quarter to end the period tied 12-12. The Lions took control from there, out-scoring the Musketeers, 23-13, in the second quarter to take a 35-25 halftime advantage. Elliott County continued to pile on the points and pushed its lead to 64-37 by the end of the third quarter. Greenup County out-scored the Lions, 16-15, in the final period, but the defending region champions led by as many as 28 midway through the final frame, before finishing with a 26-point win.

Five Lions scored in double figures, including Timmy Knipp, who came off the bench to hit 6-of-7 shots for 12 points, while adding 10 blocks and eight rebounds. Jonathan Ferguson led the team in scoring with 23 points and also added six rebounds. Evan Faulkner added 12 points, six assists, five rebounds and four steals. Ryan Adkins and Justin Middleton each scored 14 points to lead Greenup County. Eric Craft added 11 points and a team-best eight rebounds. Elliott County shot 48.3 percent from the field and helped force 23 Musketeer turnovers. Greenup County held a 50-37 advantage in rebounds, but made just 29.9 percent of its field goal attempts.

The girls return to action on Friday, tipping off at 6:30 p.m. with Ashland Paul Blazer (23-4) facing Raceland (19-12), followed by Rowan County (25-5) against Morgan County (21-9) at 8:15 p.m.

        

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