Final: Mason County 73, Paducah Tilghman 46

See photos with comments from Mason County Coach Chris O’Hearn and star Darius Miller.

• The Royals in a rout. Mason County’s starters went to bench midway through the third quarter and didn’t return to the blowout. With UK Coach Billy Gillispie on hand, Darius Miller (shown at right in photo by Charles Bertram) finished his short night’s work with 17 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists. Russ Middleton and Ethan King had 12 points each, and Trevor Setty had 11. Mason County hit 10 of 20 threes, including 7 of 11 in the first 10 minutes. Tilghman was led by Bryon Wright’s 12 points and Jeffrey Williams’ 10.
• Mason County advances to play Shelby County in Saturday’s semifinals. Needless to say, the Royals’ starters will be well-rested.
• YAWN! Mason County’s starters went to the bench midway through the third quarter of the blowout. With 5:30 left in th game, the Royals led 62-27. Rupp Arena has pretty much cleared out.
• Nothing new to report. Darius Miller scored 10 points in a row for his team as Mason County opened a huge lead — 51-13. Miller has 17 points and 6 rebounds. The Royals have hit 9 of 15 threes. Tilghman has 19 turnovers.
• Halftime: Mason County 39, Paducah Tilghman 11. The Royals couldn’t have played much better. They’ve hit their shots, including 7 of 11 threes, and played super defense. Trevor Setty has 11 points, Russ Middleton 9 to lead the way. Darius Miller, who has UK Coach Billy Gillispie watching from a seat on press row in the end zone, has 7 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists. Tilghman has missed 10 of 13 shots from the field, 5 of 9 free throws and has 16 turnovers.
• The margin has grown to 35-7 with 2:47 left in the first half as Mason County continues to make Tilghman look confused. Trevor Setty has 11 points to lead the Royals, who are doing this with Darius Miller scoring only 5 points.
• It’s getting lopsided here in Rupp Arena. Trevor Setty just hit Mason County’s seventh three-pointer (out of 11 tries) to give the Royals a 33-7 lead with 4:30 left in the first half. Tilghman has missed 10 of 12 shots and has 13 turnovers in a nightmare of a game.
• Mason County has stretched its lead to 28-7 two minutes into the second quarter.
• Russ Middleton is 3-for-3 on threes and Mason County is on top 24-6 at the end of the first quarter. The Royals have also gotten a pair of threes from Trevor Setty and one from Darius Miller as they’ve taken the wind out of the Blue Tornado. Tilghman already has 11 turnovers.
• Mason County is 4-for-5 on threes and leads 16-5 with 2:57 left in the first quarter. Russ Middleton has hit a couple bombs to lead the Royals early surge. UK Coach Billy Gillispie is in the crowd to watch signee Darius Miller.
• Mason County has come out smokin’. The Royals lead 10-0 less than three minutes into the game. Darius Miller and Trevor Setty have hit three-pointers to spark the quick start.