Final: Lexington Catholic 54, Owensboro 47

See a slideshow and hear comments from Coach Brandon Salsman and forward Taylor Stewart.
Also: Salsman on facing Holmes in the semis.
Holmes Coach David Henley on LexCath

• No. 1 Lexington Catholic has earned a spot in the Sweet Sixteen final four for the fourth time since 1998 by holding off Owensboro 54-47. The Knights struggled from start to finish but found a way to win. Vee Sanford’s 18 points and Taylor Stewart’s 14 paced LexCath. Nathan Novosel had a tough shooting game (2-for-9) but he had 11 rebounds. Owensboro was led by Brock Moorman’s 16 points and 12 rebounds.
• LexCath, which missed 16 of its first 19 shots, wound up hitting 21 of 55 (38%). Owensboro was 18-for-44 (41%) and had 22 turnovers.
• Shown at right: Taylor Stewart on one of his back-to-back dunks that sparked LexCath. Photo by Mark Cornelison.
• It looks like tournament favorite LexCath is going to avoid an uspet. It leads 52-45 with 90 seconds left.
• Taylor Stewart has had back-to-back dunks while flying in from the baseline to spark LexCath to a 44-35 lead with five minutes left.
• LexCath leads 38-32 going into the fourth quarter. Vee Sanford has 16 points for the Knights, who have forced 15 turnovers. Owensboro’s Brock Moorman has 14 points and 11 rebounds.
• Approaching the 4-minute mark of the third quarter, LexCath has taken a 30-26 lead. Its pressure defense has keyed the surge. Vee Sanford’s 14 points leads the Knights.
• After LexCath went on an 11-0 run to take a 21-19 lead, Owensboro has edged ahead 23-21 at halftime. Brock Moorman’s 10 points and 6 rebounds lead the Red Devils. Tyler Acton has 6 points. LexCath is led by Vee Sanford’s 9 points. The Knights are 9-for-29 shooting (31%). LexCath has 10 turnovers and Owensboro has 11.
• LexCath is showing some life. After falling behind 19-10, the Knights have pulled to within 19-15. Vee Sanford has 9 points to lead LexCath with 2:16 left in the first half.
• The lid is still on LexCath’s basket. The Knights are 3-for-19 and have fallen behind Owensboro 17-8. The Red Devils are on a 9-0 run with six minutes left in the first half. Brock Moorman has 8 points and 5 rebounds for Owensboro, which came into the game a big underdog.
• Owensboro leads ice-cold LexCath 11-8 after one quarter. LexCath missed 13 of 16 shots, a lot of them from in the paint. Owensboro has 5 turnovers, but has hit 4 of 7 shots, including a three-pointer by Tyler Swift that gave the Red Devils their 11-8 lead.
• Both teams are off to a sluggish start in the opening quarterfinal game. LexCath and Owensboro are tied 6-6 more than halfway through the first quarter. The teams are a combined 4-for-13.