Getting needed experience as a team and great exposure for their star, the Russellville Panthers went 2-2 in the Traditional Bank Holiday Classic at Lexington Catholic this week.
The Panthers beat Sheldon Clark 70-69 in overtime (see the story on The LoJo at (http://www.theloganjournal.com/Stories.aspx?Article=sports901 ) and Breathitt County 68-52 but lost to defending state champion Lexington Paul Laurence Dunbar 76-67 and to former state champion South Laurel 76-72.
The game against Dunbar featured two of the state’s best players in Russellville’s Pedro Bradshaw and Dunbar’s Tavieon Hollingsworth, a WKU signee who was MVP of the state tournament last year. In his previous game before this one, Hollingsworth had scored 47 points against an Alabama team in the consolation finals of the King of the Bluegrass.
Bradshaw came out on top of the stat sheet this time. He scored 32 points and pulled down 17 rebounds. Hollingsworth totaled 28 points and 10 rebounds. Bradshaw was 12-of-18 from the floor, but the rest of the Panthers went 13-for-41. Bradshaw scored 21 of his points in the second half, 12 of them in the fourth quarter
Dunbar shot well at two-point range, connecting on 26 of its 47 shots from two-point territory. The Bulldogs were 3-for-16 beyond the three-point line. Javea Richardson hit 6 of 9 shots for Dunbar, totaling 16 points.
Lexington Herald-Leader sportswriter Josh Moore said, “Bradshaw, likely to contend for Mr. Basketball honors along with Hollingsworth, had never played against the presumed frontrunner for the award during the AAU season or in high school competition.
“Besides film and stuff, I had never seen him play,” Bradshaw said. “So this was good to finally get a chance to even be on the court with him. It was fun, he’s a great player.”
Score by Quarters: 1) PLD 24-12, 2) 41-24, 3) 60- 48, Final) Paul Laurence Dunbar 76, Russellville 67
RHS (67) Pedro Bradshaw 32, Elijah Kemp 8, Micah Naylor 7, Jacob Naylor 6, Paul Jones 5, Jaylyn McMurry 4, Shon Kees 4, DeShawn Mason 1
PLD (76) Tavieon Hollinsworth 28, Javea Richardson 16, JaQuice Gray 14, Jared Gadd 10, Star Ifeacho 4, Isaiah Yeast 2, Michael Corio 2
In the Panthers’ win over Breathitt County, Micah Naylor and Bradshaw each scored 17 with Jacob Naylor getting 10, Kees 8 and Jones 7. Ethan Griffith of Breathitt County was the game’s top scorer at 19.
Jacob Naylor had a great game against South Laurel. He scored 29 points by hitting 6 of 10 three–pointers, 4 of 5 two-pointers and all three of his free throws.
Bradshaw added 21 points and 11 rebounds. Jones had 9 points and McMurry grabbed 9 boards.
Jared Grubb scored 31 for the Cardinals with Ryan Anders, J.J. Raney and Blake Phelps joining him in double figures.
South Laurel won despite being outrebounded 37-19 by the Panthers.