Royals lose to Shelby Valley 51-44

The Mason County Royals had trouble scoring in the second half and lost to the Shelby Valley Wildcats 51-44 tonight in the opening round of the National City/KHSAA Sweet 16 at Rupp Arena. Mason County led by eight in the second quarter and was up 24-18 at the half.
Shelby Valley opened the third quarter with a 10-1 run. The Wildcats led 37-31 with 5:58 left in the game. The Royals tied the game at 39-39 with 3:51 to play, but didn't score again until only
31 seconds remained. Nine of Mason County's 13 field goals in the game were three-pointers.
Russ Middleton made seven three-pointers and scored a game-high 24 points. Middleton scored all 12 of Mason County's first quarter points. Elisha Justice scored 22 points for Shelby Valley.
The Wildcats will play Elliott County in the quarterfinals Friday night. Elliott County beat Anderson County 74-61.

MC FG 27.7% 3 PT FG 39.1% FT 45% REB 33 TO 13
SV FG 37.2% 3 PT FG 44.4% FT 48.4% REB 43 TO 13

MC (24-7) Middleton 24, Hamm 3, Downing 6, Pawsat 2, Setty 2, Gilbert 3, Barner 4
SV (31-4) Justice 22, Bryant 6, Hatfield 8, Ta. Newsome 5, Tackett 4, Ty. Newsome 2, Adams 2,
Varney 2

MC 12 12 07 13-44
SV 13 05 15 18-51

Notes:

• Shelby Valley ran its winning streak to 24 games. It was the Wildcats' first win in five trips to the state tournament;
• It was Mason County's first loss in the first round since 1994;
• Tonight's session attendance of 21,048 is the highest ever record for a first round session;
• Kentucky Coach Billy Gillispie attended both sessions today
• Lexington Catholic defeated Bowling Green 70-62 in overtime and Holmes beat Christian County 72-61 in the afternoon session.