Royals lose to GRC 54-42 in the region final

Fourth quarter turnovers doomed the Mason County Royals in a 54-42 loss to the George Rogers Clark Cardinals in the championship game of the 10th Region Tournament at The Fieldhouse on Tuesday night.

GRC is just the second boys' basketball program to win four straight 10th Region titles. The Maysville Bulldogs had a four-peat in the 1940s. 

The Cardinals led by 10 points in the second quarter and were up 27-21 at halftime.

The Royals rallied to take a 32-31 lead late in the third quarter on Terrell Henry's an and-1 layup.

Jerone Morton answered with an and-1 basket of his own to give the Cardinals the lead for good. That was the start of a 15-1 run that gave GRC a 46-33 lead with 3:37 to play. The Cardinals outscored the Royals 20-10 in the fourth quarter.

Morton scored a game-high 20 points and pulled down seven rebounds. Reshaun Hampton and Trent Edwards each added 12 points for the Cardinals.

Henry had 13 points and seven points for Mason County. Riley Mastin had 11 points and eight rebounds.

GRC shot 50% from the field compared to 35.7% for Mason County. The Royals outrebounded the Cardinals 29-26, but GRC scored 12 points off Mason County's 14 turnovers.

GRC (27-6) advances to the UK HealthCare Boys' Basketball Sweet 16 Tournament at Rupp Arena on a nine-game winning streak. The Cardinals will play 13th Region champion North Laurel on March 16 at 8:30 p.m.

Mason County ended the season with a 29-6 record.

George Rogers Clark        10 17 07 20 — 54

Mason County                   09 12 11 10 — 42

George Rogers Clark — Hampton 12, Morton 20, Parrish 8,

Edwards 12, Maxwell 2

Mason County — Henry 13, Walton 7, McClanahan 3, 

Mastin 11, Hamilton 7, Bierley 1

10th Region media basketball awards announced

Media members throughout the 10th Region voted for the region's players of the year and coaches of the year. Votes were compiled by WFTM sports director Travis Scaggs.

George Rogers Clark sophomore Ciara Byars is the girls' Player of the Year and GRC senior Jerone Morton is the boys' Player of the Year.

Pendleton County's Patrick Kelsch is the girls' Coach of the Year and Mason County's Brian Kirk is the boys' Coach of the Year.

Henry, Morton, Byars, Kirk and Brown win KABC 10th Region awards

Mason County senior Terrell Henry and George Rogers Clark senior Jerone Morton are the Kentucky Association of Basketball Coaches Boys' 10th Region Co-Players of the Year and Mason County Royals coach Brian Kirk is the KABC Boys' 10th Region Coach of the Year. 

George Rogers Clark senior Brianna Byars is the KABC Girls' 10th Region Player of the Year and Bishop Brossart coach Steve Brown is the KABC Girls' 10th Region Coach of the Year.

Henry is averaging 17.9 points and 6.9 rebounds a game while shooting 61.2% from the field. Henry was named Most Valuable Player of the Kentucky 2A Championships state tournament and is sixth on the Royals' all-time scoring list.

Morton is averaging 19.8 points and 6.9 rebounds a game and is the Cardinals' all-time leading scorer. Morton has signed to play for Morehead State University.

Byars averages 14.8 points and 6.9 rebounds and is the Lady Cardinals' all-time leading scorer. She has signed with the University of Cincinnati. 

Region Boys' Players of the Year are finalists for the Mr. Basketball Award and Region Girls' Players of the year are finalists for the Miss Basketball Award.

Kirk has guided Mason County to the Kentucky 2A Championships state title and a 25-5 record this season. 

This is the second time Kirk has been named the KABC Boys' 10th Region Coach of the Year. He also won the award in 2021.

Brown guided Bishop Brossart to the 10th Region All "A" Classic championship last month. The Lady 'Stangs will enter postseason play with a 19-11 record.

GRC wins state championship

The George Rogers Clark Cardinals edged the Warren Central Dragons 43-42 in the championship game of the UK HealthCare Sweet 16 tonight at Rupp Arena.

GRC led by seven points in the third quarter but trailed by five in the first minute of the fourth quarter after Warren Central went on a 12-0 run. The Cardinals answered by reeling off eight straight points to lead 39-36 with 3:57 to play. GRC pushed the lead back to five at 43-38 with 1:11 remaining. The Dragons hit a three-pointer with 46 seconds left and went to the free throw line with a chance to tie the game with only three seconds left on the clock. The first free throw was good, but the second one missed. Warren Central got the rebound, but a putback attempt was blocked.

Tournament MVP Jerone Morton led GRC in scoring with 14 points. 

It's the Cardinals' second state championship. Their first was in 1951 when the school, known then as Clark County, was a member of the 16th Region.

GRC joins Brooksville, Maysville and Mason County as the only 10th Region schools to win a boys' basketball state championship. 

The Cardinals go 37-1 with their only loss to Dorman, SC.

Royals fall to No. 1 GRC in region semifinals

The Mason County Royals controlled the pace of the game, only trailed by a point at the half and held George Rogers Clark to 25 points under its season average, but fell to the top ranked Cardinals 57-45 in the semifinals of the 10th Region Tournament tonight at Holmes High School.

After leading 25-24 at halftime, GRC took control of the game by outscoring Mason County 14-6 in the third quarter. The Cardinals took their biggest lead at 47-34 with 4:46 remaining in the game. The Royals scored six straight points to close to within six with 2:54 to go, but GRC answered with an 8-2 run capped off by an alley-oop dunk by Trent Edwards.

GRC outrebounded Mason County 30-11 and had a 14-4 advantage in 2nd chance points.

GRC junior Jerone Morton scored 12 of his game-high 17 points in the second half.

KG Walton led Mason County in scoring with 13 points. Nate Mitchell added 11 points. Walton and Mitchell were named to the All-Tournament Team.

The Royals end the season with a 24-6 record.

GRC (32-1) will play the Bracken County Polar Bears in the championship game Tuesday at 7 p.m. Bracken County edged the Campbell County Camels 71-69 in overtime in the other semifinal game.

George Rogers Clark    10 15 14 18 -- 57

Mason County               07 17 06 15 -- 45

George Rogers Clark -- Slone 4, Morton 17, Parish 10, Edwards 13, Walton 13

Mason County -- Mitchell 11, Henry 9, Walton 13, Butler 3, Hamilton 9

(Updated to correct that Mason County pulled to within seven points, not six.)

Jerone Morton's buzzer beater sends GRC to state

Jerone Morton's buzzer beater layup gave the George Rogers Clark Cardinals a 60-59 victory over the Campbell County Camels in the championship game of the 10th Region Tournament tonight at The Fieldhouse. 

It's GRC's second straight region championship.

Morton scored a game-high 27 points. Jared Wellman added 15 points for the Cardinals who will play 8th Region champion Oldham County in the first round of the Boys' Sweet 16.

Campbell County was led in scoring by Garrett Beiting with 24 points. Eric Davie followed with 15 points.

The Camels' last three losses in 10th Region Tournament games have been on buzzer beaters. 

George Rogers Clark     21 14 10 15 -- 60

Campbell County           14 14 15 16 -- 59

George Rogers Clark -- Slone 8, Wellman 15, Morton 27, Edwards 4, Smothers 4, Mundy-Lloyd 2

Campbell County -- Gross 5, Davie 15, Beiting 24, Hamilton 8,

Hegyi 4, Jackson 3

GRC rallies to defeat Mason County 64-58

The George Rogers Clark Cardinals rallied from a 10-point halftime deficit to defeat the Mason County Royals 64-58 in the semifinals of the 10th Region Tournament tonight at The Fieldhouse. 

Mason County shot 58.3% from the field in the first half and led 36-26 at the half. 

GRC outscored Mason County 18-4 in the third quarter and opened the fourth quarter on a 5-2 run to lead 49-42.

The Royals answered with a 9-2 run to tie the game at 51-51 with 2:55 left in the game. 

The Cardinals scored six straight points to lead 57-51 with 1:45 remaining.

Mason County got to within three points twice in the final minute, but GRC answered both times. 

The Cardinals outshot the Royals 70.8% to 34.6% in the second half.

Jerone Morton led GRC in scoring with 18 points. Jared Wellman had a double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds. Trent Edwards added 11 points.

Terrell Henry led Mason County with 18 points. Mason Butler followed with 12 points. Nate Mitchell tossed in 11 points and AP Perry added 10 points.

The loss snapped the Royals' 14-game winning streak. They end the season with a 19-4.

GRC advances to tomorrow night's championship game against the Campbell County Camels.

George Rogers Clark    13 13 18 20 -- 64

Mason County               15 21 04 18 -- 58

George Rogers Clark -- Slone 8, Morton 18, Edwards 11, Wellman 17, Smothers 6, Mundy-Lloyd 4

Mason County -- Perry 10, Butler 12, Mitchell 11, Henry 18, Schumacher 7