Somerset — Somerset dispelled all the idle talk about their team struggling in the late stages of the season and they put an end to a Briar Jumper 11-year regional tournament win drought by downing Wayne County 38-33 in the opening round of the 12th Region Tournament at Pulaski County High School on Thursday.

“Tonight these kids were in a situation that they didn’t feel like they wanted to be denied and they were not going to go down,” an emotionally charged Shawn Thacker exclaimed. “The one thing that was not going to happen tonight, people were not going to be able to question our heart.”

And the Jumpers showed their heart when they needed it the most in the closing moments of the game.

After Wayne County’s Dustin Wells scored four unanswered points, Somerset held a slim 32-31 lead with three-and-a-half minutes left in the game. The Cardinals methodically worked the ball around for a good shoot and a potential lead, but Somerset’s Chris Fitzpatrick picked up a mishandled ball by Wayne County with just over two minutes left in the game.

In Somerset’s halfcourt offensive set Corey Price took the ball one-on-one to the right side block, which drew four Wayne County defenders. Price went strong to the basket for the contested layup, giving the Jumpers a 34-31 lead.

“When I went to the basket, I thought I might get fouled and I was anticipating the contact,” Somerset senior Corey Price said. “I got up in the air and didn’t know what I was going to do, but I found a way to put it up and in.”

Wayne County came up empty on their next possession and Chris Fitzpatrick hit two free throws and a key rebound to help secure the Jumper win down the stretch.

“Fitz (Chris Fitzpatrick) didn’t play a whole lot in the second half because big kids were playing in his place and then when he came in down the stretch, he got a steal on defense, he got a rebound and we knew he could hit his free throws,” Thacker said. “Fitz did a lot of little things that helps you win games.”

Early in the game, the Jumpers were struggling with making some easy shots and they were not able to keep the Cardinals off the boards as the Jumpers were outrebounded 18 to 10 in the first half.

The Cardinals built a 16-9 lead midway through the second quarter, but the Jumpers scored 13 unanswered points through the rest of the first half, and early in the second, to take a 20-16 lead. Tyler Bourne, John Coomer, Price and Fitzpatrick all scored in the Jumpers’ big run.

“Tonight we felt like Wayne County would have a hard time turning us over,” Thacker explained. “Once Corey (Price) got the ball across the center line and we got in our offensive set, we knew we could play big tonight and take away Wayne’s offensive rebounding.”

“Early in the game, Wayne County hurt us pretty bad with their rebounding,” Thacker said, “but once we started playing bigger and we went to our zone, we took care of a lot of things. We did a good job on defense and part of that was playing big. Then when they tried to press us, which is something that has bothered us some this season, we still handled the ball well.”

Somerset briefly relinquished the lead in the final three minutes of the third quarter, but Adam Wallen scored back-to-back inside baskets to give the Jumpers the lead for good.

Somerset coach Shawn Thacker, a coach that had never won a regional tournament game until last night, was matched up against Wayne County’s Rodney Woods, who is a 22-year veteran with six regional titles and one state runner-up title to his credit. But Thacker made the necessary changes late in the half to force Wayne County into 17 offensive turnovers and help give his jumpers a trip to the regional semifinals and a possible trip to the Sweet Sixteen, which has not happened to a Somerset basketball team in nearly 22 years.

“I am proud of our team for bouncing back after such a disappointing loss in the district finals and for gutting it out to find us a way to win a regional tournament game, which is something this program has not done in over 11 years,” Thacker said. “And this is my first regional tournament win.”

The last time a Somerset team advanced to the 12th Region semifinals was on March 4, 1997, when Coach Jeff Cothron led the Jumpers to a 59-58 win over Boyle County.

“I am thankful for my kids and for the fans that have stuck behind us,” Thacker said. “There has been some people that want to jump ship on this bunch and question the heart of this basketball team. I think we showed tonight that these kids definitely have the heart.”

Somerset was led by Corey Price with 12 points and 6 rebounds, while John Coomer and Tyler Bourne scored 7 points apiece. Coomer was named the MVP of the game. Wayne County was led by Dustin Wells with 11 points.

Somerset will play West Jessamine in the 12th Region Tournament semifinals on Monday, March 10, at approximately 8:30 p.m. In the opening game, Pulaski will battle Lincoln County at 6:30 p.m.



SHS 7 11 8 12 — 38

WC 12 4 7 10 — 33

SOMERSET — Price 12, Bourne 7, Coomer 7, Wallen 6, Fitzpatrick 6.

WAYNE CO. — Wells 11, Gregory 7, Dunagan 6, Shearer 6, Hopper 2, Cravens 1.