In our third quarterfinal of the night it was No.4 Ballard with a dominant victory over No.13 Walton-Verona to advance to the King of the Bluegrass semifinals for the first time since 2013. Ballard took control of the game from the opening tip jumping out to a quick 5-2 lead a minute into play. A Trey Bonne free throw pulled the game even at 5-5 midway through the opening quarter. Walter Johnson Jr responded for Ballard scoring the final 10 points of the quarter to give the Bruins a 17-10 lead. A Jack Watson three-pointer jump started an 8-1 run for Walton-Verona to cut the Ballard lead to 24-23 with two minutes to play in the first half. The Bearcats couldn't maintain the momentum though as Ballard scored the final six points of the quarter to lead 30-23 at halftime. In the opening two minutes of the second half the Bruins lead grew to as many as 11 points. A steal and basket by Walton-Verona's Kam Pardee pulled the Bearcats within 27-34 midway through the third quarter but they'd never get any closer. Johnson continued his dominance late in the third quarter scoring 9 of the next 14 points for the Bruins who quickly saw their lead grow to 17 points. It was all Walter Johnson Jr again early in the fourth quarter for the Bruins as his quick four-point spurt two minutes into play extended the Ballard lead to a game-high 21 points. A pair of three-pointers by Walton-Verona's Jack Watson helped the Bearcats put together an 8-1 run to get as close as 44-58. The Bruins rebounded and extended their lead back to as many as 18 points on three more occasions as they advanced to the semifinals with the 69-52 victory. Kam Pardee led Walton-Verona in scoring with 14 points. Walter Johnson Jr. led the way for Ballard with a game-high 24 points.
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Up Next
- Ballard will play South Shore in the semifinals Saturday at 9:00pm.
- Walton-Verona will play Brentwood Academy in the 5th place bracket Saturday at 4:30pm.
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